Where You Once Belonged

January 1, 1990
Why is strapping, impulsive Jack Burdette, legendary bad boy and ex-football hero, promptly thrown into jail when he returns to Holt, Colo., after eight years on the run? The reader discovers the answer halfway through this deeply affecting novel. Earlier, we learn how Jack has abandoned his pregnant wife, two small sons, a girlfriend and piles of unpaid shopping-spree charges, but his sins against the town prove to be even more serious. The story is narrated by the editor-publisher of Holt's weekly newspaper; he is transformed from rueful, detached observer to tragic participant in the events, which inexorably unfold to a stunning climax. Haruf captures small-town people with a sharp humor and sympathy worthy of Edgar Lee Masters's Spoon River Anthology . Not a word is wasted in his brooding drama, which conceals a tender love story in its bruised heart.

Narrator Kirby Heyborne deftly portrays the panoply of characters in Haruf's peek behind the picket fences of a small town. Heyborne uses a gruff rough-around-the-edges tone for Jack Burdette. The former high school football hero courts the prettiest girl in town and tells the best jokes. When he absconds with $150,000 belonging to the town, the good people of Holt, Colorado, are mighty upset. Heyborne ratchets up the tension in his voice when Burdette returns eight years later and finds the population still angry. He leavens his silky-smooth portrayal of Pat Arbuckle, the town newspaper's owner and Jack's former rival, with a tinge of melancholy. This audio depiction of rural America is remarkably relatable. R.O. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine