Would you return to your very small and unforgiving hometown after serving a prison sentence for murder to see if there was any chance with the only girl you’ve ever loved? Even if she was married? This is what Will Hatfield decides to do in Chris Fabry’s novel Dogwood.
After spending twelve years in prison for killing two small girls in a car accident, we meet Will at the tail-end of his sentence. He has always loved Karin, spent every waking moment in prison thinking about her, and decides to go back home to Dogwood, West Virginia, after he’s done serving his time to see if he can put his life back together. And maybe, just maybe, include Karin in his new life.
Dogwood is told through 4 different people’s point of view; Will, Karin, Bobby Ray (Karin’s brother) and Danny Boyd, the young boy of the sisters who were killed by Will’s car. Each chapter is told by a different character, keeping all points of view separate from one another. It’s an interesting style of writing, as it gives the reader a good 360 degree of the story, without Fabry tipping his hand too much and giving away the ending too soon. I felt the story was best when told from Will’s point of view and I didn’t really understand the inclusion of Danny Boyd’s point of view. I caught on immediately that his chapters were written differently than the others, but I had many questions about Danny at the end of the book and I guess I didn’t “get it.”
Much of the first part of the book is told from Karin’s point of view and felt a bit sluggish to me in pacing because I wasn’t sure where Fabry was trying to go with the story. But once Will gets out of prison, the story really picks up steam. What really surprised me was the frantic turn the story takes in the last few chapters. Fabry weaves such a good action sequence and mystery that I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.
Dogwood turned out to be something I wasn’t expecting at all. I was expecting a bit of a love story and a story about mending relationships. What I got was a book about deep secrets, the effort it takes to heal catastrophic hurts, and a thriller with an excellent plot climax.
Fabry has written over 50 novels for children and young adults, but Dogwood is his first novel for adults. I think he is a good writer for this genre and I have a feeling we’ll see more novels from him. I hope we do.
Reviewed by Melissa Paulson
