Book Review – Autumn in Carthage

Part Sci-Fi, part love story, part historical fiction, part mystery, Autumn in Carthage is simply a good read.  College professor Nathan Price goes searching for his missing friend in the small Wisconsin town of Carthage.  What he finds is a close knit community facing their own troublesome issues.  Price also finds love, struggling to overcome his own demons in the process.

What I liked most about Autumn in Carthage was that Zenos (a pseudonym but more on that later) has created characters that are inherently human.  None of the characters are saintly and all of them struggle with their own human foibles.  But that is what in large part make them likable.  I found myself rooting for Nathan as he searched for his missing friend and pursued the woman who made him whole.  Perhaps I am a sucker for a missing persons story but the that particular hook grabbed me right away.

As I mentioned earlier, the name Christopher Zenos is a pseudonym.  The author is a university professor who struggles with mental illness.  Needless to say the academic world doesn’t look to kindly upon academics writing works of fiction instead of more academic works.  in addition the potential stigma of living/struggling with mental illness is a good reason for the pseudonym.

I gave Autumn in Carthage 4 stars on Goodreads and recommend it without reservation.