We Are Always Tender with Our Dead
I have a couple of questions about We Are Always Tender with Our Dead.
What the F did I just read?
How does Eric LaRocca do it? Pulling at your heartstrings one moment, pulling your stomach out through your throat the next?
Why is a story about whistling when crossing a threshold so chilling and sad?
I don’t really know how to describe the plot of this because a plot summary would reveal everything about this world - this town populated by miserable, irredeemable people who only question their actions when it seems some good will come of them, and only cruelty makes any sense.
In We Are Always Tender with Our Dead, we are introduced to three main characters through whose eyes we are introduced to Burnt Sparrow, the trilogy
Burnt Sparrow - a small town with a dark history - which we learn about from a series of interstitial news reports as well as through the eyes of the other characters
Rupert - a lonely 17-year-old boy grieving the death of his mother three years ago and doesn’t know how to talk to his father - or even if he wants to as he’s counting down the days until he turns 18 and can leave this town
Gladys - woman having an affair with a female servant while married to a man she fears (and loves)
The action begins with a mass killing on Christmas Day and dealing with the dead and how to punish the killers make up a great deal of the core plot, and the ripples of the mass murder drive the actions of the main characters.
In his introduction to this novel, Eric LaRocca echoes a sentiment I mentioned in a recent review of a different splatterpunk novel in regards to “enjoying” a piece of work, and the same holds true for this one, as he warns. Finding a book worthy of reading that is thought-provoking and reaction- (and occasionally vomit-) inducing does not necessarily equate to a traditional definition of enjoyment.
In that sense, I did not enjoy this visit to the town of Burnt Sparrow - and I can’t wait to see the last 2/3 of the trilogy.
Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review. Pub. date: 9/9/25
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