Rating: 
Summary: Well-written, enjoyable, quirky!
Review: I've read far too many novels recently in this genre - the smart aleck young girl coming of age in a difficult, quirky family - to rave about FOUR CORNERS, but I must say I enjoyed reading it. Freund has created a fictional world peopled by dysfunctional, often hilariously so, characters. Ten year old Rainey (okay - she doesn't seem ten, but she's lovable) and her four siblings lose their mother to insanity one summer. Their foul-mouthed, cynical, no-nonsense aunt Merle arrives from the Bronx to care for them since their father, who works long hours as a bartender and who doesn't have much emotional backbone, cannot. But the real gift to Rainey is her cousin Joan, a headstrong troubled teen who shows Rainey a side of life she has not known. As the summer wears on and still Rainey's mother does not return, a series of crises, some small and some not, convince Rainey that it was she who drove her mother mad. Merle is a brilliantly wrought character, especially as her voice begins to merge with Rainey's. Her character and Joan's are the true triumphs of this novel; they are both vibrant and sad portrayals of strong women who struggle against the odds of their limited futures. The men and boys tend to be either creepy (Joan's brother and father, Harold the cruel burn victim, even Eddie Birdseye who comes across as kind and happy at first) or nondescript (Rainey's father and her brothers.) If you like character-driven fiction with an offbeat mix of humor and pathos, this book is for you. You won't find suspense or plot twists, but you'll find yourself engrossed in Freund's fictional world, turning page after page until you're done.
Rating:
Summary: Well-written, enjoyable, quirky!
Review: I've read far too many novels recently in this genre - the smart aleck young girl coming of age in a difficult, quirky family - to rave about FOUR CORNERS, but I must say I enjoyed reading it. Freund has created a fictional world peopled by dysfunctional, often hilariously so, characters. Ten year old Rainey (okay - she doesn't seem ten, but she's lovable) and her four siblings lose their mother to insanity one summer. Their foul-mouthed, cynical, no-nonsense aunt Merle arrives from the Bronx to care for them since their father, who works long hours as a bartender and who doesn't have much emotional backbone, cannot. But the real gift to Rainey is her cousin Joan, a headstrong troubled teen who shows Rainey a side of life she has not known. As the summer wears on and still Rainey's mother does not return, a series of crises, some small and some not, convince Rainey that it was she who drove her mother mad. Merle is a brilliantly wrought character, especially as her voice begins to merge with Rainey's. Her character and Joan's are the true triumphs of this novel; they are both vibrant and sad portrayals of strong women who struggle against the odds of their limited futures. The men and boys tend to be either creepy (Joan's brother and father, Harold the cruel burn victim, even Eddie Birdseye who comes across as kind and happy at first) or nondescript (Rainey's father and her brothers.) If you like character-driven fiction with an offbeat mix of humor and pathos, this book is for you. You won't find suspense or plot twists, but you'll find yourself engrossed in Freund's fictional world, turning page after page until you're done.
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