Review: American Sycamore by Karen Fielding

[Sally Balboa]

American Sycamore is by no means going to be a classic, it will likely never be taught in a classroom. It should be read though, at least once. The author writes with a haunting voice, that chills you to the bone; when you hear of Billy’s struggles and you watch his family go through them.
The story is set in a small town and we join Billy and his sister from a young age and watch them grow up. Going down their respective paths, but as we find out some paths are chosen for us. Billy is a prime example of this. Many of the things that lead him to his life are causing by the harshness of cruel people and his own genetics. At the end you’ll be questioning what really happened to Billy all those years ago in the woods, you’ll get your answer.
I was pleasantly surprised with this novel, because I received it from librarything as a free copy. I don’t know what I was expecting but I ended up being drawn into the novel, and finishing it in three days. It left me a strangely empty feeling at the end. I’ll probably be rereading it by next year.