Race

Central to the novel's plot and philosophy is the issue of racism, which was rampant in Boston during the summer of 1974 as a result of the anti-busing protests conducted by white residents of South Boston to prevent desegregation of Boston schools. Many of the characters display openly racist tendencies, and both Mary Pat and Coyne, the novel's two perspective characters, have lengthy inner monologues about their own position within the racial landscape of the city. Lehane, however, is interested not only in portraying the harm caused by racism, but also in deconstructing the origins of it and tracing it back to its source.

Lehane makes an interesting decision in allowing his central protagonist to be an openly racist white woman from South Boston whose daughter winds up directly responsible for the death of a Black man. Though it might seem impossible to empathize with a woman...