I submitted a book review a few weeks ago about Kent Haruf’s glorious book Plainsong. I quickly reread Haruf’s follow-up book, Eventide. It was interesting to read it directly after finishing Plainsong because the characters were fresh in my mind.

Haruf has actually written several subsequent books about Holt, Colorado. Each of the books has different characters – various folks who live in this same fictitious little town on the eastern plains of Colorado. I read, by the way, that it is based on the very real town of Akron, Colorado. Don’t know if that’s true or not.

Eventide carries over a few of the characters.  The Brothers McPheron are essential characters of the book. Victoria and her little girl, now 2 years old, move to Fort Collins, Colorado, so Victoria can attend Colorado State University.  Tom Guthrie and Maggie Jones have very small roles in the book.

But the new characters tie into the old. Maggie has a friend named Rose Tyler, who is a very kind middle-aged social worker. Her caseload includes Betty and Luther, a developmentally disabled couple with two children who strive to be good parents but are too self-absorbed to be of much help when their children are in trouble. We also meet Betty’s brother, Hoyt Raines, who is a bad, bad man.

DJ Kephart is only 11, but is responsible to care for his cranky grandfather. DJ befriends Dena and Emma, daughters of Mary Wells, who has her own troubles.

The way in which Haruf ties the characters together is so subtle, yet brilliant. And again, it is Haruf’s dialogue that drives the entire story, at least in my opinion.

Some have said that Eventide isn’t as good as Plainsong, so I kept this in mind as I read the book. What I concluded is that Haruf’s writing is just as good. His dialogue is perfect and his writing style is simply beautiful. The biggest difference is that the storylines in Eventide are very sad. While the book doesn’t necessarily end sad, some very sad things transpire throughout the course of the book.

Still that isn’t necessarily bad. Good things and bad things happen in all of our lives, and the same is true for the citizens of Holt, Colorado.

I don’t think, however, I would recommend anyone read this book as a starting point. You need Plainsong for context.

Another great book club read.