To the Measures Fall
Short story about an American woman’s lifelong re-readings of an obscure English novel she discovered in the Costwolds while on a junior year abroad.
Richard Powers finds a fat tome in a junk shop: "To the Measures Fall" by Elton Wentworth. The first line: "A freak snow hit late that year, two weeks after the sand martins returned." By the last page, a young amputee captain lies dead at the bottom of gravel pits. You need to know how.