by Ruth Doan MacDougall
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Ruth Doan MacDougall’s latest novel, MUTUAL AID, is a departure from her Snowy Series.
As its heroine, Mercy Blodgett, says of herself, she seems to be related to almost everybody in the small town of Chiswick, NH. To those she isn’t, her husband, Bob, is likely to be. Just when a mill closing in 1986 costs the Blodgetts their jobs, this town is suddenly terrorized by an arsonist, and heart attacks may cost Bob his life.
The title refers to the emergency system in which fire departments from neighboring towns assist each other, but it also emphasizes the interdependence of all people,whether they are family, friends, or, as with Mercy and the young man who has become her pen pal, strangers at the outset. The word "aid" summons up the word "AIDS," and this too is part of the story.
