Described as 'southern gothic' it is the tale of Hazel Motes, recently discharged from the army as he sets outs to set up a 'anti' religious church- the "Church Without Christ" and from this we follow his descent into madness.
This novel is on several "best of lists" about the place but I struggle to see this. This is a re-write of several interwoven stories that were originally short stories. After the re-write it was published as this novel and unsurprisingly was a commercial flop. Over the years it has gathered some traction but in my opinion this has had more to do with her later work and premature death. This was her first novel , the first chapter being the "basis of her masters thesis". (Wiki)
Reading this it stills feels like several separate short stories. Its funny in places with some disturbing imagery but several character's just drift away with no explanation.
My highlight was the police's solution in solving Hazel driving without a driving licence, much laughing over this.
No doubt Ms O'Connor could write but this left me wondering about too much of the story to really enjoy it.
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