Under the Mercy Trees

October 4, 2010
Newton delivers a stirring debut novel told from the perspectives of four central characters embroiled in a family drama that spans generations and is riddled with defensive secrecy and emotional penury in equal measure. After the disappearance of Leon Owenby, his younger brother and central narrator, Martin, returns to the family's Willoby County, N.C., mountain town from his life as a destitute writer in New York City to aid in the search for Leon and support his other siblings. The year is 1986; Martin leaves behind his ex-lover, Dennis, and their many friends sick and dying from AIDS. Back home, he must face his painful past, his extended family to whom he is closeted, and his high school girlfriend (who still carries a torch for him). Many months of searching reveal more about the searchers than about Leon; the secrets and resentments in the Owenby family run deep and bubble to the surface unexpectedly. It's problematic that with so many family issues coming to light, Martin's sexuality is ignored and remains a secret, but Newton's use of multiple viewpoints and distinct voices is adept and lively, and helps to fill in the thin premise of Leon's disappearance. With many novels of this construction, a reader tends to favor one voice over the rest. Not so here; Newton delivers across the board with these characters, who run the gamut from perky to depressive, desperate to schizophrenic.

January 1, 2011

Martin Ownby is a debt-ridden, gay alcoholic writer living in Manhattan who has always avoided going home to Willoby County, NC. But when his older brother, Leon, disappears from the old homestead, Martin accepts a community college teaching job and steps back into the family fray. His sister, Ivy, is a diagnosed schizophrenic who sees and converses with family ghosts. Bertie, his sister-in-law, holds onto an old secret about Leon and tiptoes around the obvious clues that her youngest son, Bobby, may have done Leon harm. For Martin, there is much unfinished business to settle with Liza, his best friend in high school who has never really gotten over her unrequited love for him. VERDICT Told from these four characters' points of view, this first novel builds nicely toward many revelations and resolutions. Newton is skilled at revealing a world of hurt, and fans of family dramas will appreciate it.--Keddy Ann Outlaw, formerly with Harris Cty. P.L., TX

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 15, 2010
A melancholy mood suffuses Newtons nimble debut about a middle-aged man who returns, reluctantly, to his rural North Carolina hometown. Martin Owenby might have never again set foot in Willoby County if it werent for the disappearance of his ornery brother, Leon. Now he finds himself in the company of the same damaged souls he fled decades before. Among them: his sister Ivy, who hears voices and sees ghosts; sister Eugenia, who isnt happy unless shes causing someone grief; and sister-in-law Bertie, whos lumbering through a loveless marriage and lackluster life. Martin, who kept his homosexuality a secret throughout his upbringing (and only became openly gay when he entered the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), also reconnects with his high-school sweetheart, Liza, now married with a handsome husband and children of her own. As time passes, family and friends begin to lose hope that Leon is alive. In this eloquent, sorrowful novel, short-story writer Newton gradually reveals dark (and occasionally scandalous) secrets about each member of the Owenby clan, including Leon, who may have had good reason to disappear. Readers of both Pat Conroy, on one hand, and Carson McCullers, on the other, will relish Newtons flawed characters and piquant portrayal of small-town life.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)