Welcome to Higby

The novel concerns the interconnected lives of the inhabitants of Higby, a fictional town in northern Mississippi,^[5] during the Labor Day weekend in 1993.^[6] Five separate story lines are woven together featuring 25 main characters^[1] which include the Revd. Oren Cullen, struggling to cope with the death of his wife and behaviour of his son Clint (who starts the weekend by falling off a water tower) who is drawn to the manageress of the local massage parlour and Talitha Leigh, kidnapped by an extremist vegan cult and renamed 'Blithe'.^[7]

• A review from The Independent says the novel is 'undemanding but often hilarious', 'a cross between John Irving and the Coen brothers'.^[7]
• Publishers Weekly describe it as a 'witty and intricate book', 'both laugh-out-loud funny and sweetly touching','Dunn, a playwright, has a wonderful ear for dialogue; his rich and enticing prose, elegant structuring and wonderful attention to the smallest of details make this novel a delight.'^[6]
• Leif Enger compared the book to Modern Baptists by James Wilcox and Texasville by Larry McMurtry^[8]