Lady by Thomas Tryon
I wrote in my review of 'The Other' that Tryon gave life to his small towns. With 'Lady' he may have mastered it. Set in the same Pequot's Landing as 'The Other' and perhaps a few years later (no mention is made of the Perry family, however), 'Lady' is Thomas Tryon's answer to 'Dandelion Wine'. It is a novel full reflections on growing up and coming to understand the humanity of our idols, as well as a healthy dose of nostalgia.
Tryon became famous as a writer through his horror novels, but he stakes his claim to a higher standard, and succeeds, in a way that many of his contemporaries and followers have been unable to.
'Lady', published in 1974, portrays the small Connecticut town in a way could not have been published before the seventies. Tryon brings up issues of race and class, reflects and merges the contemporary changing times with the shift in America during the Depression up to World War II, and includes an implicit lesbian couple as residents of the town.
Though Tryon would return a few times to horror, I believe he found his true gift with 'Lady', with his careful attention to period details, multifaceted characters, and from-the-life humor mixed with sadness, he could create beauty.
