River Rising

When, at the beginning of this novel, Rev. Hale Poser arrives in Pilotsville, La., the story appears to unfold in an all-too-familiar way: a stranger of humble means comes to a Southern town, scandalizes it and, in true Christ-figure fashion, changes the lives of everyone there forever. However, a series of twists and surprises quickly pull the narrative into unexpected territory that is at once entrancing and painful to behold. Set during the great Mississippi flood of 1927, Dickson's novel does not simply explore racism, faith and poverty, but somehow inhabits them, mostly by way of Hale's journey. Told from the perspective of several characters, Hale's first days in Pilotsville—where readers quickly learn he has come to find the parents he never knew—reveal something close to utopia: black and white residents working and living together congenially, and almost equally, while the beneficent white man who essentially owns the town keeps all the ugliness of Southern racism at bay. Sadly, nothing is quite as it seems, and the miracles, revelations and moments of despair that make up the bulk of this book lead its characters and readers to some disturbing conclusions. Atmospheric, well-paced and powerfully imagined, this novel is reminiscent of Octavia Butler's Kindred and deserves similar readership and respect. (Jan.)