FARON GOSS, a Novel Set in Maine
by Diane Lechleitner
Foreword Reviews Indies Gold Winner For General Fiction
When the body of Alison Goss washes up on Menhaden Island, in the Gulf of Maine, the working class fishing community of hard-hewn ways and salty perspectives is faced with handling the future of her unusual son, Faron.
They soon discover how different he is, in strange but endearing ways, including his fascination with moths and his stunning artistic talent.
Bound together by weather and sea, Menhaden neighbors with good hearts and blunt opinions overlook Faron's peculiarities. But their nurturing embrace cannot completely erase his troubled past, which eventually morphs into a life-changing event and forces him to confront lingering memories.
Faron faces that which haunts him, works as a sternman on a lobster boat, and paints in his studio. When he meets a bird-watching woman who has returned to Menhaden to live in her grandparents' house, his life takes another unexpected turn.
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"Like a third-generation lobsterman pulling traps from the Gulf of Maine, Diane Lechleitner adeptly reels in the reader with her new book, Faron Goss. The story of a boy born into a hardscrabble community, Faron Goss explores themes of vulnerability and resilience, as well as the magical abilities of time, friendship, and love to steady a life initially marred by neglect and tragedy. With vivid prose, Lechleitner depicts the beauty and hardship of life on Menhaden Island, the interwoven relationships of its crusty but close-knit residents, and the complex, unassuming boy who works his way into their hearts. Faron Goss is, in every way, a beautiful first novel."
—DARCIE CHAN, New York Times bestselling author of The Mill River Recluse
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"FARON GOSS is an incredibly well-written and considered novel with an intense and compelling protagonist. The story intrigues from the beginning, and combined with the descriptive beauty of the brooding, atmospheric landscape and wonderfully convincing characters, the book is a quietly powerful and absorbing read."
--IndieReader