The Sweetest Days

In Hough’s evocative if uneven domestic tragedy (after Little Bighorn), a former high school football star turned reporter and speechwriter returns to his Cape Cod hometown to give a reading from his first novel. Pete Hatch’s wife, Jackie, who has been diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, accompanies him. Pete and Jackie were high school sweethearts whose first stab at romance ended with Pete’s mysterious disappearance following his participation with SNCC in a boycott of a white-owned grocery store in the Jim Crow South, which Jackie refused to join because of her father’s pro-segregation views. Hough weaves back and forth between the present-day visit on the Cape—during which Pete and Jackie drink amply and visit her father—and the events of the past, leading to the reveal of why Pete was sent abroad as well as his eventual, coincidental reunion with Jackie in Boston. Everything is brought out in the open at the bookstore where Pete gives the reading. While the writing is spare and seamless, the flashbacks can feel overwhelming. Additionally, some readers may balk at some of Pete’s narration, such as “Her breasts would have been the pride of any woman her age.” Hough is without doubt a proficient craftsman, but this one misses the mark. Agent: BJ Robbins, BJ Robbins Literary. (June)