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A review by laurahazardowen
The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti
4.0
"The wagon bumped the edge of the sidewalk and Ren thought of the men trapped in the earth along with all the other things people had thrown away over the years--rusted pots and pans and old boots and horseshoes and bits of broken china. The cart passed an ancient chestnut tree, and Ren imagined its roots reaching underneath the ground, sifting through everything there, just like the fingers of the miners' widows, going at the soil that held their men, with shovels and pickaxes, with others' wives and children, and with the farmers from the hills. The scene began to form in Ren's mind, the details coming one after another, until he could see the whole town digging, afraid of losing time--and then a whistle going out, and everyone stopping, listening. And after a few minutes one of the women crying: What are you waiting for? And another saying: No! Just there now--there--did you hear that? There--there! (102-103)
Ren rubbed his face with his sleeve. He coughed and spit the ashes from his mouth. It was nearly morning, the sun brightening the horizon in the east. From the roof Ren could make out the entire town, the mousetrap factory looming over the center of the city, the river circling it all like a protective arm. To the south the marketplace rose in the square. To the west the bridge crossed over the river and marked a passageway through the woods. Just beyond those woods was a gathering of hills. Somewhere within them was the entrance to the mine that had claimed the lives of all the men of North Umbrage, and beyond that, the road to the hospital.
The air was clearer here, the taste not as rancid as on the street. Ren thought of all he had done since he had left Saint Anthony's; every step that had brought him to this place. Spread out before him, both the town and his own past seemed less frightening. Everything was better, Ren realized, when you looked down on it from above." (198-199)
Ren rubbed his face with his sleeve. He coughed and spit the ashes from his mouth. It was nearly morning, the sun brightening the horizon in the east. From the roof Ren could make out the entire town, the mousetrap factory looming over the center of the city, the river circling it all like a protective arm. To the south the marketplace rose in the square. To the west the bridge crossed over the river and marked a passageway through the woods. Just beyond those woods was a gathering of hills. Somewhere within them was the entrance to the mine that had claimed the lives of all the men of North Umbrage, and beyond that, the road to the hospital.
The air was clearer here, the taste not as rancid as on the street. Ren thought of all he had done since he had left Saint Anthony's; every step that had brought him to this place. Spread out before him, both the town and his own past seemed less frightening. Everything was better, Ren realized, when you looked down on it from above." (198-199)