Eventide is evening, in the poetic sense, and Kent Haruf chose well when he chose this title for the second novel in his series set in fictional Holt, Colorado, a small town east of Denver on endless prairie.
I loved Eventide even more than the first book in the series, Plainsong, which I absolutely adored. Some of the stories and characters continue seamlessly from one book to the next, particularly the story of the McPheron brothers, Harold and Raymond, and the teen they befriend, Victoria Roubideaux, and her baby daughter, Katie, and some are new in the second book. But it works because the tenor of life in the small town--the heartbreak behind closed doors, the struggles to work through the dark to the light, the comfort of an open heart and a willing spirit--is what really flows from one book to the next.
I loved the experience of reading Eventide--I loved the language, the stories, the tenor, the mood. Haruf was a master of his craft--his sparse prose creates a depth of understanding and compassion that is a joy to experience.
Eventide is the 6th book I've read on my TBR Pile Challenge. We're a bit past the mid-point of the year, which means I'm a bit behind but making steady progress.
