Quiet Dell

Historical fiction at it's best. Jayne Anne Phillips did a wonderful job of blending fact and fiction in a compelling and descriptive story. Imagine “In Cold Blood” (the fact: multiple murders committed by one man) reported by a sensitive female newspaper correspondent (the fiction) who takes a personal interest in the story and aids the investigation. Actual event took place in 1931. Hard to put down.

I took a break from reading historical classics and emergency management books to dip back into some fiction. With an undergraduate degree in creative writing, I'm aware of the writers hailing from my small hometown, and as such, I'm familiar with Phillips' work thanks to a shared hometown and an anthology project from said undergraduate program.

First, I enjoyed Quiet Dell immensely.

Though I grew up 20 miles or so from the community, I was not aware of the Powers murders. I read the book alongside light research on the case. The history of an area is baked into its present, and I appreciated the opportunity to understand a little more about North Central West Virginia.

Phillips did a wonderful job or interweaving fiction with the historical accounting. The first third of the book, set entirely in Illinois, was appreciated, though once readers are introduced to Emily Thornhill, the pace picks up. The inclusion of photographs from 1930's era Clarksburg were terrific. I found myself jumping back and forth from the photos to current pictures. Knowing about the current renovations of the Gore Hotel, it's great to see efforts to restore it. One hopes the same thing for the Waldorf. Looking at the current Quincy Street area, one can find nearly where the grocery stood.

Phillips's writing is typically quite dense, with layered imagery, and I've had to read many of her other works slowly. The narrative of this novel was more straight-forward. The layering was there, but a reader can hit the high points on the narrative and enjoy the story.

Me, I could have done without the ethereal Annabel narratives following her passing. I understand why they were there, and there's sentimental value to knowing that she was connected to Duty and Mrs. Pomeroy, but all Annabel excerpts after the first one (at the time of her death) felt superfluous.

All-in-all, a good read. It's nice to get back to my West Virginia roots. There's far more quality writing sourced to our state than people realize.