Plainsong is about ordinary people who live in a small town near Denver where
everybody seems to know everybody else. What
is so special about this book is the clever way Haruf portrays the characters, not particularly through speech but by small gestures and simple descriptions. We have the teenager Victoria, who is pregnant and homeless, and taken in by two old
brothers who are farmers. At times you feel you could almost hold a conversation with the brothers as they are so alive! We hear some of the story through Tom, a high school teacher, who is left alone to bring up his two sons after his wife''s total retreat from life. Sometimes the story is told, very matter-of –factly, through the eyes of the two sons, who become very close after the upset of the family split.
I loved this book. There was something really peaceful and magical about it. Haruf very cleverly manages to link the stories of the various characters and leaves you feeling that they are your friends.