Over at MaineCrimeWriters today I have a post about the parts of Maine tourists rarely see, the backwoods trailer compounds and falling-down farmhouses. Carolyn Chute wasn't the first author to shine a light on my home state's hidden poverty. But she certainly got the attention of the reading public with The Beans of Egypt, Maine. And she remains an influence on my work. (My forthcoming novel, Bad Little Falls, is a tribute to her early books.) Meanwhile, photographer Steven Rubin is winning raves for a series of photographs he has taken in rural Somerset County, where The Poacher's Son mostly takes place. His pictures are absolutely haunting.
