I can’t resist a good love story, especially one with just a hint of tragedy, so it’s no surprise that I really enjoyed The Orphans of Race Point by Patry Francis, an artfully written novel of suspense, betrayal, family, and love told through the voices of three distinct characters over the course of several decades.
Hallie and Gus have been fated for each other ever since they were nine years old when, after Gus’s mother was brutally murdered by his father, Hallie was able to bring solace to the traumatized boy in the form of two fish and David Copperfield. Hallie and Gus reconnect and fall in love when they are both sixteen, but the violence seemingly inherant in Gus’s family isn’t far behind. After a violent encounter that leaves Hallie in the hospital, Gus shocks everyone—and devastates Hallie—when he decides to join the seminary. A few years and one horrific betrayal later, Gus is sentenced to life in prison for murdering Ava Cilento, mother of the third narator, Mila. The lives of Hallie, Gus, and Mila clash and intersect as each tries to find transcendance in the face of hardship.
Patry superbly captures the three characters’ voices, and I was especially impressed with the teenaged Mila. Patry dives into the separate motivations, memories, and thoughts of all three characters with clear, lyrical writing that reveals the enduring power of the deep bonds of love and what it means to be family. I definitely recommend you check it out on Edelweiss.
-Amanda