This is either the fifth or sixth novel I have read by Woodrell, mentioned a few years ago by President Obama, as one of his favorite mystery writer. I like Woodrell as well, or I wouldn't have read all his novels. This novel revolves around a dance hall explosion in West Table, MO, killing forty two people. It's told through the point of view of Alma De Geer's grandson, who visits his grandmother each summer. We also learn about the various towns people both living and those who died in the explosion through a third person omniscient narrator. Woodrell jumps around quite a bit, from the wealthy families, who Alma works for, to the husbands, who woo Alma's sister Ruby. No one is quite sure what happened that night in 1929, whether it was intentional or an accident. As stories accrue of various townspeople, we begin to suspect it was a combination of circumstances, both intentional and accidental. We read for the prose, for the wonderful feel for a southern Missouri town in the 1920's and of course, Alma the center of the novella, feisty and courageous, living on her own, bringing up three boys alone, an earth mother of sorts. A quick read, but an unforgettable cast of characters, from all walks of life. Strangely, I am still not sure if Alma is black or white, not that it matters. That she was a maid makes me think she was, but there's no mention that I can remember of color in the novel.
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