LET HIM GO by Larry Watson

Larry Watson, Let Him Go (Milkweed 2013 Minneapolis, MN, 2013). 269 Pages.

Also available on Nook and Kindle.

(Novel)

Reviewed by Chuck Dayton

Larry Watson is a favorite author of Sue’s and mine. Recently he was in Iowa City reading from this new book of his. We spoke with him and had our copy autographed. My favorite book of his in the past was Orchard, although White Crosses is another favorite of the both of us. Some years back we read one of his earliest books, Montana 1948.

I describe Larry Watson’s writing as spare, using only the words necessary to deliver a thought or scene. The current book is set in North Dakota and Montana, a favorite part of the country for Watson. George and Margaret Blackledge have a son who met an unfortunate early demise, and his widow and only grandson left the area of North Dakota where the Blackledge’s live for points west. There is an undertone of the belief that the erstwhile daughter-in-law is mistreating the grandson so they set out for Montana for a possible search and rescue of the grandson.

The book begins in a very mild tone, the characters exhibiting a down to earth mid-western attitude toward life. I don’t think the reader is ever quite prepared for the second half of the book, which takes on a definite unexpected edge. What begins as a rather benign tale of search and possible rescue turns into a very different kind of story. I will not say any more about that now, not wanting to spoil a really good read. This is a very well written book by an author that is not often on the bestseller list, but is very fine author and well respected by his peers.