HOW IT WAS

Corruption and the disappearance of a former student bring a growing sense of unease to a college town in Brookhouse’s novel.

Lenny Grey is a student, “when he can afford it.” He attends Prester, located in Prester, North Carolina, and considered one of the most prestigious private colleges in the South. He has only a few courses to complete before being handed an English degree, but he’s struggling to find the funds to graduate despite working side jobs as a waiter and handyman. As a prizewinning essayist, he is asked by the college to tutor student athletes. The school has a history of not admitting “more than the token Black,” but an exception is made for Wallace Wallace, a basketball star who struggles academically. Lenny is unofficially tasked with writing Wallace’s papers—in other words, cheating. In addition to racism and corruption, Prester is also dogged by the disappearance of Haley Flagg, a college dropout. After a private detective is hired and the town is found to be a font of unsavory activity, none of its citizens is beyond suspicion. The prose is an urgent machine-gun rattle of short, precise, descriptive sentences: “Home again. Maisie’s Bug was behind the trailer. Lenny lifted the tarp.” This sense of immediacy is tempered by occasional passages of ponderous, atmospheric prose: “Once upon a time seasonal darkness relieved only by the thin flame of a candle provided opportunity for contemplation and ruminating on the baffling questions of mortality.” The plot unfolds at a leisurely pace—perhaps too leisurely for some readers. The unrushed narrative provides opportunities to get to know some of the oddball townsfolk the author has created, such as the controversial artist Zephyr Harrison, who is paid to paint some young girls: “If Daddy wanted prim purity and the sloe-eyed family spaniel, he should have commissioned someone else.” Drawing upon this cast of strange, psychologically convincing characters, Brookhouse cleverly pulls back the skin of small-town America to reveal deeply rooted racism and multiple layers of sleaze. The story is unpredictable, throwing in a delicious plot twist that will keep readers guessing until the end.

Sufficiently gripping and intricate to excuse the slow reveal.