TOWN & COUNTRY

The race for a congressional seat in a trendy rural town brings many tensions to the surface.

Recently proclaimed “The Best Big Small Town in America” by a glossy travel and lifestyle magazine, the fictional town of Griffin has “transitioned from one expression of itself to another, with the old toy and candy stores eventually replaced by this gourmet tea shop and that high-end hair salon.” Schaefer’s impressive debut picks up a lot of sparkling, interesting threads that have shown up in other recent novels—the gentrification of New York’s Hudson Valley (fictionalized here), queer candidates entering politics, the opioid crisis as it affects the middle class—bringing insight and texture to these issues. It opens with Griffin’s classic Memorial Day parade and continues through Election Day. On one side of the ballot is Chip Riley, a longtime local who owns a bar called the Lucky Buck, and on the other is Paul Banks, new to the area, his campaign financed by his wealthy older husband, Stan Banks. Caught between them are two other members of the Riley family. Chip’s wife, Diane, is a religious woman who once campaigned against same-sex marriage and has now become the real-estate agent of choice for the influx of gay men from the city. His son Will is home from his first year of college and newly out, and though he works at his father’s bar and on his campaign, he meets the urban gay crowd through a catering gig, and is drawn to their sophistication and freedom. Will’s sexuality is a bit of a sore spot for his family, particularly his older brother, Joe, who is reeling after the overdose death of his best friend and is still into drugs himself. Schaefer does a masterful job delineating these and a large set of supporting characters, ending his novel with a grace note involving two of the latter group, choosing to emphasize new connections rather than old divisions.

A thoroughly engaging and intelligent debut, brimming with insight and a sense of place.