The Evidence Against Her: A Novel [Hardcover]

Robb Forman Dew (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 19, 2001

On a bright September day in 1988, three children are born - Robert Butler, Lily Scofield and her cousin Warren - and they are inseparable from birth. Robert and Lily marry, but for all her days Lily loves Warren. When he falls in love with the younger Agnes Claytor, Lily's life is changed irrevocably. Set against the landscape of a turn-of-the-century small mid-western town, this is a classic story, a love story, a story of a family that readers will ache to follow into the next generation. Like Henry James and Edith Wharton, Dew has written a beautiful, moving, and accessible story about the evolution of an American family.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Robb Forman Dew reaches far in her fourth novel, The Evidence Against Her. She wants to paint a portrait--at once intimate and sweeping--of a small, turn-of-the-century town. Into the upper crust of Washburn, Ohio, three babies are born on the same sunny day in 1888. Robert, Lily, and Warren grow up as a triumvirate, though their parents are vaguely disturbed by their "threesomeness." Eventually, as seems preordained, Robert and Lily are married, and Warren, left behind, falls for and weds the teenage Agnes. The introduction of Agnes, the interloper, upsets the triangle in unexpected ways. Forman Dew writes of these emotional entanglements in a lush, descriptive prose that owes a lot to the quiet romanticism of Eudora Welty. She wants us to believe in the intense inner lives of these old-fashioned characters; it's as if she's showing us a faded black-and-white daguerreotype and demanding that we imagine ourselves in the high-buttoned shoes of the people we see in the picture. --Claire Dederer

From Publishers Weekly

Appearing after a decade-long hiatus, Dew's latest novel proves well worth the wait. In her vibrant new work, Dew (Dale Loves Sophie to Death) once again demonstrates her mastery of the nuances of family life; her slow, painstaking accretion of detail, like the cross-hatching on a Drer etching, produces a rich and resonant landscape fully representative of its time and place. The setting here is Washburn, Ohio, a small town made prosperous by the Scofield engine manufacturer. Lily Scofield, her cousin Warren, and Robert Butler, son of the pastor of the Methodist church, are born on the same day in 1888, and their lives are intimately intertwined. Headstrong, clever Lily is their leader, first in their childhood and later as they mature. When she marries Robert, townspeople gossip that Warren is heartbroken, but the truth lies elsewhere; Warren carries a secret burden that he cannot acknowledge. His marriage to the much younger Agnes Claytor, eldest child in a dysfunctional family, disrupts the threesome's dynamic. World War I ends; the flu epidemic claims several victims. Another generation of children is born and become inseparable. And an accidental death occurs. Under the surface of these events Dew records minute changes in the emotional atmosphere, epiphanic moments that interrupt quotidian routines and small events, such as an argument over a riding habit, that signal domestic crises with lasting repercussions. A marvel of lyrical understatement, the narrative flows like a river smooth, with surprising depths, some turbulence and the inexorability of time's passing. Does character conspire with fate, or against it? Does love solve problems, or cause them? Both ambiguous and satisfying, the ending is laden with portent, suggesting another novel to come. Meanwhile, the subtlety and complexity of Dew's absorbing story is a signal achievement. (Sept. 19)Forecast: An arresting cover is a plus for this novel, and critical attention will surely be forthcoming for Dew, the granddaughter of poet John Crowe Ransom. Handselling should alert discerning readers.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown; 1st edition (September 19, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316890197
• ISBN-13: 978-0316890199
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,664,376 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rare gem., January 8, 2002

By 

"nan5858" (Iowa City, Iowa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Evidence Against Her: A Novel (Hardcover)

I received this book as a Christmas gift and I just got around to reading it. What a pleasant surprise! (And a refreshing break from the flood of novels about contemporary dysfunctional families.) The seductive cover does not mislead -- inside these pages is a powerful story, but this is a gentle kind of power -- the power of family bonds and subtle domestic dramas. The author tells us the Scofield family stories in a distinctive voice that can only be described as discreet. It's as if a loving aunt were recounting the family's history for us. I haven't read anything else by Robb Forman Dew, but I am going to search out her earlier novels, and I'm looking forward to the sequel to this one.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a REAL book with substance! Wonderful!, August 7, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Evidence Against Her: A Novel (Hardcover)

Lovers of the sort of fiction Jan Karon writes won't like this book, and it is a waste of time for them to read it. This is an astonishing work of lierature that is nevertheless accessable to any good reader. It is a whole world given to the reader to ponder for years after finishing the book. Is there Evidence? Of what and about whom? I think this is the best book I've read in decades, and if you're a fan of Jane Austen or Edith Wharton or even Carol Shields you will love this novel! I'm jealous of anyone who hasn't read it yet! Happy reading!

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars disappointing at best, July 16, 2002

By 

Anthony Grasso (Flanders, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Evidence Against Her: A Novel (Hardcover)

After reading reviews for this book I was given it as a gift several months ago. I completed the two books I wanted to read before "The Evidence Against Her" and, when I finally got to pick it up I almost wish I never had. What a disappointment! I realize that it is a slow-paced novel that takes place in a much slower time. But it's slow to the point of being stuck in the mud. The character development drags. You kind of know where the characters are going but by the time they get there you have lost interest.

I did plod along and finish the novel. The story is somewhat interesting but the pace and dialogue dragged a bit too much. Hey, there is no slower town than Mitford but I can't put Jan Karon's books down!