Set among the rugged landscape and small towns of

northern Vermont, Catamount Bridge is the story of a

family in crisis. The Woodords have tilled the soil near the

Connecticut River for seven generations, but by the 1960s

Leon, who survived World War I and lost his son in World

War II, sees his farm in decline and his country in turmoil

over the war in Vial Nam. A widower, he shares the old

house with his widowed daughter-in-law Vero, her twin

sons Harmon and Bodie, and Harmon s prefly wife Darlene.

Harmon and BodJe hove competed all their lives--in

school, in sports, for girls--with the more aggressive and

dominating Harmon usually prevailing. Now a mixture of

patriotism and machismo have led Harmon to enlist in the

Army, and inevitably he will go to Vial Nam. But before he

leaves he wonts to know the child his wife is carrying is

really his--not Bodie s. It is Harmon s corrosive doubt thal

gives Darlene and Bodie the first edge either one has ever

held on him.

The resolution of this crisis and the fates of the

Woodards are dramatically developed in this stunning first

novel. Equally impressive is the way Catamount Bridge

captures both the texture, sound, end smell of northern

New England and the everyday lives of its people--

whether they re building a foundation, hanging out the

wash in winter, gutting a dear, or swimming in the river. It

is a story of strong emotions and feelings that cannot be

hidden, of tensions and suspense, of heartbreak and

renewal, and wJlh an ending that resonates with hope.