The town in Friendswood by Rene Steinke bears the same name as the title of the book. The story begins after a bad hurricane sweeps through a coastal community in Texas. The main character Lee drives to a Methodist church in town and has a conversation with a man holding a bible, He reads her the scripture, "'Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. For there is no power but of God.' Romans thirteen" (4). This shows that the town is religious and conservative, which is also later reinforced by the character Hal who "believed he needed to pray more" (13) to find success at his job and be a better man.
Banes Field is where Lee used to live in Friendswood. It's now a dangerous and restricted area with a secret Taft Properties and the city don't want anyone to find out about. But Lee trespasses onto the area and discovers the secret: "a giant, filthy, gray vinyl box. The top of it was charred with a bright pink and brown stain, and a crack jiggered its way down the middle, where a copper liquid leaked out in a thin, jagged stream" (11). So there is also a terrible secret in Friendswood that may have harmed its citizens.
Before her big discovery, Lee bought a shovel at the local hardware store, and she met up with her boss, Doc, while there. He's glad to see her unharmed after the terrible storm. "When [Lee's lover] left her, Doc had offered her the job at the office and became her protector, though he had his own wife and son" (5). This shows that the community in Friendswood is tight-knit because they have strong relationships with each other.
There are also other examples of the tightness of the community of Friendswood. Taft Properties owns the Banes Field area, and the owner of Taft Properties, Avery Taft, played football with Hal, who is a real estate agent. Taft wants to build homes in the Banes Field area, so "Taft Properties was [Hal's] best hope--he wanted an exclusive listing for one entire inventory" (14). It's interesting to see how the antagonist in Lee's case is Hal's friend and only hope for success. In addition, Willa's mother used to be friends with Lee in high school, and although they aren't anymore, that same sense of tight-knit community is conveyed by the fact that they once were.
Friendswood reminds me a lot of my own hometown. I come from a conservative and tight-knight little community that has its fair share of secrets and tragedies, too. That fact makes this book all the more captivating to me.
Banes Field is where Lee used to live in Friendswood. It's now a dangerous and restricted area with a secret Taft Properties and the city don't want anyone to find out about. But Lee trespasses onto the area and discovers the secret: "a giant, filthy, gray vinyl box. The top of it was charred with a bright pink and brown stain, and a crack jiggered its way down the middle, where a copper liquid leaked out in a thin, jagged stream" (11). So there is also a terrible secret in Friendswood that may have harmed its citizens.
Before her big discovery, Lee bought a shovel at the local hardware store, and she met up with her boss, Doc, while there. He's glad to see her unharmed after the terrible storm. "When [Lee's lover] left her, Doc had offered her the job at the office and became her protector, though he had his own wife and son" (5). This shows that the community in Friendswood is tight-knit because they have strong relationships with each other.
There are also other examples of the tightness of the community of Friendswood. Taft Properties owns the Banes Field area, and the owner of Taft Properties, Avery Taft, played football with Hal, who is a real estate agent. Taft wants to build homes in the Banes Field area, so "Taft Properties was [Hal's] best hope--he wanted an exclusive listing for one entire inventory" (14). It's interesting to see how the antagonist in Lee's case is Hal's friend and only hope for success. In addition, Willa's mother used to be friends with Lee in high school, and although they aren't anymore, that same sense of tight-knit community is conveyed by the fact that they once were.
Friendswood reminds me a lot of my own hometown. I come from a conservative and tight-knight little community that has its fair share of secrets and tragedies, too. That fact makes this book all the more captivating to me.
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