"A soul searching family drama"
Since the war with Japan ended, Grant Pearson has given
a great deal of thought about leaving his family's remote
ranch on the northern Great Plains. Grant, who sees the
haunting eyes of his parents and his younger brother Max
daily, cannot ignore the guilt of another sibling dying
while serving his country in Grant's place. Unable to cope
with the ghost, Grant takes the train east. After several years away, Grant returns home to find
his mother dead, his father gone, and Max abandoning the
dilapidated ranch to paint. Grant decides to try to make a
go of the ranch using the money he earned over the last few
years as a sailor. A year later, Max returns with his
girlfriend Sophia. Not long afterward, Grant and Sophia
begin to fall in love which splits the siblings even more
than when the older brother walked out several years before. ON THE NIGHT PLAIN is a perspicacious look at life on
the Great Plains just after World War II. The story line
paints a bleak picture of loneliness through the key
characters, the two forlorn Pearson brothers. Readers will
feel the bitter cold and solitude while trekking along the
ranch. Once again J. Robert Lennon has taken a dramatic
twist from his previous novels (see THE LIGHT OF FALLING
STARS and THE FUNNIES) by offering something new and
different, yet retains the engaging prose expected of him. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted July 12, 2001
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