This book was an ok read. Was a bit slow in parts. Ok story about a couple in a small town in Connecticut and the townspeople. Decent read. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on this review.

A spare yet richly evocative novel that presents the cultural changes of a small New England town after WWII. Petry's style is well-paced and can be piercing in its vision of the anxieties of husbands, wives, mothers, and fathers when it comes to the timeless subject of fidelity and jealousy. While the novel does move slowly at times, I couldn't help but desire to know what happened next.

This novel! I feel like this was a precursor to American Soap Operas! Ohhh the drama! Set in a small town in CT, the story picks up when Johnny returns home from WW2, only to find his wife Gloria has not been faithful to him. We are introduced to a lot of the towns people with my favorite being Weasel. He’s the town gossip and doesn’t mind spreading the news!

The novel was beautifully written and was quite different from her first novel The Street. Another thing that surprised me was that Ann Petry (being black) gave us a predominantly white cast of characters in this book. I really enjoyed this book and I think it would be great as a book club selection.