Flying Shoes

March 10, 2014
Howorth’s debut is a character-driven novel about family and friendship. Mississippian Mary Byrd Thornton is an ordinary person with one distinction: 40 years ago, her young stepbrother was murdered, and the killer was never found. One day she receives a call from a detective specializing in cold cases who tells her about new developments in the investigation and asks Mary Byrd to return to Richmond, Va., her childhood home, so her whole family can meet with him together in hopes of achieving “closure.” Mary Byrd is a winsome character, and the novel revolves around her, but other characters hold similar charms. Teever Barr is a local quasi-homeless Vietnam vet who bumbles through life, yet manages to land on his feet. Hubard Mann Valentine Jr. is the gay heir to a chicken empire. And Jack Ernest is a rakish ne’er-do-well who has an on-again, off-again relationship with Mary Byrd. Howorth paints her characters with a colorful palette and sketches the details of daily life with a sure hand. The murder case remains in the background throughout most of the novel; the story is decidedly more of a character study than a page-turning thriller, but Howorth’s characters are well worth getting to know.