Land That Moves, Land That Stands Still, by Kent Nelson

(0670032263)
WOW. I wouldn't have picked this up if I hadn't read a review--in Book Magazine, which is gone now. A moment of sadness in its honor....

This is a book that fits in with Atticus and Plainsong and Mavis about strong, modern westerners. This follows Mattie and her life directly before and after the death of her husband, Haney. It also climbs inside the heads of her daughter and the "hired man" she hires who calls herself Dawn in this incarnation of self. With the addition of a runaway Indian boy, they run the ranch through the spring and summer following Haney's death. Between rotten-awful neighbors--balanced by good-people friends--a secret uncovered in the trunk of Haney's Lincoln (the Doom Car itself), absolute hard work, mourning, and trying to find the pieces of oneself....well. The ending is horrific but happy. The only drawback was the relatively neat romantic package we are presented with at the end, with the exception of Shelley, the daughter. But one can see her as happy too... grr.

Still, a very effective evocation of the West: the space between people and places, the sweat and labor involved in doing anything worthwhile. The real story is how survivors feel about things they find out about the dead after the funeral is over. Very complicated. Like life.

(Again, what is it with the death theme?!)