Somebody’s Fool

Recalling characters from Nobody’s Fool and Everybody’s Fool, this latest from Pulitzer Prize winner Russo focuses on the residents of North Bath, newly incorporated into neighboring Schuyler Springs, as they struggle to recover from the death of Donald “Sully” Sullivan. Sully’s son Peter finds himself being asked to fill his father’s role in the community while reflecting on his relationships with his own sons, Thomas and Will. After Douglas Raymer’s resignation, Charice Bond hits the ground running in her new position as the chief of police when a dead body is found in a local abandoned hotel. Meanwhile, Ruth and her daughter Janey work to repair their strained relationships with each other and with Janey’s daughter Tina. Russo’s latest book has an engaging plot that sensitively and insightfully explores themes of grief and reconciliation. The storytelling style occasionally gets weighed down with exposition, and the physical environment of the novel seems to fade from view as the narrator explores the internal lives of a large cast of characters. However, the relationships between the characters give this story an emotional depth that has an undeniable appeal for readers of general fiction.