Empire Falls

Empire Falls, Richard Russo.

The second book I have read by Russo, the first being Bridge of Sighs.  Even though he got the Pulitzer for Empire Falls, Bridge of Sighs, which he wrote later, is better.

There are many similarities to the two books, and it feels like Empire Falls was a warm-up for the better book later.  They are both about small-town life in the Northeast US, with a similar cast of characters.  Substitute the decaying factory town in BoS for the the decaying factory town in EF, the small grocery store in BoS for the diner in EF, the haplesss, good-hearted Lucy in BoS for Miles, the hapless, good-heearted diner owner in EF, their similar fathers and daughters, etc, and you have much of the same book, in a sense.

What EF has that BoS doesnt is a true villain -- Francine Whiting, the widow who owns everything in the decaying company town of Empire Falls, and who also essentially owns Miles via his delusions and his cowardice.  The villain improves the book, giving it energy, but also makes it worse since she seems so cliched.

Nonetheless overall EF is still good in the same ways that BoS is -- the deftly-drawn characters, the Gods-eye-view irony about their lives, mingled with a human compassion.

3.5*
(August 2010)