A review by leasttorque
Provinces of Night by William Gay

4.0

More brilliance by William Gay in this novel of multiple generations of a family cursed by drinking and violence and hexes and abandonment, with perhaps one last chance at redemption through its youngest member. This book took me a long time to read, being almost entirely descriptive and simile-laden, each sentence requiring time to fully savor in its glory. That said, some similes fail and Gay did get overly attached to “yellowlit” and “revenant” and “leaf”, though the last two ring perhaps more as intentional. Sometimes the rhythm was very T.R. Pearson (another of my favorites), but I’ve never seen him listed as an influence. There was also quite a lot of humor in this book with some good belly laughs to bust up the tragedies. Thanks for that, Mr. Gay. Wish you were alive to hear it.