Bug Hollow

Huneven’s kaleidoscopic latest begins with a road trip: in 1970s Northern California, eldest son Ellis heads up the coast with his friends to celebrate their high school graduation. He doesn’t return on schedule. His parents set off to find him and bring him home, and the aftershocks of that misguided attempt then echo through four fraught decades of family life. Through the years, Huneven takes us inside the minds of Ellis’s family members—his sisters, prickly mother, and easy-going father—plus other key figures in their lives. Even across wildly disparate timelines the themes remain steady and universal: love and grief, art and solace, alcoholism and abandonment. The story unfolds primarily in California, with brief interludes in Saudi Arabia and Oaxaca. I was constantly surprised at the leaps and pivots Huneven took while laying out their history, but enjoyed every stop along the way.