Enon is the name of the village in Maine in which the first person narrator has lived all his life. We get a sense of the area and its surrounds as he looks back on his life and activities with friends and loved ones during happier times. Basically though, the narrative covers a year of Charlie’s life following the death of his 13-year-old daughter.
One gets the feeling he’s been a so-so landscape gardener but a devoted father and husband. When the bottom falls out of Charlie’s world, he falls into a pit of despair from which there seems no respite.
Yes, this all sounds exceedingly bleak but it’s an excellent read nonetheless.
Enon
By Paul Harding
(Random House, RRP $30)