THE OUTHOUSE IN WINTER

Leggett’s dark blend of crime fiction and coming-of-age tale, set initially in 1959 Brooklyn, follows a 12-year-old boy as he attempts to escape from a seemingly predetermined violent future.

Anthony Romano’s life isn’t exactly idyllic. He lives in a seedy Brooklyn tenement with his prostitute mother, but things get exponentially worse when he’s expelled from school for stabbing a teacher with a letter opener and allegedly setting fire to the school. When his mother dies of a drug overdose soon thereafter, he begins his journey through the foster-care system—getting lucky when he moves in with a retired cop and his wife in New Rochelle. Hank Lanier immediately takes the troubled youth under his wing, and together with his wife, Shelly, the family spends the summer at their camp on a remote lake in Maine. There, Anthony finds an eclectic group of friends, experiences some jaw-dropping adventures, and even falls in love. But Anthony’s rough background back on the streets of Brooklyn—where he met more than a few dangerous criminals—follows him to the remote Maine lake in a most unexpected way. The focus on setting and the nostalgic undertone are the novel’s obvious strengths. Here Leggett describes a convenience store in Maine: “An antique cash register sat on the counter. The wall behind it offered packages of rubber worms for amateurs and tourists along with pine-scented air fresheners, bottle openers, and refrigerator magnets in the shapes of moose and lobsters. The countertop held glass jars of penny candy and Slim Jims.” The gritty storyline involving Anthony’s brief contact with possible hit men during his time in Brooklyn gives the novel an intensity and gravitas—but it’s the compassionate and emotionally compelling way that Leggett treats Anthony’s journey to enlightenment that makes this such a memorable story.

A unique, insightful coming-of-age story blended with a gripping crime/adventure novel.