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A review by ridgewaygirl
Work Like Any Other by Virginia Reeves
4.0
Virginia Reeves's first novel was long listed for the Man Booker prize. It didn't make it on to the short list, but I was happy to have read this historical novel set in Alabama between the world wars.
Roscoe is an unsuccessful farmer. Which is to say, he's an electrical engineer who was happy in his work until his wife's father died and left her the family farm. Living on a farm isn't something that fulfills Roscoe and things are going downhill when he comes up with the idea of tapping into the electrical wires now being strung across the state. It does indeed help the farm, but at a terrible cost, and when the theft is discovered, both he and Wilson, who has worked on the farm for decades, are sent to prison. No spoilers here; the book is divided into the events taking place before the arrests and after they are sent to prison.
Reeves opens the novel with Roscoe abusing his wife and son, and yet still manages to make him a sympathetic character. He's a wonderfully written character; an ordinary man stuck in terrible circumstances, which he handles as well as he can. He's complexly written, as are most of the other characters. I especially appreciated how Reeves wrote about Wilson and his family. Wilson's time in prison was much harsher than Roscoe's, with Roscoe, a white man, being sent to a "model" prison and Wison, a black man, being rented out to work in mines, effectively as slave labor.
There are a few signs that this is a debut novel. At times the research show through and is presented heavily. Reeves clearly researched every aspect of this novel and there's a solidity to her descriptions of prison life and of farm life that show that she isn't just winging it.
Roscoe is an unsuccessful farmer. Which is to say, he's an electrical engineer who was happy in his work until his wife's father died and left her the family farm. Living on a farm isn't something that fulfills Roscoe and things are going downhill when he comes up with the idea of tapping into the electrical wires now being strung across the state. It does indeed help the farm, but at a terrible cost, and when the theft is discovered, both he and Wilson, who has worked on the farm for decades, are sent to prison. No spoilers here; the book is divided into the events taking place before the arrests and after they are sent to prison.
Reeves opens the novel with Roscoe abusing his wife and son, and yet still manages to make him a sympathetic character. He's a wonderfully written character; an ordinary man stuck in terrible circumstances, which he handles as well as he can. He's complexly written, as are most of the other characters. I especially appreciated how Reeves wrote about Wilson and his family. Wilson's time in prison was much harsher than Roscoe's, with Roscoe, a white man, being sent to a "model" prison and Wison, a black man, being rented out to work in mines, effectively as slave labor.
There are a few signs that this is a debut novel. At times the research show through and is presented heavily. Reeves clearly researched every aspect of this novel and there's a solidity to her descriptions of prison life and of farm life that show that she isn't just winging it.