This simple and sad story is told with such exquisite language and believable characters you will be transported to the Appalachian mountains of Carolina during the First World War. Prejudice, cowardice and ignorance are all stacked against the sensitive and beautiful Laurel and her war wounded brother Hank and a stranger they meet and help who is not all he seems. An excellent novel from an accomplished American author.
It is 1918 and the world is at war. But this feels a million miles away for Laurel Shelton. In the house where her parents toiled and died, in the wilds of the Appalachian Mountains, Laurel aches for her life to begin. And then one day a stranger is discovered in the cove near her house. What follows is an unforgettable story of love, fate and divided loyalties.
Ron Rash is an award-winning poet, short-story writer and novelist. His most recent story collection, Burning Bright, won the 2010 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and his previous novel, Serena, was a New York Times Bestseller. Both are available from Canongate. He lives in the Appalachian Mountains, USA.