Book Review: The Tie that Binds by Kent Haruf

The Author is a Storyteller and it's Wonderful

A murder in Small Town America

I have read and loved another book by Kent Haruf so I was excited to read another one of his novels. Plainsong featured a host of characters living in Holt, Colorado that alternated between each of their stories. What was so wonerful about the book was it displayed life in small town America with a focus on community with all its flaws displayed along with other more positive aspects of this group of interwoven lives.

The Tie that Binds also takes place in Holt, Colorado but this time it's one person who tells this interesting story over a cup of coffee with the reader at his own home. He recounts the tragic tale from the beginning of why an 88 year old woman is sitting in a hospital bed, recovering, so that she can stand trial for killing her brother.

Of course there are a lot of reasons that this took place and of course she is not a cold blooded murderer. The story for why it happened and what's wrong with why she is going to be put on trial is told by her neighbor, a cattlefarmer named Sanders Roscoe, whose family has been interwoven with Edith Goodnough's kin for over three generations. Sanders knows the history of Edit and her family in a way that both the sherriff and new reporter from Denver would never have a glimpse of and he wants to tell the story of a woman who plodded through life taking care of everyone before herself.

After reading this book I found out that this was actually Kent Haruf's first novel and I have to say it's a wonderful piece and I look forward to reading more of his books as it was equally as good as Plainsong.