Originally published in 1994, when its author was 55, this wonderful novel makes its first appearance in the UK to mark its (almost) 30th anniversary, and instantly emerges as a small, perfectly formed classic.
It’s a US coming-of-age tale, and may or may not be based on Maxine Clair’s own life, set as it is in the mid-50s in her native Kansas, when she herself was coming of age. It tells the story of Irene Wilson, a young girl growing up in Rattlebone, the Black part of town. Like Harper Lee’s Scout, Irene is a watchful child, and when new teacher October Brown arrives in town, quickly making an impact both inside the classroom and out, Irene detects that a “no-name invisible something” has come to rupture her parents’ marriage. Her feckless father always did have a wandering eye, and October enjoys turning heads.
