It's not easy being a woman in the male-dominated world of Big Oil, but single mother and former college basketball star Diane Morris advances with both fists forward in Tarlton's second novel (after the well-received A Window Facing West). Set once again in the Deep South, the tale unfolds against a familiar backdrop of egrets and pecan groves, flatbed pickups and rotating fan blades. Three prickly landowners in Pointe Claire Parish, La., are involved in a dispute over oil-rich Mud Lake, and Diane, as negotiator, is caught in the middle of a conflict that gets murkier at every turn. And she already has problems of her own: her father, recently widowed, is in the midst of a major depression; she's questioning her own attractiveness as a six-foot-four divorcee and single mom; and worst of all, her deadbeat ex-husband has suddenly resurfaced, fleeing folks who mean him harm. Tarlton delivers a quietly powerful exploration of the psychology of emotional maturation, taking up themes introduced in his first novel. The language may sometimes swing from colloquial to grandiose, as when one character comments on a recent tragedy: "No winners here, no heroes.... None honored save the angels of violence." Fortunately, the reduction of characters to sound-bite–dispensing talking heads doesn't happen often. And while the snapshots of iced tea-sippin' Southerners won't do much to broaden the genre, the novel is worth reading for its insight into the truths that motivate people of all regions. (Oct. 1)
