The Folks That Live on the Hill has what some critics call a "vertical plot."

In a horizontal plot, the action logically develops out of preceding events, with each new event generating new action.

Most mystery novels have horizontal plots; each new clue leads the investigator closer to the solution of the mystery. In a horizontal novel, plot dominates the book's characterization. In a vertical plot the action hops from one character to another without one event leading to another. Thus Fiona can be involved in a series of events that have nothing to do with other characters.

Since The Folks That Live on the Hill portrays a whole community, it shifts to different sets of characters and events, without tying them together logically until the end. The term "vertical" suggests that the characters are like upright sticks, each independent from the others. This structure allows the author...