I'm a little surprised that I've not seen much written or heard much talk about Tom Wright's impressive debut novel, What Dies in Summer. I came across it looking at my library's virtual new books list and was drawn to the crime slant that the novel seemed to promise. As it turns out it's more a coming of age tale than a crime story, but it suffers not in the least for it. As a matter of fact for a first novel it felt quite polished to me with lots of different layers to it making it one of my better reads this year.
Maybe it's in part the setting, summertime in the 1970s in a hot, dry Texas town that appealed so much, or that made me so sympathetic and open to the story. Wright sets the scene so evocatively. Although I was very young in the 70s, I have this strange nostalgia for that particular decade that seems to grow the further I get away from it. I have happy memories of growing up then, of my own summers spent riding my bicycle and playing outside with a neighbor girl who was my best friend all the way through school until we graduated and went our separate ways. Life was simpler, or at least it seemed to be. Of course looking back the world was a harsh place even then, but what does a nine year old know about the world. Even now the smell of fresh cut grass on a hot, humid morning--that slightly sweetish, earthy smell--brings back vivid memories of youthful summers.
For Jim and Lee Ann, or as they're called by their friends and family--Biscuit and LA--this is the summer they lose their innocence. Considering their family circumstances, though, maybe they don't have that much innocence to lose. The two are cousins, their mothers are sisters, but they live with their gram since their home lives leave much to be desired. The two are about the same age and have a good and close relationship, though they couldn't be more different. Soft spoken and respectful of his elders, Jim has smarts that are different than the sort learned in school. LA is always quick off the mark, intelligent and sassy, but in some hidden way damaged, too. It's as if she's using her caustic wit to cover up something that she doesn't want anyone else to see.
The two spend their days kicking around town, not really looking for trouble, but finding themselves in the occasional scrape or embarking on adventures that kids could only have gotten away with back in a safer (we just didn't realize it was as dangerous as it was) world that the 1970s was. One afternoon when they're out collecting bottles to exchange for loose change they happen upon the body of a young woman who's about their own age. She's not the first young woman to have been murdered, and finding her is both repellent and exciting but mostly disturbing. It's particularly disturbing to Jim since he has a touch of the sight and has been having upsetting dreams that he can't explain and he feels like he recognizes her face.
Although the murders play a strong role in the story, they aren't exactly the central theme. Really the murders just create the momentum to find the deeper truths in Jim and LA's lives. If children in dysfunctional families can be 'battle scarred', both Jim and LA would be just so, and the events of this summer literally blow the tops off their lives and bring the cause of those scars out into the light.
I really enjoyed What Dies in Summer. It's filled with perceptive little truths about growing up, and Wright shows so well the psychological impact of abusive relationships and how those experiences are carried around and become such a all-consuming burden. The characters are well drawn, and James is especially likable and genuine. Jim tells this story, and as one of the other character says, he's both honest and noble. She tells him,
"What others understand with ease and never question, you cannot fathom, and that is your blessing. Your curse is that you grasp without effort so many things that most people never comprehend."
Jim is a character I could easily read about again. I only hope that Tom Wright plans to write more books.
Edited: Have just noticed that Wright has been longlisted for the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award. A well deserved nomination!