Ordinary Magic
The first thing that happens is that Cal Willard gets shot in the foot. It s 1977, the day after Thanksgiving, which means that deer season is almost over. Cal s brother George goes to the hospital to see him, even though he hasn't had much to do with Cal for years, really since he got a law degree and moved to town. George has two daughters, now both grown up. Nora is secretly pregnant and trying to figure out what to do about it. Her sister Lena is married with two small children and problems with her husband. Then there is Cal's son, Conrad, whose life is very different from that of his cousins. He decides to buy a log skidder so he can go into business for himself selling firewood to people who are burning wood because of the oil crisis. These are ordinary events, but there s magic in the way they play out over the winter and into the spring. A good read for people who liked Porter s previous novel, The Simple Life, or for people who like stories of ordinary life, truly rendered, with horses and dogs, children and winter weather Vermont life in the country and in town.