Bealport

Jeffrey Lewis Haus €20.99

The small town of Bealport on the coast of Maine has long depended on a now-struggling shoe factory for its economic survival, so hopes are high in the community when it is bought by a private equity firm with grand plans. Out of this simple premise, Lewis has created a rich tapestry of life. In lean, poetically precise prose he lays bare the realities of a town in decline and reveals the fears, secrets and aspirations that animate ordinary lives. This highly accomplished short novel is a moving and humane portrait of small-town contemporary America, a vision of Trump’s Republic in miniature.

Simon Humphreys