DESCRIPTION
Tragicomedy–hinging on its interplay of the grotesque and the sentimental, the tender and the violent–is one of fiction’s most difficult genres, with disastrous results when the right, delicately balanced tone is not maintained. (The most obvious example of just such a disaster is John Irving’s new novel, The Hotel New Hampshire, p. 893.) So Meschery’s fiction debut, while not completely successful, is an especially notable one, one that takes great risks, never falls on its face, and often delivers truly impressive scenes of quintessential tragicomic power. The “”high place”” of the title is the town of Tullease, in the California Sierras; it’s where Lily, newly divorced, has come to make it alone with her three children. And a “”high place”” of over-confidence is where Lily begins this story: