"Mr. Banks’s colorful characters are so believable they could have stepped out of the Rendez-Vous tavern across from the Bide-A-Wile motel The Sweet Hereafter is rich in imagery and the detail of small-town life and haunting in its portray al of ordinary men and women struggling to understand loss. Under Mr. Banks’s restrained craftsmanship, what begins as the story of senseless tragedy is transformed into an aspiring testament to hope and human resilience."

In The Sweet Hereafter,Russell Banks tells a story that begins with a school bus accident.Using four different narrators,Banks creates a smalltown morality play that addresses one of life’s most agonizing questions:when the worst thing happens,who do you blame?

Dolores Driscoll

Billy Ansel

Mitchell Stephens,Esquire

Nichole Burnell

Dolores Driscoll