7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A well-written novel about innocence lost, August 19, 2006
This review is from: The Slow Moon: A Novel (Hardcover)
The Slow Moon is the story of what happens when the small town of South Pittsburg, TN is thrown into turmoil when an act of unspeakable brutality is committed against one of its children. Crow Davenport, 16, and his 14-year-old girlfriend, Sophie Chabot, sneak away from a party to make love when Crow remembers that he forgot his condoms in his car. He leaves Sophie to retrieve them, and in his absence Sophie is raped and assaulted. When he hears police sirens upon returning to the scene, Crow's first instinct is to flee, which he does.
The aftermath of Crow's decision and the harsh reality of what happened to Sophie cause life in South Pittsburg to virtually halt. There is a sea filled with accusations and doubts that flows through the heart of the locals. Some cannot believe that Crow, a priveleged child whose father is one of the most wealthy men in the town, would be capable of assaulting anyone; while others grasp on their need to blame someone and choose Crow as the scapegoat. Though Crow and Sophie are clearly at the forefront of the story, Cox also takes care with her descriptions of the other residents of South Pittsburg so the reader truly understands how invested they are in what happened.
The Slow Moon is more than just a story about a girl who was raped and her boyfriend's efforts to acquit himself of the crime, but a beautifully woven tale about trust and mistrust, doubts and accusations, and the struggle to put back together something that may be irreparably shattered. I picked up this book because my favorite author, Elizabeth Berg, once said that she would buy anything Elizabeth Cox ever wrote. I am now in agreement. This story was beautifully written and told with such poignance and grace that it's hard to find fault with any part of it. I read it in about four hours and if you pick it up, prepare to read it in one sitting. It's that good.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"You are what I wanted, exactly what I wanted", August 6, 2006
This review is from: The Slow Moon: A Novel (Hardcover)
The centerpiece of Elizabeth Cox's cautionary novel The Slow Moon is a childhood friendship that ends in betrayal and treachery. With spring just beginning, the beautiful copper-coloured moon hovers over South Pittsburgh, Tennessee as two young teenagers, Crow Davenport and his girlfriend Sophie leave a party and walk into the woods toward the river to be alone.
Fuelled by adolescent lust, the two begin to undress, eager to explore each other's bodies. Realizing that he is without condoms, Crow returns to his car, leaving Sophie waiting expectantly by the riverbank. However, upon his return, he discovers that Sophie has been brutally raped and she is now semi-conscious and covered in blood. As the sounds of police sirens are heard, Crow panics, frightened he will be blamed, he races off, leaving his beloved Sophie to her fate.
But it's all too late, as Sophie remembers nothing of the evening, or her attackers, except that she was with Crow that night. With his wallet discovered at the scene of the crime, and blood found on his leg, the evidence is automatically damning. This privileged boy from one of South Pittsburgh's wealthiest families is placed on trial for rape.
In the light of day, Crow continues to maintain his innocence and is supported by Helen, his religious mother and Carl his reserved, detached stepfather. Helen's heart struggles against the idea that Crow might be guilty of something terrible, whilst Crow tries to imagine Sophie and why he felt the need to lie, he remembered kissing her, but over the days she becomes almost "faceless as he remembered."
As consensus amongst the community begins to build that Crow may indeed be innocent, the police begin looking at the possibility more than one person did that this. Findings at the crime scene indicate the evidence of sperm from multiple attackers. Certain boys are questioned, with the feeling that everyone knows more than they are saying and it is determined there were other boys who attended the party that night who were drunk and stoned.
Bobbie, the handsome son of Judge Aurelia Bailey and Crow's childhood best friend was one of the boys at the party. Lately Aurelia has noticed that Bobby has grown secretive and sullen. Could Bobby have raped Sophie? He certainly had a terrible crush on her, after first noticing her when Sophie and her mother Rita moved to South Pittsburgh from Montana with thoughts of new beginnings and of hope.
And what about the enigmatic Tom Canady? A member of Crow and Bobbie's rock band, Tom has developed a crush on Crow's younger brother Johnny, their furtive sexual experimentations taking place over a period of months, the frustration of keeping their affair a secret growing into a steady anger at each other. Over the last few years, Tom has realized who and what he was, creating for himself the burdensome role of an imposter.
Cox conjures up an intricate mix of damaged people, all shouldering their respective secrets and burdens, and having to face the moral dilemmas of living in the modern world. Bobbie's lost father is found, and Crows own father, his real one had been lost. Helen finally realizes that Carl is cheating on her with her sister Ava - she can see it in his body. She has almost confronted him once, but could not imagine what life would be like after such a confrontation.
Carl tries frantically to toughen the bookish Johnny up by encouraging him with outdoor pursuits, whilst Aurelia, although trying as she might, cannot escape her ex-husband's criminal past. The novel is awash in issues of boyhood masculinity, the mysteries of sexual fluidity and the consequences heterosexual infidelity.
These teenagers are assuaging a barely drifting edge of sexuality. Obviously eager, these boys, think they are, but are not yet men, just don't want to think about the price it takes to be men, "wanting instead to blaze, the rage, the danger they think are men."
Sophie eventually returns to Montana to stay with friends, to get away and to perhaps get a new perspective, so that she might help her remember something about that terrible night. It is still impossible to believe that Carl was actually responsible, especially considering his reputation at school, academically and socially, and that he's from a good family - he had never been arrested or even been in trouble.
Cox has written a reflective and quite thought-provoking novel on the dangers of kids growing up in a precarious and uncertain world. These are months of anguish for Carl and for Sophie, who yearns desperately to remember, and when she finally does, the central familiaral relationships of the story are tested to the limit.
Written in a type of confessional, and cautionary tone, The Slow Moon is indeed a deeply haunting journey, where teenagers act shockingly and irresponsibly, but are in the end somewhat trapped and ensnared by the endlessly self-absorbed behavior of those around them. Mike Leonard August 06.
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