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Work Like Any Other by Virginia Reeves - 4* - My Review

Set in Alabama in the 1920s, Roscoe T. Martin enjoys working as an electrician at a time when electricity had not been run to many rural areas. He loves his work, but when his wife inherits fer father’s farm, he must leave his chosen field and focus on farming, which he dislikes. The farm starts going downhill, and with the help of his black farmhand Wilson, he siphons electricity from the State and runs it to his property. When a man is electrocuted, he is blamed, prosecuted, and sent to prison. Wilson is also arrested. We learn all of this in the first pages of the book. The rest of the storyline alternates between Roscoe’s story, told in first and third person, of his present life in prison and his past life with his wife and son.

Roscoe is portrayed as a flawed but basically decent person down deep. He struggles with guilt. He does not understand his wife’s reaction to what has happened. It portrays the racial attitudes of the time via the differences in treatment between Roscoe and Wilson. This book is a beautifully told story with realistic characters. It is a character-focused novel that packs an emotional punch. It examines the ripple effect of one decision, even one made without malicious intent. It raises questions of ethics. It explores the idea of whether actions that result in drastic consequences can ever be forgiven. It is an impressive debut.

Content warning: (view spoiler)[spousal abuse, prison brutality (hide spoiler)]