Incubus

A tale of shape-changers and exorcism written with intelligence, restraint and style, Arensberg's compelling third novel (Sister Wolf; Group Sex) is another impressive example of this talented writer's work. In the summer of 1974, the town of Dry Falls, Maine, is subjected to a heat wave and drought that is so carefully circumscribed it doesn't even appear on the state's local weather maps. Even more disturbing evidence ensues of nature imbalanced, including a lack of sexual drive among the town's male inhabitants and cows that give birth to deformed calves, among other unusual events. Dr. Henry W. Lieber, Dry Falls's Episcopal priest and a man whose faith is fast fading, obsessively records each new incident, seeking signs of the supernatural. Cora Whitman, Dr. Lieber's wife and author of a weekly food column, is the skeptical narrator of this unsettling chronicle; this is a savvy move by Arensberg, as Cora's skepticism always precedes the reader's suspicions. Yet Cora comes to believe in the existence of a demon who disturbs women's sleep and, in fact, rapes the women of Dry Falls. But what this entity is, why it's attracted to this town and these women who know their herbs but practice no witchcraft--these are bones the readers of this beautifully written and carefully crafted novel can gnaw. Despite the rapture of the tale, Arensberg's greatest gifts here are not the plot or the research supporting her tale of the occult, but her precise insight into character and the portrayal of the workings of a small community, the life of a pastor and his wife and a marriage in many seasons. BOMC selection. (Feb.)