Idaho

Starred review from November 21, 2016
In Ruskovich’s beautifully constructed debut novel, Ann attempts to piece together her husband Wade’s past—namely, the murder of his younger daughter, May, by his ex-wife, Jenny, and the disappearance of his elder daughter, June, which took place years ago, on the mountain where Wade and Ann now live. The book is set in the alluring and haunting landscape of Idaho, spanning over 50 years, and depicting Ann’s obsession and determination to figure out what exactly Jenny’s motives were and just what happened to the girls. Jenny is now in jail, mostly keeping to herself while serving a life sentence, and Ann is caring for Wade while he suffers from genetic early-onset dementia, training dogs, and making knives. All the while, Ann and Wade hope that June may still be alive, after 18 years of no news. With her amazing sentences, Ruskovich draws readers into the novel’s world, using a number of well-developed voices to describe various perspectives, allowing readers to understand the complexities of the story as well as Ann does. Shocking and heartbreaking, Ruskovich has crafted a remarkable love story and a narrative that will stay with readers. Agent: Jin Auh, Wylie Agency.

Starred review from December 1, 2016
Ruskovich's debut opens to the strains of a literary thriller but transforms into a lyrical meditation on memory, loss, and grief in the American West.Ann, a young music teacher, falls in love with Wade Mitchell, the father of two girls in her school, over piano lessons. That summer, Wade's family is ripped apart by a tragedy that leaves one daughter dead, another missing, and Wade's now-ex-wife, Jenny, serving a life sentence for murder. Against all odds, Ann and Wade marry, and she tries to soothe her new husband's insurmountable grief by piecing together what happened that day. Her efforts are thwarted by Wade's creeping dementia, which has a tendency to turn violent. Ann is left with only the powers of her imagination to reconstruct an account of the murder, putting her personal safety at risk as Wade becomes less predictable. Like memory, Ann's shifting vision of that day is fleeting, ephemeral, and imperfect, scattered as easily as "dozens of blackbirds, startled at nothing." In fact, her emotional porousness might be a key for the entire novel, which hopscotches across more than 50 years and multiple perspectives to draw connections, parallels, and portraits of the men and women who populate Ruskovich's Idaho. We also catch glimpses of Elizabeth, Jenny's cellmate; Wade's fractured recollections of his childhood and first marriage; the final days of May, Wade's murdered daughter; and, at long last, Jenny herself. Ruskovich builds poetry out of observing the smallest details--moments of narrative precision and clarity that may not illuminate what happened the day of the murder but which push the reader to interrogate the limits of empathy. Fans of lush, psychological dramas like the BBC miniseries Top of the Lake or Broadchurch have their winter reading cut out for them. A provocative first novel filled to the brim with dazzling language, mystery, and a profound belief in the human capacity to love and seek forgiveness.

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February 1, 2017

Ann and Wade live a solitary life in the mountains of northern Idaho. In his 50s, Wade has early-onset dementia, and his memory has started to fade. The only good thing about this development is that he begins to forget an appalling family catastrophe: his first wife, Jenny, now long in prison, brutally murdered their young daughter May with an ax, apparently with no warning. Their other daughter, June, ran terrified into the woods and was never seen again. This could be the plot of a psychological thriller, but the awful violence is mercifully muted, and this novel is more about mood than suspense. The chapters zigzag back and forth from different times in the past to the near future and include sad scenes of a zombie-like incarcerated Jenny. Unfortunately, the writing is opaque and oblique just when one would like more clarity and insight into the characters. VERDICT First-time novelist Ruskovich has written a family tragedy that will be appreciated by aficionados of literary fiction rendered poetically. However, many will find the unrelenting misery and melancholy just too depressing.--Leslie Patterson, Rehoboth, MA

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