The Best People in the World

Tussing presents us with a trio of characters, each with a gnawing desire for change and adulthood, during the period of quintessential idealism and loosening morals of the 1970s. Thomas, longing for manhood and a place of his own; Alice, needing to belong somewhere and never quite fitting in and Shiloh, the anarchist, yearning for a sense of family, of love. These hugely diverse friends chance upon curious adventures as they disappear from their small town late at night and end up as 'squatters' living in an abandoned Vermont home. A wonderful, twisting story of love, freedom, despair and growth. A story that grabbed me from page one!

It's the autumn of 1973. Thomas Mahey, 17 years old and facing a bleak future career-wise, falls in love with his 25-year-old History of Technology teacher, Alice Lowe, around the same time he finally meets a town legend: Shiloh Tanager, an eccentric who lives in a hobbled-together shack in the woods and far on the outskirts of society. Miss Lowe --- or Alice, as Thomas soon learns to call her --- doesn't maintain boundaries between herself and her student. Soon he is at her house, kissing her. The night Alice confides that she's afraid her brutal ex-husband will come for her, she and Thomas go to bed. Simultaneously, an accident triggers the town's flood warning alarm. Thomas won't tell his parents where he was when the town evacuated to higher ground, resulting in a family rift. Nervous about her ex-husband, Alice acquires a surprising roommate --- Shiloh Tanager. Thomas's parents invite Shiloh over for dinner. In an almost magical way he enchants them, although he's filthy, arrives via the backdoor, and eats enormous amounts of food. He actually performs magic tricks after dinner. And then, as Thomas says, "For his next trick, he made me disappear." Thomas, Alice and Shiloh leave town. They head for Vermont but stop first in New York City to meet Shiloh's friend, Parker, who knows people living in Vermont in an abandoned amusement park based on The Sound of Music. When the trio reach the commune and meet Gregor, the leader, they decide to travel on. Eventually they find an abandoned house, which they claim as their own. This newly formed family of three buys gardening supplies and scavenges furniture from the dump. However, they forget to buy food and gorge on candy. A slight crack in their unity appears when Shiloh insists they visit what Thomas refers to as "The Sound of Music Commune." Shiloh is enthusiastic while Thomas and Alice are not. The latter two prevail; they remain in their newly claimed home rather than join the commune. More pressure is put on them though when they attend a commune party; most of the women are hugely pregnant and Thomas is uneasy --- even more so when Gregor asks them to move in, and to pay to join. Tensions mount when Shiloh's friend Parker arrives. He and Shiloh speak cryptically of "our old friend" and move something mysterious into the house in the dark of the night. Shiloh and Parker spend a puzzling amount of time working on the house, laying attic insulation and reinforcing a column in the basement. Arguments over chores escalate. Their money dwindles, and an unexpected disaster causes Thomas and Alice to wonder if they truly know their roommate at all. An intriguing mystery threads through this compelling story, written in an original voice. A subplot involving miracles, a young man's passion, and the search for the meaning of "home" all add up to a read that's difficult to put down. THE BEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD is a memorable debut novel that will have readers eagerly anticipating Justin Tussing'

This novel haunted me. At work, while driving and in other moments in which I was not physically reading the book, I found myself ruminating on the lives of Thomas, Alice and Shiloh and their struggles in the Vermont countryside. THE BEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD is at once a love story, a coming of age story and a tragedy, yet it is told with such persuasive grace and beauty that it simply feels natural. Outwardly, it is the story of Thomas Mahey, a 17-year old high school student who, despite being somewhat shy and introverted, is wise and perceptive beyond his years. Thomas falls in love with his History of Technology teacher, Alice Lowe, a beautiful but damaged woman who has come to town to escape a devastating marriage. Each person independently forges a friendship with the mysterious and multi-talented Shiloh Tanager, the town outcast and anarchist with a fascination for electricity and a sorrowful secret. After an "accidental" flood in their home town of Peducah, Kentucky, the three take off in a car with no particular destination in mind except to escape. Alice and Shiloh are specifically running from their pasts, but Thomas' flight is more fragile and nebulous. He loves his family and yet feels estranged from them and the world to which they belong to. So the trio heads for New York and eventually wind-up in a rural Vermont where they become squatters in a fantastical, crumbling old farmhouse. Their stay at the farmhouse begins with a sweet, idyllic summer but is soon lost to the trials of winter's cold, hunger and emptiness. Life is not easy in the countryside and only Shiloh is truly prepared for such hardships. But Shiloh is also busy protecting a tragic secret which involves hidden activities in the basement, explosions and defending their home from his former friend, Parker. The relationship between Alice and Shiloh begins to deteriorate leaving Thomas stranded in the middle ground between love and friendship, loyalty and practicality. There is a small cast of other characters including a doomed child, an obtuse, yet friendly townie and an entire commune filled with religious hippies, but story never veers far from its heart: the intense relationship between three lost souls. Interspersed within the story of these three flawed, but wonderful people is the seemingly unrelated story of two men in search of miracles. The stories may seem ill-connected at first, but be patient; the connection is well worth the wait. Even the surprise elements of almost supernatural power feel very natural in this book. Tussing's writing veers from luminously beautiful to gut-wrenchingly honest, but it never looses its ability to haunt and engage. Nostalgic, poignant and subtly compelling, THE BEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD really is a moving debut for novelist Justin Tussing.

Justin Tussing's debut novel is a stunning piece of fiction. The characters are fascinating eccentrics, the sense of place is vivid, and the dialogue manages to constantly surprise while always ringing true, no easy feat. The prose is often beautiful, always clear, and the story itself will keep you turning pages. Highly recommended.

Having read the excerpt in the New Yorker magazine, I was eager to read the book, expecting an adventure novel; a contemporary story set in a tumultuous time. What I got was something much more. A deeply affective story about love, faith and wonder constantly threatened by reality. The author draws you in with his descriptions of place and time, skillfully weaving converging stories that initially seem disconnected. Once the reader surrenders to the fantastic storytelling, he is taken on a ride which can only end in the way it does. In other words, the author refuses to give in to cliche just to tie it all up. In the end you are wanting more, but can only say "Wow!"