An Untold Tale

Primordial New England might well describe Strong's ( Elsewhere ) enjoyable, challenging third novel. It is an oozy, fecund tale of male, female, hetero and homosexual identity. Through his objective, yet intimately knowledgeable narrator, local handyman Otis Cable, Strong provides the reader with a vision of the decaying human and environmental ecosystem of Otis Pond, N.H., circa 1992. Strong's characterizations and descriptions are full-bodied and three dimensional, though his prose is occasionally wordy and self-indulgent. His vivid protagonist is the hamlet's passionate renegade, middle-aged Sam Lara, who finally comes home after an absence of many years, bringing with him someone whose sex the townspeople cannot quite determine: he/she is clearly from the Middle East, and may be a companion, servant or lover. Old passions and relationships are resurrected as Sam tries to reintegrate himself into his childhood community, and he serves as the lynchpin of an interlocking drama that crescendos abruptly with the novel's shocking but ambiguous close. Ultimately, Strong's exploration of the issues of love, sex and politics is long on ideas but short on dramatic tension. (Sept.)