Somebody's Fool

It had been a while since I read the first two in this trilogy about a small town in upstate New York. I’m always interested in the drama of small towns (hailing from upstate New York myself), but I’d forgotten how adept Russo is at this topic.

The first few chapters joggled my brain with familiar names from the earlier works, but it took a while to get my bearings. Midway through, I was completely hooked and couldn’t wait to see how Russo would intertwine and resolve the various plot and character threads.

Exploring love, fatherhood, divorce, race, good cops,… show more.

The pleasure of visiting old friends is at the heart of Somebody’s Fool by Richard Russo, the latest novel in the North Bath Trilogy. 

Russo excels at creating characters who mean well but usually find ways to mess things up. Sully, the main character in Nobody’s Fool, is now deceased, but his memory lingers in the lives of his friends and family, most prominently his son Peter and his ex-lover Ruth.

It’s been 30 years since I first met these people, and one of the joys of Somebody’s Fool is bringing a mature perspective to Russo’s world. North Bath… show more.

In Somebody’s Fool Richard Russo lives up to his name as a writer of great depth and humour.  

Russo simply makes me laugh and makes me want to live in the towns and alongside the lives of the characters he creates. These are ordinary everyday folk caught in situations not usually of their choosing. The town of North Bath is being subsumed by its wealthier neighbour Schuyler Springs.

As the residents grapple with these changes and their individual crises, a body is discovered in the rundown Sans Souci Hotel. Doug Raymer, ex-Chief of Police, finds himself taking charge as North… show more.