What We Don't Talk About

Orville, Illinois, is bucolic, charming, and almost Norman Rockwellesqueif youre white. But like many midwestern cities in the 1960s, it is a sundown towna place where Black Americans are prohibited from entering or remaining after dark. The towns most adventurous woman, Cassie Zeul, is an outcast because she has no husband and takes an occasional lover. Her son, Gus, guided by Sister Damien, aspires to be a priest, but he is increasingly overwhelmed by his infatuation with Pat Lemkeywho is herself drawn to Jenny Biel, considered by many to be the most beautiful girl in town. Guss best friend, Fenza Ryzchik Jr., a somewhat notorious bully desperate for his fathers attention, hates colored people, doesnt think he knows any, and is certain he can convince Jenny to marry him one daywithout realizing that her devout mother has been passing for white her entire life. Events come to a head when a visiting nun from the South brings an African American friend with her to Midnight Mass one Christmas Eve. The dreams and desires of these characters collide and intersect as they navigate life and coming of age in the rural Midwest. In Jankos masterful hands, the darknessof prejudice, privilege, and powerthat they dont even recognize threatens to overwhelm their lives and their plans for the future. This novel forces us, as well as its characters, to acknowledge the cost of hiding our true selves, and of judging others based on the color of their skin or the longing of their hearts.