Truer than if it really happened

All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you; the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was. -- Ernest Hemingway, Esquire, December 1934

As is often the case with books I review, I came to A Stranger in the Kingdom by Howard Frank Mosher long after its publication. The book came out in 1989, and the independent film version by Jay Craven was released in 1998. That's the price I pay for buying used books, and it's a very reasonable price in every way. I've never been a latest-and-greatest reader; I'm still catching up on all the classics I either missed in school or didn't understand because they were assigned to me long before I had the maturity to understand them.

Here is the synopsis from Mosher's web site: "A Stranger in the Kingdom tells the unforgettable story of a brutal murder in a small town and the devastating events that follow. The town’s new preacher, a black man, finds himself on trial more for who he is than for what he might have done in this powerful drama of passion, prejudice, and innocence suddenly lost…and perhaps found again."

A Stranger in the Kingdom kept me up late and made me get out of bed early. I used it as an excuse to avoid necessary chores, and I am happy to report I did not die of dirty dishes. Best of all, I discovered a new-to-me writer with a body of work I can dote on for a long time to come. Mosher is a captivating story-teller, that his work delivers hours and hours of enjoyment, and that his Vermont eccentrics and heroes, who are often the same character, will be mine until the day I can no longer remember them. Reading a great book may not be better than everything, just better than anything I can think of at the moment.

A Stranger in the Kingdom