A review by cats22
The Auctioneer, by Joan Samson
4.0
This book is- unsettling. It isn't exactly a thriller or horror, though it may be listed in those genres.
It's definitely a slow burn.
Keep in mind the time period when reading it. People didn't have the internet, cell phones, or access to public offices outside their particular jurisdiction. The family this book follows don't even have long distance phone service. They are isolated in every sense of the word.
This sense of isolation, of being hedged in, is very claustrophobic. And that's the atmosphere of this story- claustrophobia.
I grew up in a very rural area. We had a "party line" telephone and there were no other kids in the neighborhood. At least we had running water and indoor plumbing, though not all of my neighbors did. I think that's why I could clearly sense the unease as tensions rise in this small farming town. You have to put yourself in the shoes of someone who can't appeal to a higher authority. Their town is it- that's all there is.
The best way I know how to describe the writing is tense. I actually had to put it down for a day- I was getting a little too stressed out- but of course I had to find out what happened.
A surprisingly good read, and all the more important as the author's only work. It's too bad. I would have enjoyed reading more from Joan Samson.
It's definitely a slow burn.
Keep in mind the time period when reading it. People didn't have the internet, cell phones, or access to public offices outside their particular jurisdiction. The family this book follows don't even have long distance phone service. They are isolated in every sense of the word.
This sense of isolation, of being hedged in, is very claustrophobic. And that's the atmosphere of this story- claustrophobia.
I grew up in a very rural area. We had a "party line" telephone and there were no other kids in the neighborhood. At least we had running water and indoor plumbing, though not all of my neighbors did. I think that's why I could clearly sense the unease as tensions rise in this small farming town. You have to put yourself in the shoes of someone who can't appeal to a higher authority. Their town is it- that's all there is.
The best way I know how to describe the writing is tense. I actually had to put it down for a day- I was getting a little too stressed out- but of course I had to find out what happened.
A surprisingly good read, and all the more important as the author's only work. It's too bad. I would have enjoyed reading more from Joan Samson.