Blind Eye

Martha Burns's latest novel “Blind Eye” is a well-executed story that prompts reflection on how a community could turn a blind eye to years of mental and verbal abuse of a child at the hands of his father, who was the product of similar abuse. The story is engaging and inspired by a real event. It's told with a compassionate voice. As the story unfolds you begin to care deeply about the safety and well-being of characters whose lives are endangered. You will be hooked right from the start.

“Blind Eye” looks at the culture within a close-knit ranching community in rural New Mexico in the late 1990 and into the early 2020s. On the surface the community seems neighborly, helping each other but a fine line is drawn to interfering in other family's personal spaces. With the discovery of the bodies of Luke and Deona Pruitt buried in a manure pit, and their 14-year-old son Leeland missing, Deputy Sheriff Greenwood is called in to investigate the grim scene.

This must have been a difficult story for the author to tell but she wisely used multiple viewpoints which gave the reader different perspectives offering an in-depth look into the characters’ motivations, mannerisms, behaviors, and traits. This direction added more depth to each of the characters. While the majority of the chapters focused on Luke's point of view, some chapters were narrated by other family members and Deputy Greenwood who was investigating the murder scene. But the lack of collective voices represented within the community was missing as blind eyes turned away. Even towards the end of the story when many members in the community began to realize their actions were complicit, they still did not step forward to help right the wrongs. Notable points to the storyline include the ineffective social safety system that should have been in place to help Leeland. But more appalling was the lack of community responses, whose flawed actions failed to help and advocate for Leeland's well-being. One chapter toward the end of the book was devoted to Leeland's point of view. It showed how his compliant behavior bordering on despair and resentment truly pushed him over the edge.

Burns's crisp and well-crafted sentences are visual gems. Details of the New Mexico landscape and ranch life bring the story to life. Many thought-provoking issues are raised. It's a chilling novel whose voices will haunt you long after the last page.

  ALL ABOUT THE AUTHOR MARTHA BURNS

Martha Burns, a native of New Mexico, was always a storyteller, who embraced Albert Camus’ theory that “fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth.” She earned a Doctor of Letters with distinction from Drew University and won the Faulkner-Wisdom Gold Metal Award for Short Story. She and her husband have returned to live in New Mexico where she is at work on her next novel, the story of a woman in the 1930s sued for adultery who loses custody of her six children. "Across the Narrows" is both a mystery and a story of redemption.
https://www.marthaburnswriter.com/