cover image Friendswood

Friendswood

Rene Steinke. Riverhead, $27.95 (368p) ISBN 978-1-59463-251-8

Steinke’s latest (after Holy Skirts) comprises several story lines following residents of the titular small town, a Texas community adjoining a toxic waste dump. Lee is a bereaved mother whose daughter died of a blood disease that she’s convinced was caused by the toxic waste. Teenage Willa unwisely goes to a party at which she is the only girl and is gang-raped. The sensitive Dex, a classmate of Willa’s and a trainer for the high school football team, witnesses her assault. For Hal, a born-again Christian real estate agent, a big score always seems just out of reach. These and other characters move through their lives with a combination of determination and bewilderment. Steinke capably delineates her characters’ rather constricted lives, but the different parts of story never coalesce. Even when the characters appear in one another’s chapters, readers may not be convinced that they truly belong to the same community. Still, the characters are well drawn, and the stories taken individually are engaging. Agent: P.J. Mark, Janklow & Nesbit. (Aug.)