- Sugar
- Town
- is
- a
- place
- that
- conceals
- a
- shameful
- deed.
- More
- than
- a
- decade
- ago,
- a
- series
- of
- terrible
- crimes
- was
- committed
- against
- a
- single
- family
- and,
- through
- resolute
- inaction,
- all
- were
- left
- unresolved.
- Among
- the
- very
- few
- people
- in
- town
- who
- know
- nothing
- of
- the
- crimes
- are,
- ironically,
- the
- victims.
- The
- story's
- thirteen
- year
- old
- narrator,
- Ruth,
- knows
- only
- that,
- once
- upon
- a
- time,
- her
- grandmother
- suffered
- a
- violent
- and
- fatal
- attack
- in
- her
- home,
- her
- mother
- suicided
- and
- her
- father
- abandoned
- his
- Australian
- home
- and
- family
- to
- start
- a
- mission
- in
- New
- Guinea.
What
- remains
- of
- her
- family
- is
- herself,
- her
- beautiful
- but
- piously
- intense
- 24
- year
- old
- sister
- who
- suffers
- from
- repressed
- memory
- syndrome
- and
- her
- eleven
- year
- old
- brother
- who,
- with
- recently
- diagnosed
- late-onset
- occipital
- epilepsy,
- has
- become
- prone
- to
- periodic
- hallucinations.
When
- Ruth
- discovers
- letters
- that
- hint
- at
- a
- community-wide
- deception,
- she
- begins
- to
- ask
- questions,
- in
- the
- process
- drawing
- strange
- allies
- to
- her.
- One
- is
- an
- old
- man
- who,
- though
- a
- peripheral
- witness
- to
- the
- original
- crimes,
- now
- sees
- the
- world
- through
- an
- alcoholic
- fug.
- Another
- is
- an
- eccentric
- young
- woman,
- an
- 'outsider',
- whose
- presence
- in
- the
- rural
- town
- is
- in
- itself
- a
- mystery.
As
- their
- questions
- begin
- to
- bite,
- new
- crimes
- are
- committed,
- apparently
- in
- defense
- of
- past
- decisions;
- but
- consciences
- are
- prodded
- as
- well,
- and
- the
- townsfolk
- begin
- a
- painful
- process
- of
- self-disclosure.
- Only
- then
- is
- it
- found
- that
- some
- truths
- really
- are
- too
- painful
- or
- too
- extraordinary
- to
- be spoken.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
