The Vigil (Sandhill Chronicles) [Paperback]

Clay Reynolds (Author)

Book Description

Series: Sandhill Chronicles | Publication Date: December 15, 2001

Fleeing Atlanta and an emotionally abusive marriage, Imogene McBride is heading west with her precocious, beautiful teenage daughter, Cora, when their car breaks down in the tiny North Texas town of Agatite. While her mother sits out its repair on a bench on the courthouse lawn, Cora wanders off to buy ice cream, enters a drugstore—and disappears without a trace. Initially, believing Cora is playing a prank, an agitated Imma storms the drugstore and then the sheriff’s office demanding answers. When answers don’t come, she returns to the park bench to wait, her annoyance turning to fear, and then obsession. So begins Imma’s vigil and the classic first novel of Reynolds’s Sandhill Chronicles, a timeless testament to place and character. As her waiting stretches from days and weeks into years, Imma becomes—as the town eccentric if not madwoman—a pivotal institution in Agatite and the lives of its inhabitants. Most affected by Imma’s obsession is Sheriff Ezra Holmes, a widower who has kept his emotional life in check since the death of his beloved wife. Now his controlled life is disrupted by the woman on the bench, whose presence compels and arouses Ezra in ways mysterious even to himself. As he works to unravel the mystery of Cora’s disappearance, a bond develops between the aging sheriff and the eccentric woman who brings Ezra both new hope and forces him to confront his own pain. An absorbing blend of mystery, psychological thriller, and character study, this tale of one woman’s obsession and the spell it casts is utterly unforgettable. [An] engrossing first novel. [Reynolds] knows how to create and sustain tension without resorting to sensationalism. His book, like its protagonist, has a stubborn integrity that you can’t help admiring. [Imma’s] metamorphosis . . . is absorbing. —New York Times

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This off-beat tale of an old woman waiting for 30 years on a park bench for her daughter to return is that rara avis, an unsolicited manuscript come to publication. Since we meet Imogene at the end of her self-imposed vigil and are led back to its beginning, there is little tension; since character development is minimal, there is little involvement. Stranded in a small Texas town when her car breaks down, Imogene gives her pretty, 18-year-old daughter Cora a nickel for ice cream and never sees her again. For months, the bench is her home and although hunger forces her to take a job, she manages to return to her post for long hours every day, filling the time by knitting. Never relinquishing hope, she enlists the aid of the sheriff, a widower who finds her appealing and makes a proposal which Imogene construes as a proposition. Because he has asked some sophisticated questions, he learns facts about Cora which her mother refuses to believe and in time uncovers the tragic reason for the girl's disappearance. Most readers, however, will have suspected something of the sort and may close the book puzzled rather than saddened by Imogene's tenacity. February 5
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This perceptive first novel probes the minds of two people, a women whose teenage daughter has disappeared and the county sheriff whose job it is to find her. Cora McBride is last seen entering Pete's Sundries and Drugs in Agatite, Texas. When she fails to return, her mother begins a vigil from a park bench on the courthouse lawn across the streeta vigil which she maintains long after all hope of finding Cora is past. Sheriff Ezra Stone Holmes dev e lops a special affinity for the woman who, over the years, becomes as much a part of his town as the Civil War memorial. The vigil and the relationship between protector and protected are explored in intimate detail in this captivating book by a new Texas writer. Recommended. Thomas L. Kilpatrick, Southern Illinois Univ. at Carbondale Lib.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 221 pages
• Publisher: Texas Tech University Press (December 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0896724573
• ISBN-13: 978-0896724570
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,347,605 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loss, love, and life, January 24, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Vigil (Hardcover)

At first glance, this is a simple story about a strange woman who sits on a park bench for the better part of 30 years waiting for her vanished daughter to return. But the simplicity is deceptive, and the characters are very complex. They deal with loss, love, and life much as we all do-with whatever meager skills and limited knowledge they have at their disposal.

When we first meet Imogene, she has taken control of her life. She has left her philandering husband and set out with her 18-year-old daughter, Cora, to drive from Atlanta to her sister's house in Oregon. But, the illusion of control doesn't last long. In a small Texas town, their car breaks down. As Imogene sits on a park bench outside the Agatite courthouse, waiting for the car to be repaired, Cora walks across the street to buy ice cream at the drug store, and vanishes without a trace.

Confused and devastated, Imogene begins her vigil on the bench, believing, as she must, that Cora will return. With her life turned upside down, she grasps for whatever stability she can find and continues her vigil long past the point that most other people would have given up hope. The bench becomes her home and the vigil becomes her life.

Cora's disappearance is investigated by Sheriff Ezra Holmes, who is dealing with the loss of his beloved wife, and later, as a result of his investigation, the loss of his best friend. Over time, Imogene and Ezra, buffeted if not battered by life, develop a deep understanding and a comfortable affection for one another, and the sheriff even realizes that he loves Imogene.

Imogene never feels that she has wasted her life waiting on the bench. On the contrary, she comes to understand that this is what was meant to be, and she is grateful that she was able to find a sense of belonging in Agatite.

Strong characterizations and well-paced suspense make this a very readable book. It is at once a mystery and a love story as it explores how people choose to react to, and learn to cope with, the circumstances life hands them.

5.0 out of 5 stars Romance and mystery tied together, May 22, 1998

By 

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This review is from: The Vigil (Southwest Life and Letters) (Paperback)

In a beautiful and deceptive way, Reynolds uses the disappearance of a daughter to introduce the reader into a world that is moved, disrupted and changed by the human heart. By the end of the story, it didn't even matter what happened to the daughter. I only had room in my heart for Ezra the sheriff, Imma the strange mother taking vigil on the courthouse bench, and the haunting yet silent love between the two. And Imma losing her daughter only to find her purpose in life . . . storytelling at its finest!

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Missing an 18-year-old daughter 35 years ago?, September 16, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Vigil (Southwest Life and Letters) (Paperback)

And the bereaved mother started to sit on a bench awaiting her daughter's reappearance year after year. This IBSEN's scene might be okay for a Broadway play but highly unlikely for a believable reading. I was fooled by Reynolds for his latest wonderful "PLAYERS" and trying to cover up all of his old works, but could only find disappointments so far in this one and "FRANKLIN'S CROSSING". Both resulted in a bad taste