Every precinct of mobile homes, whether park or court, woods, grove, or manor, builds a culture of its own. However varied the residents may be and whatever the ebb and flow of tenantry, a distinct ethos is created. And,as lives intertwine, social dynamics are generated. There are strata of power, circles of confidence and suspicion, and tides of social change. These operate to produce a singular design. That design, however, may be a web of malignant mystery as it is in the demesne of Leo Bass, owner, manager, and resident tyrant at Basswood Motor Home Court.
It is the sudden death of the obnoxious Mr. Bass that propels Adam Clay, State Trooper, to the scene. He finds hinself looking into not just one mystery but a whole set of strange events, past, present, and imminent. As in the medieval village good intentions and bad acts swirl around an interesting cast of characters, well sketched and strongly developed. The strands of mystery reach even deeper. We are steered gently by means of very effective dialogue into the enigma of a murder. Then we meet , too, the moral ambiguities of the "free speech," "free love," "burn baby burn" climate of the Sixties. The issues and actions of the trailer court people turn out to be connected to another scene of action, the campus of Arden College.
The death of Leo Bass, apparently by a stroke of lightning, an "Act of God," is an explanation that satisfies, indeed pleases, all but Adam Clay. He sees unconnected wires and closely connected lives suggesting that God is working in ways more mysterious than lightning. The cross connection among certain of the tenants provide more culpability than any detective needs. Simple good and evil keep tripping over each other.
The scenes grow dark and dangerous, even for those bent on doing good. Colliding events, at Basswood and on the Arden campus, confront Trooper Clay and the reader with a well-drawn series of moral challenges, some of which remain after the last page is read. Piece by piece and against the stubborn tides of common sense, Clay builds his sppecial brief carrying the reader along through every step. He "solves" the case but leaves us and most of his characters with some intricate moral dilemmas. These are characters of substance and they endure. This book is not exactly "ulta-lite" fare. The edged writing requires the reader to keep track of the twists and turns of the plot. It's a worthwhile trail!
Days after the cover is closed and the slim volume returned to the shelf one is likely to be musing: Does Clay ever put to rest his own demons? Can Father McGrath come to terms with his dupicitous saints? And, sometimes, where did I put Helen Brownell's new address?

I enjoyed this book very much. The morals and lessons it teaches you are very important. It is the story of a lonely man, who because he was falsely accused of stealing and because this cost him all his relationships with people, he secluded himself in his lonely house along with all his gold that he saved up. He never spent his money because he enjoyed its company. His gold was his only companion for several years of his life. Then one day, he was robbed, and he no longer had anything worth living for.
Silas was slowly dying of misery and depression. He had no reason to live. Then one day a little girl walked into his house and into his life. Her mother died, leaving the baby girl as an orphan. So, Silas adopted her and took her into his home. She grew up a poor, hard-working girl who loved her new father Silas and vice-versa. Because of this new daughter of his, Silas changed for the better. He became more caring and devoted to someone else besides himself. He started to go to church again and changed his views on what really was important in life. And one day when his treasure was found and returned to him, he didn't even care for it. He had something even more precious than gold: someone to love and receive love from.

Silas Marner became a bitter, lonely miser after he was accused of stealing church money. Declared guilty even though he wasn't, Marner lost his relationships with friends and loved ones. He moved away to a small town and secluded himself from any social activities or events. The people in this new town didn't bother him, but they thought he was strange and evil. Silas found his security in his gold which he stored up in his house. His treasure became his only companion. But when his gold was stolen one night, Silas thought he would die right then and there. He had no reason to live. Then one day, a little girl walked into his home and into his life. Her mother had died, leaving her as an orphan. So Silas adopted her and raised her in a poor hard-working sort of way. But, she loved him and he loved her. The treasure that Silas had lost had returned to him in a new form. He began to socialize with the people in his town, and no longer did they think he was weird or possessed. This girl brought about changes in Silas' life. He discovered that there are some things more precious than gold.

There are few great novels about people who are basically good and who are, in the end, rewarded for it. I can think of only three others I have read in this genre that had any literary merit: Eliot's ADAM BEDE; Elizabeth Gaskell's CRANFORD; and Oliver Goldsmith's THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD. I can see why SILAS MARNER is usually regarded as a novel to be read by the young, if only because it reinforces values that most of us see as desirable.

Granted that Marner starts out as a miser, if only because he is so isolated from the rural community in which he lives. When Marner's small fortune is stolen, a strange thing happens: His neighbors gather closer to him and help him, drawing him out of himself and illuminating the goodness that was always inside of him. Marner's neighbor, Dolly Winthrop -- a poor, inarticulate wheelwight's wife who does everything she can to make Silas a part of the village of Raveloe -- particularly shines through in an excellent supporting role, one of many in the book.

When a toddler whose mother dies crawls into Marner's house, the process begins to accelerate as he adopts her. The weaver now has someone to live for; and the love between him and the little Eppie begins to flower.

Good seems such undynamic a quality in literature. George Eliot is one of the few writers who can make the tribulations of a good person worthwhile reading. In weaver and his neighbors, Eliot has created an entire community that strives for the greatest good (with the sole exception of Dunsey Cass, who steals Marner's fortune). The best books always make you wonder what happens next; and SILAS MARNER kept me turning the pages, marvelling at my own reactions to what I would once have thought was too simple and flimsy to engage my attention.

George Eliot is a writer of many surprises and many surprising strengths. I had approached this book only because I was filling in a gap in my reading. Having read it, I urge anyone to pick up this book if you are young and hope for the best in life -- or come to it, like myself, an adult who has been "nicked by the scythe," who has forgotten some simple truths about which he needed reminding.