I had always meant to read this book (as it is set in the eastern plains of Colorado where my maternal family is from) and I was thrilled to see it pop up in our book club's to-read list. I'm not sure what I expected, but this wasn't it. I was pleased with the book, the writing style was great (besides the lack of quotation marks - I loathe that), the characters full, and the story interesting. But, I don't think I expected it to be so harsh. My expectations were corralled by the quote from the New York Times Book Review on the front of the edition I own: "So foursquare, so delicate and lovely...it has the power to exalt the reader", making it seem almost sugary sweet and reminiscent of the good-ol' days. Not so. There were some sweet parts, but there were some very harsh sections that were difficult to read. And I don't think of myself as a prude when it comes to literature (or any reading material).

Plainsong follows a few storylines that coalesce at the end. The first is Victoria Roubideaux (I love, love, love this name!) a teenage girl who has been impregnated by a basically absent past summer love. Then there is Guthrie and his two sons, Ike and Bobby. And finally Harold and Raymond McPheron, two older, bachelor, ranch-owning brothers. At first I was at a loss as to how all these characters would come together, but this is revealed relatively early, not being the basic point of the story.

As I mentioned already, I liked this book. I'm looking forward to reading the follow-up, Eventide.