Ratings2
Average rating3.5
“Summons up a small American town at precisely the right moment in our history . . . a bold, vital, and view-expanding novel.”—George Saunders A rural working-class New England town elects as its mayor a New York hedge fund millionaire in this inspired novel for our times—fiction in the tradition of Jonathan Franzen and Jennifer Egan. A WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK Mark Firth is a contractor and home restorer in Howland, Massachusetts, who feels opportunity passing his family by. After being swindled by a financial advisor, what future can Mark promise his wife, Karen, and their young daughter, Haley? He finds himself envying the wealthy weekenders in his community whose houses sit empty all winter. Philip Hadi used to be one of these people. But in the nervous days after 9/11 he flees New York and hires Mark to turn his Howland home into a year-round “secure location” from which he can manage billions of dollars of other people’s money. The collision of these two men’s very different worlds—rural vs. urban, middle class vs. wealthy—is the engine of Jonathan Dee’s powerful new novel. Inspired by Hadi, Mark looks around for a surefire investment: the mid-decade housing boom. Over Karen’s objections, and teaming up with his troubled brother, Gerry, Mark starts buying up local property with cheap debt. Then the town’s first selectman dies suddenly, and Hadi volunteers for office. He soon begins subtly transforming Howland in his image—with unexpected results for Mark and his extended family. Here are the dramas of twenty-first-century America—rising inequality, working class decline, a new authoritarianism—played out in the classic setting of some of our greatest novels: the small town. The Locals is that rare work of fiction capable of capturing a fraught American moment in real time. Praise for The Locals “After 9/11, New York hedge fund billionaire Philip Hadi retreats to his summer home in the Berkshires. In thrall to his new town, he runs for office to keep it sleepy, sweet and free from tax hikes. Is he benevolent, arrogant or both? No one gets off the moral hook in this propulsive, brilliantly observed study.”—People (Book of the Week) “Thoughtful . . . [Jonathan Dee’s] prescient sensitivity has never been more unnerving. . . . Amid the heat of today’s vicious political climate, The Locals is a smoke alarm. Listen up.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post
Reviews with the most likes.
This is a complicated review to write. I cannot, in any possible way - no matter how small, say that this is a bad book. It is written so well that at parts I had to stop and think about it. The characters feel real, fleshed out and like defined people.
It's really the type of book I'd expect from Jonathan Dee, whose list of achievements feels too long to list. I devoured this book in multiple, massive sessions. The prologue for me was boring and felt like a struggle to get through. I couldn't reconcile the nameless narrator with the descriptions of the two men on the blurb, and I certainly did not like him. While that last point turned out to be a recurring theme throughout the book, the prologue is a brief low point that with hindsight was a good opening chapter.
This is not a book about the growth of one person, or the journey people go on. It's a deep look at the ways different people can be selfish for all of the different reasons they can be selfish. In certain cases, a seemingly selfless act has selfish consequences. I enjoyed this book so much more than I thought I would and I think it was down to the outstanding portrayal of the characters. They had flaws that felt human and understandable - I even felt like I recognised characters from my own life in the novel.
I strongly recommend this book if it interests you. Even if its out of your usual reading selections (it was very far out of my usual choices).