Town & Country

Schaefer debuts with an engrossing satire of city dwellers encroaching on a small town. The novel follows two congressional candidates vying to represent a largely rural district centered around the town of Griffin in the Munsee River Valley, a thinly veiled Hudson Valley. One is lifelong resident Chip Riley, owner of an old-school bar called the Lucky Buck. His challenger, Paul Banks, is one of the many gays (nicknamed “Duffels” by the locals for their weekend bags) who have recently purchased second homes in the area and registered to vote there, recognizing it as a place where “our vote actually matters,” in the words of one of Paul’s friends. Schaefer dramatizes the quickly changing town’s contradictions in subplots following Chip’s sons Joe, who recently lost his best friend to an overdose, and Will, who’s recently come out as gay and finds his loyalties divided between his father and the allure of being seen as the Duffels’ “young, pretty thing,” especially after Chip makes him deputy campaign manager. At times, the brothers and the candidates feel like ciphers for larger issues, but as Election Day draws closer, the stakes get higher and the plot thickens, as each character’s motives are cast into doubt. The author has his finger on the pulse in this appealing story of a battleground district. Agents: Tia Ikemoto and Andrianna deLone, CAA. (Nov.)