Books

by Anita Diamant

I picked this book up at Chicago O'Hare airport on the way home from our Christmas vacation. I chose this one because the author also wrote The Red Tent which I found fascinating. I was please that this novel was just as engaging. The subject matter of the two books is so completely different; this author has great versatility and talent. I would be interested in reading additional works of fiction by her. I liked this book so much, I chose to pass it on at our book group White Elephant gift exchange.

This story chronicles the last days of a settlement in the early 1800s. The dwindling inhabitants include freed slaves, whores, loners, and presumed witches. The story is told from several perspectives as the final dregs of the Dogtown population either move out or die. It isn't a happy book, but it is compelling and feels real - not contrived as some historic fiction can seem.