BOLL WEEVIL

An ambitious lawyer returns to his
hometown to overthrow the local administration in Radford’s debut legal novel.

Attorney Daniel Riley is back in
rural Goshen County, Georgia, after
several years away, in the hope of
becoming county commissioner. To do so, he’ll have to take down the long-serving
incumbent, Leon Darby, who owns the massive tobacco company at the center of
the county’s Woeconomy. It’s a position that gives Darby immense power—and
inspires immense resentment among the local farmers. Daniel’s old high school
debate teammate, the altruistic and newly wealthy lawyer Michael Drummond,
thinks that Darby is vulnerable as a candidate. Daniel has always dreamed of
holding office, but he’s tried and failed before, and his wife, Amber, is
opposed to the idea of his trying again. Daniel soon finds that he may be more
out of step with the conservative locals than he’d anticipated. Michael, who’s
African-American, is ambivalent about the white Daniel’s return; he’s put in
more work in the county than Daniel has, but the racism of the local electorate
would make it difficult for him to successfully run. As the two men set to
work, they not only confront an amoral, entrenched opponent with unanticipated
resources—they also must deal with their own clashing personalities, which
drove them apart years ago. Radford’s prose is light and descriptive,
particularly when evoking the landscape of Goshen County, which features “miles
and miles of farmland, seemingly never-ending fields of tall, ripening tobacco
stalks, weeks from harvest, punctuated occasionally by a driveway or fence
line. The stalks obscured the horizon in all directions, a rich green palette
on either side of the grey line of road.” That said, the novel lacks subtlety
in both its characterizations and its politics, although it does talk
straightforwardly about race and how it affects every aspect of Goshen County
life. It makes some points in heavy-handed ways, and some aspects of the plot
drift into melodrama. Despite this, the story remains compelling, and the pages
fly by.

An engaging, if sometimes-blunt,
novel about race relations, arrogance, and local politics.