Northern Borders

Haunting, pastoral images and odd, unforgettable characters pervade this spellbinding tale of rural northern Vermont in the late 1940s and 1950s. Through the memories of Austen Kittredge III, who lived on his grandparents' farm in Lost Nation Hollow from age six to 18, Mosher (A Stranger in the Kingdom) fashions a moving tribute to the rugged lifestyle and strong individualistic values of an era that is vanishing even as young Austen discovers it. From his hard-working, misanthropic grandfather, the self-proclaimed ``meanest old bastard in Kingdom County,'' and his equally willful grandmother Abiah, fascinated by Egyptology and constantly battling with her husband, Austen receives a unique education, filled with dramatic introductions to nature, history and the fascinating people (many of them family) that make up his ``Kingdom.'' Mosher's understated prose and mastery of affectionate detail bring to life Austen's remembered world with vivid immediacy and great poignancy. (Sept.)