Undiscovered Country: A Novel, Lin Enger

This first novel blew me away. It's a hair-raising tale of betrayal, murder and revenge; the riveting portrait of a young man trying to hold his family together in a world turned upside down. The writing is rich and descriptive, but still spare. The protagonist, Jesse, an English Teacher, is writing a memoir for the benefit of his younger brother, who is getting ready to graduate from High School. Both of their parents are gone, and he wants his brother to know the truth about how their father died, 10 years earlier.