So Much Pretty

So Much Pretty (2011) by Cara Hoffman. In a small town in upstate New York, a small "hippie" family comes to settle down and get back to the land. The Pipers -- Gene, Claire and daughter Alice -- are unconventional, and never are accepted as full-fledged citizens of the town. But their presence becomes a catalyst to events that will rock the town to its core. Meanwhile, newspaper reporter Stacy Flynn comes to the same town, intent on covering rust-belt politics and the effects of agribusiness on the environment. Author Hoffman, who has a history much like Flynn, clearly has an ax to grind, but she grinds it so well that I didn't mind. The only objection I had to her writing was that the book seems to me to needlessly jump around in time, to an extent that is unnecessary to the plot or the characters. Still, I would recommend this book. I can't explain the title. Grade: B+