The story [of Small Town] is a familiar one and Sloan Wilson … executes it with few surprises. Hewat, who drives a white Lincoln Continental, is the stock local businessman-politician; the Kellys are the stock Irish family down to their very names; the California to which Ben compares Livingston is the stock playground of rich, plastic, unhappy people; Ben and Rosie's battle against corrupt small town politics is as old as the upstate hills they love. For long stretches, moreover, the stories of Ben, Rosie, Ebon and Annie come so much to the fore that Livingston and its citizens are neglected, thus rendering Small Town only mildly interesting as an exploration of the intricacies of small town living.

The language of the novel also leaves a lot to be desired. The modifiers are usually superfluous, the dialogue often fails to convey the intensity of the moment and is frequently...