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| Author Alexi Zenter. (Photo: Laurie Willick, Viking)Add caption |
Alexi Zentner's, Copperhead, spins several threads that eventually knit together. Although
the President's name is mentioned only
twice, in reference to the Woman's March that occurred shortly after his
inauguration, the novel is firmly ensconced in the Trump era where racial and
class tensions have been exacerbated. The novel's incendiary language exploits
these divisions mirroring the raw rhetoric the President deploys in his rallies
and almost daily tweets. There is an incisive exploration of toxic race relations and the
stigma associated with being labeled as so-called "white trash." It
is also an investigation about the relationship between the alt-right and the
religious right in America. Throughout, a teenager navigates through these
treacherous landmines, makes a serious mistake and as an adult attempts to
address it.
In a gripping third-person narrative relayed in bite-size
chapters that
unfolds over a few days, Zentner introduces us to Jessup, a
high-school senior living in a small community in upstate New York "where
history is everything." Despite being raised by a single mom on a limited
income and living in a trailer-park home, Jessup maintains good grades and
works at the local movie theatre when he is not hunting to supply food for his
family. Perhaps most importantly, he excels at athletics. Even though some of his
classmates dismiss him as "born into the wrong family," even a Nazi,
he is a standout football player and has the possibility of acquiring an Ivy
League football scholarship.
