Set in the small, fictional town of Holt, Colorado, Plainsong slowly develops the intersection of very different people from three generations whose lives become intertwined. Tom Guthrie, a high school teacher, is left to raise his two sons when his seriously depressed wife retreats to her bedroom and then leaves them altogether. Harold and Raymond McPherson, two older bachelor brothers, live way out of town on their farm and interact very little with the townsfolk. Victoria Roubideaux, a pregnant teenager, is thrown out of her home by her mother. Stumbling around in the cold and dark, she finally stops at the frame house where Maggie Jones lives. Maggie, an unmarried teacher, takes her in and soon convinces the McPherson brothers to take Victoria in for her safety.

Haruf spends quite a bit of time describing the daily lives of his very different characters and the challenges each faces. Teaching difficult students and their parents, caring for cattle and trying to succeed in school all come under his microscope, as do the weather and the landscape. The reader gets to feel like he knows the town and its inhabitants.

How the lives of these very different, unrelated folks are merged together is the stuff of Plainsong. It is replete with themes of compassion and kindness that remind the reader that despite personal struggle, the potential for human connection is still there.

Everyone, the author says, deserves understanding and love. The cynics among us, and I count myself as one, feel there are some humans that are simply evil. Why is for another discussion. Plainsong, as it moves doggedly toward a happy ending, will appeal to many readers.

This book is available at the library. The Manor Book Club meets on the second Tuesday of each month; the Roscoe Book Club meets the last Monday of each month.