The Bright Forever (2006) by Lee Martin is a Pulitzer Prize–nominated novel set in a quiet Indiana town in the 1970s, where the disappearance of nine-year-old Katie Mackey unravels a web of secrets. Told through multiple perspectives, the story gradually exposes the dark undercurrents beneath the town’s idyllic surface. From a disturbed schoolteacher with inappropriate feelings to a manipulative drifter who ultimately murders Katie, Martin explores guilt, obsession, and the illusion of innocence. The novel’s haunting namesake hymn underscores the emotional weight of the tragedy, as each character’s hidden truth emerges in the wake of Katie’s death.
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