The Wake of Forgiveness

A Novel

Bruce Machart

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $26

Here is a Greek tragedy of a novel set in Texas, in which the characters are watched not only by their author and their readers but by the gods, by the Texas sky and by the wise old moon. Fierce language, richly painted scenes, midnight horse races, brother versus brother, the tight grip of the patriarch; oh, what words can do!