Driftless

The term "driftless" indicates a lack of glacial drift, the material left behind by retreating continental glaciers.


The Driftless Area or Paleozoic Plateau is a region in the American Midwest noted mainly for its deeply carved river valleys.

Viroqua, Wisconsin and the surrounding countryside is part of the greater "driftless area".  While In Viroqua last weekend, I bought a book here, Bramble Bookstore. Actually, I purchased several books.  At the top of the pile is Driftless, by David Rhodes, set in the driftless area of Wisconsin.

I did not simply read this book.  The book sucked me into a world so familiar yet new and exciting, I could not stop reading.   Driftless is, by far, the best book I have read in a very long time, and I read alot of books.
A synopsis from goodreads.com :

The few hundred souls who inhabit Words, Wisconsin, are an extraordinary cast of characters. The middle-aged couple who zealously guards their farm from a scheming milk cooperative. The lifelong invalid, crippled by conflicting emotions about her sister. A cantankerous retiree, haunted by childhood memories after discovering a cougar in his haymow. The former drifter who forever alters the ties that bind a community. In his first novel in 30 years, David Rhodes offers a vivid and unforgettable look at life in small-town America

These characters are people I know, with stories I know.  Stories I have lived, yet not so pedestrian to be predictable.  The author is masterful at surprise.  There are a few places in the book that I gasped audibly at the next lines, the turn of events.....
If that isn't enough, this book is funny.  And presents an opportunity to look at life's big questions.

Get this book. Read it. Let me know what you think.

Lynda-----in my opinion Driftless is head and shoulders above  The Tale of Edgar Sawtelle......