The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout

The first book I read by this author was Amy and Isabel and I recall telling all of my friends to read it. And now her newest book, The Burgess Boys, takes place (partially) in the same small town in Maine, Shirley Falls. I did enjoy this book but felt that it fell just a little short - perhaps I have read too many books and seen too many movies lately about people doing "bad things" (or being accused of them) and the societal and familial implications that ensue.

The siblings in the story, all Burgesses, are very different people, even though two of them are twins. The story deals with secrets, guilt, lies and deceit (that's a bit redundant) and how people's lives are altered by them. And at the center of the story is the situation involving Susan's son, Zach, who commits a "hate crime" when he throws a pig's head into a mosque. The two Burgess Boys are called in to assist their sister and her son and the family dynamics take over.  The BIG story, really, in the book is the death of the Burgess' father, which occured when they were all quite young. I won't give anything away, but this event accounts for a lot of the feelings of the siblings have toward each other.

The book deals mostly with family affairs and relationships but Strout introduces other elements into the story that tend to turn the focus away from this theme and toward racism, bias, prejudice and forgiveness. In the end, it felt like there were too many elements to tie together. 

I can't say that I didn't like the book, but I don't think it held up to Strout's other work.