The Town Crazy — Suzzy Roche

Compelling, bittersweet novel with memorable characters set in the 1960s in rural Pennsylvania, written by the legendary singer/songwriter/performer/author and founding member of the singing group The Roches


The Town Crazy, set in the sleepy town of Hanzloo, Pennsylvania, a suburban Catholic community in 1961, is a novel of passion, absurdity, innocence, and sorrow.

A single father moves into town with his young son, which arouses suspicion from the husbands and the interest of the wives, but at the same time one of the wives seems to be losing her mind, and no one knows what to do.

A contemporary, often humorous take on a bygone era, The Town Crazy also delves into the terror and cruelty of childhood, the dangerous loneliness of failing marriages, sexual repression and desire, and the intersection of art and religion, all culminating in a tragedy for which everyone in the town bears some responsibility.