Alibi Creek

January 25, 2016
A solid, if slightly heavy-handed saga set in the wilds of New Mexico, Magennis’s novel chronicles the family of the rather unconvincingly pious Lee Ann, whose routine on the Walker Ranch is upended by the return of her prodigal brother, Walker, just released from jail. Lee Ann had enough on her hands already, juggling the care of their ailing mother with her job at the corrupt Dax County Commissioner’s office. She’s resented her golden-boy brother from the get-go, and now he’s back causing the same commotion he did as a kid. Her husband, Eugene—not the father of her two sturdy sons, but a loving and stable replacement dad—gets fed up with Walker, and after Walker and his ex-wife pull a fast one on Owen Plank, their neighbor, selling Plank’s land out from under him, Eugene leaves Lee Ann in disgust, claiming she lets her brother, her job, her God—everything but him—pull her strings. Matters escalate with the inevitable confrontation between the siblings. The author’s metaphors are a bit obvious, but Lee Ann is a heroine readers will root for. Agent: Susan Schulman, Susan Schulman Literary Agency.

February 15, 2016
A woman of faith is tested when her no-good brother comes home. You could call this debut novel by acclaimed visual artist Magennis something of a southwestern gothic, drawing inspiration from the spare depictions of the West in the novels of Annie Proulx and its familial drama from the likes of Faulkner, O'Connor, and their ilk. The author sets her novel in the familiar rural community of Alibi Creek, New Mexico, where most of the drama is set on the dry plains, in the town's bar and liquor stores, or in the cramped confines of trailers. To her credit, Magennis has created a noble hero with believable flaws in devout Lee Ann, who divides her time between running her family's ranch, working as the county manager, caring for her invalid mother, and praying. She's remarried to a good-hearted but sternly quiet man, Eugene, but her two sons are from another father. Her troubles are compounded when her ex-convict brother, Walker, emerges from prison, intent on returning to his boozy schemes. "Walker rushes through life at a pace I can never match, driven by impulses I don't understand....Eugene insists I set limits but You've created Walker untamable, uncontrollable, unteachable," Lee Ann says, turning her troubles to the heavens. "I pray for him, for all things are solved through prayer. I try to forgive, as You Advise." As a mystery, there's not much entertainment to be had; Walker hooks up with his ex-wife to conspire over a land grab but the intrigue is largely secondary to Lee Ann's story. Where the novel excels is in its open-eyed portrayals of a land largely left untamed and the spirit of a woman who may bow in the face of her tribulations but remains steadfast in her devotion to God and family. What might have been a soapy rural drama carries a surprising amount of grit and poetic verve.

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