The excellent Lombards, by Jane Hamilton

The extended Lombard family shares 400 acres of farmland and woodland in central Wisconsin given over to apple growing and sheep raising.  The novel is told from the viewpoint of Mary Frances, the young daughter of Jim and Nellie, and almost has a “young adult” feel to it.  She is very close to her older brother William, so close are they in age and interests, they are often taken for twins.  Across the road live Sherwood Lombard, his wife, Dolly, and brainy daughter, Amada, who is Mary Frances’s best friend.  Also in the same house as this family, but living in separate quarters on the second floor, is eccentric Aunt May Hill – a witch-like figure. A puzzlement in this book is that Mary Frances is referred to by all reviewers and the jacket blurb as “Frankie,” but only her brother calls her that – she’s “Francie” to everyone else, and in her high school years calls herself MF.  As Frankie grows up, reality intrudes on the magic world of the farm with its rhythms of blossom time to harvest.  Jim and Sherwood are already an odd couple as partners, and into family mix comes Sherwood’s mysterious brother, Stephan (a possible CIA operative), and Aunt May Hill’s college-aged nephew, Phillip.  As the families struggle against the increasing external pressures of suburbanization and their own internal struggles with inheritance and succession, will the excellent Lombards prevail?  273 pp.