A Year After Henry

June 30, 2014
Pelletier (The Weight of Winter) chronicles the effects of the charismatic Henry Munroe’s death on his loved ones as they soldier on in the town of Bixley, Maine. Spoiled by his natural charm and good looks, Henry flitted through life first as a favorite son and a football hero, then as a ladies’ man who took well to his mailman duties. His wife Jeanie, who collected receipts and other evidence of his latest infidelity, is devastated that she wasn’t able to confront her husband prior to his death. Henry’s mistress, the clairvoyant bartender Evie Cooper, begins an affair with Henry’s underappreciated older brother, Larry, who has hit rock bottom, having lost his teaching job, his wife, and his son and retreated to his childhood bedroom in his parents’ house where he reads other people’s mail. Henry’s teenaged son, Chad, has turned to drinking and hangs out at the local bar in an effort to connect with Larry. Everyone dreads the upcoming memorial service that Henry’s parents have planned. Pelletier’s writing bristles with sharp descriptions and her story hums along at a satisfying pace, drawing the reader in with sympathetic and utterly believable characters.

June 1, 2014

Pelletier (The One-Way Bridge) introduces a new small Maine town, Bixley, whose residents are coming to terms with the first anniversary of Henry Munroe's untimely death. Up until his heart attack at 41, Henry was a charmer: the star high school quarterback who married the popular cheerleader, his parents' favorite son, a dashing dad. But not everyone in Bixby is eager to attend the memorial service Henry's parents have planned. His wife, Jeanie, had been just about to confront him with the evidence of his many affairs the morning he died. His brother, Larry, is in love with Henry's former lover, Evie, a bartender at Murphy's Tavern. Henry's teenage son, Chad, is adrift, lost in his own grief. VERDICT Pelletier's setup has much potential, but unfortunately the narrative is choppy and disjointed, the insights trite. A side plot in which Evie confronts a coworker's abusive boyfriend is nearly ridiculous--a wish-fulfilled fantasy perhaps but completely unrealistic. Evie's talent--sketching portraits of ghosts--is silly, and the constant mentions of her "smoking a joint" are tedious. Readers who enjoyed Pelletier's novels set in Mattagash may be willing to overlook these shortcomings; others may not be impressed.--Christine Perkins, Whatcom Cty. Lib. Syst., Bellingham, WA

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2014
It's been a year since 41-year-old Henry Munroe died of a heart attack. Though his wife, Jeannie, still grieves, she mourns the state of their marriage prior to Henry's death more than she does his actual loss. A serial philanderer, Henry had most recently been involved with buxom spiritualist Evie Cooper. Evie now comforts Henry's older brother, Larry, a divorced former high-school teacher who is reluctantly employed in the family business, delivering mail to the good people of Bixley, Maine, when he feels like it. Unhappily living back with his parents in the bedroom he once shared with Henry, Larry licks his considerable wounds. Meanwhile, Jeannie spies on Evie, trying to discover what she has that Jeannie doesn't. From his and Larry's elderly parents to Henry's moody teenage son, the family Henry left behind struggles to cope with life in his absence, only to find that the road to solace is a bumpy one, indeed. Sensitive yet witty, Pelletier's (The One-Way Bridge, 2013) wise examination of one of life's most tragic episodes brims with hopeful understanding.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)