The Homecoming of Samuel Lake

For me a great book of fiction takes me to a world different than mine where characters on the page become people I feel I know. Swan Lake, yes that's her name, is one of those characters for me.  Her Dad is a charismatic preacher away for the summer and her Mom takes the kids home for the yearly family reunion. There's a bar in the back of her grandmother's house and a convenience store in the front. She and her siblings witness a frightening event when they see their grandfather try to commit suicide. And that's just the beginning of her tale. With spunk and determination Swan champions for an abused boy with a father so evil I cringed when he appeared on the page. A true adventure into human nature.