5. Julia Fierro, The Gypsy Moth Summer
《舞毒蛾入侵的夏天》茱莉亞?菲耶羅

In June 1992, gypsy moths invaded Avalon Island, caterpillars stripping trees, covering houses and pavements, and raining down upon the residents. This is the summer, writes Fierro in her luminous second novel, when Leslie Day Marshall, "golden-haired prodigal daughter, returns with her black husband and brown children to claim her seat as First Lady." Leslie's son Brooks falls in love with Avalon's Maddie, the daughter of a wealthy mother and a working-class father. Their Romeo and Juliet story plays out as Grudder Aviation, the island's major employer, is blamed for a cluster of insidious cancers and for dozens of women, including Leslie, suffering repeated miscarriages. Fierro laces her lyrical tale of revenge and rebellion with gritty details, mythic settings and a nuanced sense of how class and racial divisions shape us. (Credit: St. Martins)
這部精彩的小說是菲耶羅的第二部小說。1992年6月，舞毒蛾入侵阿瓦隆島，這種蛾蟲吃光樹木，覆蓋在房子和人行道上，如雨點一般掉落在居民身上。菲耶羅寫道，就在這個夏天，“叛逆的金發(fā)女兒萊斯利?瑪西爾帶著她的黑人丈夫，棕色皮膚的小孩們回來了，坐上第一夫人的位子。”萊斯利的兒子布魯克斯愛上了島上的姑娘麥蒂，她的媽媽是個富人，而爸爸是工薪階級。阿瓦隆島上的一群人在不知不覺中患上癌癥，幾十名女性經(jīng)歷多次流產(chǎn)，其中包括萊斯利，島上的用工大戶格路德飛機制造公司被指為罪魁禍首。菲耶羅通過栩栩如生的細節(jié)、神秘的背景設(shè)定以及對階級種族分化如何塑造人類的細微刻畫，書寫了一部充滿感情的復(fù)仇和反抗的故事。（來源：圣馬丁斯出版社）