Welcome everyone to a bookclubish discussion of the novel Postcards, by Annie Proulx. I first read this novel back in 1997 right after reading Brokeback Mountain in the New Yorker. It was one of her first novels, written mainly while in residence at the UCross Foundation near Sheridan, Wyoming, also while at her home in Newfoundland.
The story is set during the Depression in rural America, as all of her work is about rural people. It is basically about one family called the Bloods. We have Mink, the father; Loyal, the eldest son; Jewell, the mother; Dub, another son; and Mernell, the daughter.
The story begins with a facsimile of a postcard, which is sent by the Rural Electrification Service, regarding the need for all farmers to install electric fences. This is a powerful (sorry!) metaphor, which begs comparison to the electricity references in BBM.
Jump in here with clarifications, questions, and your thoughts on the first chapter!!