Ohio by Stephen Markley (Simon & Schuster, $29)
Ohio is usually a bellwether state in presidential elections. In 2016, it voted significantly for Trump. His base was the disaffected, the marginalised and the poorly educated. Stephen Markley’s debut novel explores exactly the same beleaguered territory. You will begin to understand Trump’s appeal.
In 2013, the bleakly ironic town of New Canaan, Ohio, sees a burial parade for a fallen soldier, killed in Iraq. It is a symbolic event in a
symbolic setting: the coffin is empty and the decrepit town in the Rust Belt is dominated by its hospital.
Likewise, Markley’s novel is structured around four characters who are, in themselves, emblems of a decaying America. The book is essentially four interconnected novellas. All four converge in the grisly murder that is the climax.
New Canaan’s youth are infected by a deadly combination of drugs, booze, ineffective schooling, loss of hope, misogyny, an adulation of macho sports and, overwhelmingly, a culture drenched in the prevalence of violence – be it individual, group or state-sponsored.
Bill Ashcraft thought he had escaped New Canaan’s clutches. An alcoholic and drug addict, he has worked intermittently as an activist for various left-wing causes. He has returned to do a deal.
Stacey Moore has successfully fled. A lesbian academic, she is a doctoral student. Having returned to confront the mother of her lover for her appalling reaction to the discovery of their sexuality, Stacey has a key role in the climax.
Dan Eaton is a shy, bookish young man. Having completed three tours in Iraq, he is still haunted by his teenage crush. He has returned for dinner with her.
The beautiful Tina Ross is the linchpin. She is the victim of the football team’s feral lusts. She seeks revenge.
Left behind in New Canaan are the boorish louts of the football team, the drifters and the psychologically damaged.
New Canaan represents the key strands of Trump’s support. The town is ‘‘the microcosm poster child of middle American angst’’ with its ‘‘gangrenous swaths’’ of
dereliction and heartache. And that is both the novel’s strength and its prime weakness.
Markley’s structuring is all too apparent. Despite the wealth of background material on each of these four, plus others, they remain emblems. Markley simply takes far too long building up individual cases. The narrative swirls in various chronological currents, in both flashback and flash forward. It can leave you confused in places. At times, Markley mounts a pulpit, sermonising on the ills of modern America and the lessons to be learnt.
Markley’s astonishing talent lies in his use of language. There is a gritty poeticism about the book, with some stunning phrasing. A ‘‘truck’s gas gauge had the accuracy of a creationist biology textbook’’. The climax looms with ‘‘the electric buzz of tragedy on the way’’.
This is an impressive debut. With tighter narrative focus, it could have also been a memorable one. Still, Markley is one to watch.
– Steve Walker
The beautiful Tina Ross is the linchpin. She seeks revenge.