This novel sets us in a small town and introduces us to the fractured remains of a once prominent family. For anyone who has already read Jackson's "The Lottery", you'll know that Jackson is horror writer with a desire to show the frightening truth of small towns and answer the terrorizing question of whether you can trust your neighbor. 

By the end, I found myself encapsulated by the narrator. Her world became the only world I could see. Even her morality became real and infallible. I wanted to protect it and shield her from all others. And though it should scary me, I'm delighted at Jackson's ability to put me in a trance and place my own sense of right and wrong aside to protect such a flawed character.