Out After Dark

Part fairy tale, part murder mystery, this intriguing, deeply felt first novel about two orphans and their abusive guardian is surprisingly hard to put down. In 1962, Con and her baby brother Lordie are vacationing in the mountains of Germany with their parents, who go off to gather mushrooms and fall to their deaths. Blurred memories follow, of the childrens' awful experiences: time in a German orphanage; eventual adoption by their hippie-like Aunt Cherry; wanderings through Europe and the States. Cherry herself, a slovenly woman of no means, has a succession of terrible boyfriends and a fierce temper, particularly when she is drunk. She inflicts heavy physical punishment on both children, injuring Con so badly that she nearly dies. Con's questions about her parents' estate and her growing worries about her deeply antisocial little brother are the primary concerns of this narrative, which flashes back and forth between the past and the present, as Lordie is charged by police with murdering his aunt. The tale's grim, remote quality may leave some readers nonplussed, but Maristed skillfully summons a child's-eye view of the world, and the real shock this novel provides is a shock of recognition at the universal emotions it summons. (Oct.)