Literary form

Thatch Loop is a novel written in the modernist tradition of experimentation with form and point of view. The novel allows multiple points of view. This allows the reader the chance to view multiple realities as well as know the inner life and motives of each character. Also, this experimentation with point of view creates psychic space in what could otherwise be a cloistered and claustrophobic environment. The story ultimately belongs to Rachel Collier. Her character develops during three summers in the mid 1980s when she is visiting her grandparents. Her visits end abruptly during the summer of 1986, her grandmother dies, and her parents forbid her return to Thatch. These scenes are intermingled with a time period of a few days in 1991 when she and her father, Emerson, return to Thatch for a funeral. Rachel also seeks to reestablish a relationship with her childhood summertime sweetheart.