This piece originally appeared in The Harford Courant. The nonfiction journal River Teeth published a reprint. It’s an intimate portrayal of individuals living in a pocket of poverty in wealthy Connecticut. We appreciate its skillful mix of good story and economic and sociological insight. Swift dignifies her subjects’ struggles by showing their resilience, perseverance and concern for one another. She achieves an effective voice: Plainly yet sensitively told, the story persuades us of its characters’ tough grace.
Read “Ballouville,” by Deborah Petersen Swift