the call

The Call by Yannick Murphy  (Harper Perennial, 2011)

A lovely, idiosyncratic book with an original form that works quite well.  A veterinarian in rural New England lives with his charming family in a big house surrounded by nature.  All is golden until Sam, the son, falls out of a tree and into a coma as a result of a hunting accident.  As the vet goes about his calls (horses, cows, pigs, sheep), visiting his farmer neighbors, he searches for the man who is responsible for his son’s accident.  The book lightly and lovingly explores and celebrates the ties that bind people to their families and neighbors.  The narrative stalls half-way through the book, but re-establishes itself for a lovely homestretch.