Outstanding coming of age story with so much more... The characters were dissected and explored with such insight into flaws and strengths; the depth of which was somewhat refreshing yet intricate beyond anything I've witnessed to date! Emotional, witty, so full of life and loss... a roller coster of deep gut-punching feelings and deep seated introspective thoughts! This book is a winner. The author is superb. Highly recommended.

The most beautiful prose I've read in a long time. His descriptions of the area are exquisite. His character development is without par. He shows a sensitivity unparalleled.

Beautifully and realistically written. I could really feel and empathize with each character because of the three different perspectives written from.

Liked the writer's style and description but thought it belabored the family's dynamic.

2/3rds of the way it was a 3*, but the last 1/3rd was 5 stars. Worth waiting for. So it gets a 4.

3.5 Hi Nick and Liz. Dysfunctional story of life gone wrong set in Ruin Creek and Killdeer in the Outer Banks. Told thru the perspective of a teen son, Joey, and his parents May and Jimmy.

Well written, but a rather depressing story. I liked it when I started, but it gradually went down-hill. Too sad for this kid!

Very well written, but a little distancing. They should have seen the writing on the wall from the start and not married.

Started off okay, but then I ended up skimming at the halfway point. I was curious how the lyrics to a song that was not written until 1984 wound up in a story set in 1959. (The lyrics "the roof, the roof, the roof is on fire"...)

I also did not like that the dialogue was all run together in single paragraphs. It was hard to tell who was saying what and eventually the revolving viewpoints got a bit old.

This is the first novel by Payne that I have read. His style,of,writing is beautiful. I will be reading more of him in the future.

Hard to get into .... Drags. More dreary family pain. Brings to mind "We were the Mulvaney's"

A lovely book that sneaks up on you, this is the tale of a Southern family falling apart in the 1960s. As 11-year-old Joey Madden struggles to make sense of his parents' difficulties, we get to see (via multiple narrators) how the Maddens' marriage unraveled. Especially satisfying for me is the way that Payne shows an event from the viewpoint of Joey's mother May, then his father Jimmy. This allows the reader to see that both can be right at the same time, adding layers to the story. Joey's ultimate conclusions about his family deliver a solid emotional punch. My only complaint is the Southern dialect of some of the other characters can slow down the story and lessen the impact. This is a minor problem that does nothing to mar a fine read.