Tudish returns to the rural Pennsylvania depicted in her debut story collection, Tenney's Landing,
in this restrained novel about a woman reconnecting with her past. The story follows Virginia Rownd, who is grappling with her mother's death and her father Nathan's quick remarriage. Six months after the wedding, Nathan is injured in a tractor accident, and Virginia is called upon to pitch in on the family farm for the summer. A reluctant Virginia drags her 13-year old son, Randall, along and leaves husband Rob in suburban Maryland. On the farm, she hays and milks the cows while attempting to get along with her recalcitrant new stepmother, Lydia. In addition, Virginia reconnects with the townspeople, most notably her ex-boyfriend West Moffat, and friend Hennis “Henny” Eastman, now in a wheelchair. An additional story line involves Irene, a troubled girl from a broken home whom Randall befriends and Virginia attempts to save, with mixed results. Tudish portrays a realistic world, yet Virginia's abrupt transformation, brought on when her father contemplates selling the farm, is at odds with the novel's unhurried pace. Readers who enjoyed the story collection will appreciate this return journey. (Aug.)
