review rewind: The Dogs of Littlefield by Suzanne Berne

Two years ago, The Dogs of Littlefield was longlisted for the Baileys Prize. At the time, there was no U.S. publication in sight, despite the fact that Berne is an American author. I'm thrilled to report it's finally coming out in the U.S. Tuesday, so I'm reposting review in support of its American publication, with updated links to buy it.

The backstory: The Dogs of Littlefield was longlisted for the 2014 Baileys Prize. Suzanne Berne won the Orange Prize in 1999 for her first novel, A Crime in the Neighborhood (my review.)

The basics: Set in the idyllic (fictional) town of Littlefield, Massachusetts, famous for its place on the Ten Best Places to Live in America list, as well as its disproportionately high number of psychotherapists, The Dogs of Littlefield explores the characters of this town through their own eyes and through the eyes of Dr. Clarice Watkins, a cultural anthropologist spending a year in Littlefield as a visiting scholar. Soon after she arrives, dogs start getting poisoned, and the paranoia and repercussions of these events ripple throughout Littlefield.

My thoughts: I like my suburban fiction combined with a healthy dose of satire, and The Dogs of Littlefield is full of satire. I frequently laughed as I read, but this novel's humor is all relative--these jokes don't resonate out of context. Berne achieves the delicate balance of commenting on suburban life without doing so at the expense of the characters. The world is so well built I easily pictured real people, even as the characters acted in satirical caricature.

Favorite passage: "She was trying, he realized with a stab of grief, to be interesting."

The verdict: While the mystery of what is happening to the dogs (and who is hurting them) is a central theme to the narrative, it's only as compelling as everything else that's happening in the novel. The characters are the core of this novel, and they are the reason I so enjoyed it.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: January 12, 2016
Source: purchased

Convinced? Treat yourself! Buy The Dogs of Littlefield from Amazon (Kindle edition.)

Want more? Visit Suzanne Berne's website.