The Bystanders by Dawn Major

The Bystanders by Dawn Major (Moonshine Cove Publishing, 2023)

THE BYSTANDERS , weaves together small-town eccentricities starting with the invasion of the Samples family to Lawrenceton, Missouri. Townie, Eddy Bauman, and newcomer, Shannon Lamb- Samples, come of age in the 1980s when big hair is big and Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” blasts over the airwaves, but they couldn’t be more different. The real town of Lawrenceton and the surrounding area were part of the Louisiana Purchase. Centuries later, the old-timers still speak Paw Paw French and time-honored traditions run deep.

In The Bystanders–a novel told through linked narratives– Major subtly explores the psychological phenomenon known as the Bystander Effect. As William S. Boroughs said: “There are no innocent bystanders…What are they doing there in the first place?”

The characters often feel they are mere witnesses to what life throws at them, incapable of change. THE BYSTANDERS—sometimes light and humorous, other times dark and tragic–pays homage to Americana and the rural people of the Northern Mississippi Delta region of Southeast Missouri.