As soon as I read that this book compared to Kent Haruf’s “Our Souls at Night”, I had to request a copy, as that book holds a special place in my heart. See my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1328465894

Both books evoke a nostalgia to years past, and each features two lonely people who find companionship later in life when they didn’t think it would be possible to do so again. What makes this book different is that it adds a bit of mystery as to what exactly happened in Tower Hill, Indiana, that would make Henry Dees flee his life in the middle of the night, September 1972.

TW: CHILD MURDER

His inaction may have cost a young girl her life, and he can no longer live with the guilt about what he DID and DID NOT do the night she was killed.

When Henry stops in the tiny town of Mt. Gilead, Illinois, for gas, he wasn’t planning to stay long. His powder blue ‘65 Mercury Comet catches the eye of the woman filling up her Lincoln Continental at the adjacent pump at Hutch’s Sunoco-a lonely Spinster named Edith Green.

And when the wind picks up, catching Edith’s head scarf, it flutters past the stranger who manages to catch it just in time. As he returns it to her, and introductions are made, he mentions that he might like to stay in town for a bit.

Edith impulsively offers to rent him a room in her house. It is risky—and tongues will wag-but Edith Green can no longer bear a life lived alone.

And, this chance encounter and gust of wind, will end up changing both of their lives.

This quiet story unfolds from several POV’s in both towns, past and present until the two worlds collide. The story is both a search for the truth and a search for forgiveness and a path forward.

I didn’t know that little Katie was murdered when I selected this story, and although Henry is not her killer, he did hold some feelings toward her that weren’t quite right. I think this prevented me from having the same emotional connection to this book that I had for the book it was compared to.

But, I was drawn in by the pensive writing and its melancholy feel, and I am looking forward to reading the author’s earlier work-Pulitzer finalist “The Bright Forever”.

This book is available on March 25, 2025.

Thank You to Melville House for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. As always, these are my candid thoughts.

The book is timid, and it seems to think that its stakes are higher than they are. It hinges on tropes: residents of a small town being simultaneously hospitable to a new stranger and suspicious as to why he’s relocated there. One lonely resident takes a particular fascination with him.

Its bigger issue is one that plagues a lot of contemporary fiction in that it can’t portray older characters (described here as “past middle age”) without infantilizing them. Edith and Henry don’t read as genuine. They narrate as though they are confessing, their souls stripped of any darkness apart from this one sin that each has committed and carries with them (and Edith’s “sin” would be a nothing burger if she didn’t live in a town of busybodies with nothing else going on) that gives the book its supposed driving impulse. (“Dolores Claiborne” set the standard for this kind of delivery, the title narrator’s wounds and grudges informing every spite-filled sentence.) People who have lived that long, who are widowed, have seen more, bargained with more, and cope with more nuance than Martin allows them.

Otherwise, the narration is clean, and the voices of the characters are rendered distinctly enough to keep everything straight with ease. Martin alternates chapters from the perspectives of Edith and Henry with those of the “towns” (Tower Hill, where Henry is fleeing, and Mt. Gilead, where he seeks a “balm”), which would seem like an easy play but suitably conveys the perception of these two without having to introduce too many minor figures to the story.

Driving a spotless, powder blue ‘65 Mercury Comet, Henry Dees stopped for gas in the one
horse town of Mt. Gilead, Illinois. It was the year 1972. Many businesses had shuttered their
doors, young families were settling elsewhere. A chance meeting occurred when Edith Green
stopped for gas. As her scarf went airborne, lifted by a sudden breeze, Henry rescued it and
returned it to her. Henry had arrived in St. Gilead, suitcase in hand, having disappeared from the
equally small town of Tower Hill, Indiana. Mt. Gilead seemed as good a place as any. The
gossip mill would wonder if his arrival was connected to the disappearance and death of little
Katie Mackey of Tower Hill.

Imagine the solitary life of Edith Green. She had devoted herself to caring for her parents. Now
all alone, the fifty year old spinster volunteered at the local library. To garner attention and
status, she pledged a generous donation to the library, money she did not possess. Why in the
world did she offer to rent a room in her house to Henry Dees, a total stranger? But, Henry
accepted the generous offer bringing his suitcase as well as his hidden emotional baggage to
Edith’s door. They were two middle aged people, lonely and looking for companionship.

Henry Dees arrival connected Mt. Gilead to Tower Hill. The reader is privy to the gossip
traveling, at the speed of light, through each town. In Mt. Gilead, most “news” was shared in the
Town Talk Cafe. Some of the colorful residents aimed to protect Edith from the outside influence
of the stranger…typical interference…after all, the liberal library donation was at stake.

What did Henry know about the death of both little Katie Mackey, daughter of Mitchell Mackey,
the owner of the Mackey Glassworks Company and Raymond R. Wright, Katie’s killer? One
thing was for certain, Mitchell’s words to Henry, “do whatever it is you have to do” would haunt
Henry adding more fuel to his moral dilemma.

Tenderness would create a safety net for Edith and Henry to divulge their deepest secrets and
regrets. Henry might perhaps question his inaction in one instance and his heroic action at
another juncture. Seeds of a budding love would emerge, their shortcomings addressed..

“The Evening Shades” by Lee Martin is the tale of two small Midwest towns. The reader will
come to know many of the town dwellers through the detailed conversations and snippets of
gossip shared through the grapevine. In the blink of an eye, a decision can impact one’s life
forever. Some people will be judgmental, others will be supportive. A morally unsettling novel.

Thank you Kezia Velista @ Melville House Publishers for the print ARC in exchange for an
honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Kindle ARC. I read Lee Martin's book, "The Bright Forever" years ago when it was first published and I never forgot it. I was pleased to get a copy of "The Evening Shades." The year is 1972 and the story is centered around Henry, a middle-aged math teacher, and Edith, a middle aged woman who spent her younger years caring for her elderly parents. Neither of them has ever been lucky in love. Both of them have a secret. Edith hides her financial status from the people of the small town she lives in and Henry hides a bigger secret which is much more damning. A chance encounter when Henry is passing through Edith's town pairs the two of them and their stories unwind together. I read this book in two days as I was eager to find out what would happen. A very satisfying read.