The Caretaker

LoveReading Says

Set against in small-town North Carolina in 1951, Ron Rash’s The Caretaker is an exceptional novel. A perfectly-told tale of love and friendship, lies and loss that’ll have your heart in your mouth as it explores unbreakable bonds of love and brotherhood, and duplicitousness of the most despicable, destructive kind. Also encompassing class snobbery, small-town prejudice, and how some seek to justify terrible acts in the name of love, it’s a remarkably powerful read.

Disfigured by childhood polio, Blackburn tends the cemetery in the community of Blowing Rock. He’s largely an outcast, a young man who believes “the dead could do nothing worse to him than the living had already done.” When Jacob, his sole friend in the world, is conscripted to fight in Korea, Blackburn is entrusted with looking out for Jacob's pregnant wife, Naomi.

Also an outcast and from the wrong side of the tracks, uneducated Naomi is the reason Jacob’s wealthy parents have disinherited him, with the rest of the town also scandalised by their relationship. While Naomi and Blackburn await news of Jacob and her pregnancy blossoms, so too does their friendship, until an audacious act of deception tears lives asunder.

Suspenseful and stirring, with an incredible evocation of place, The Caretaker contrasts superciliousness and saving face masquerading as love with the real deal, and reels with truths about what it means to be a good person. I sure won’t forget Blackburn in a hurry.

Reviewed by Joanne Owen
Joanne Owen’s lifelong love of reading and writing began when she was growing up in Pembrokeshire, and very much wished that witches (and Mrs Pepperpot) were real.
More reviews by Joanne Owen

About The Caretaker

'One of the great American authors at work today' New York TimesONE OF THE NEW YORKER'S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEARIt is 1951. The close-knit community of Blowing Rock, North Carolina, does not welcome those who are different.Jacob Hampton's wealthy parents disinherited him when he married Naomi, an uneducated hotel maid. Now Jacob has been called up to fight in Korea, leaving a pregnant Naomi behind. The only person he can trust to take care of her is his lifelong friend, Blackburn Gant. Blackburn, who tends the local cemetery, is an outsider too, his appearance irrevocably altered by childhood disease.Slowly the two outcasts grow closer and as they await news of Jacob's return, a terrible, shattering act of deception derails all their lives. But no secret can stay hidden for ever.Tender and luminous with truth, The Caretaker is a riveting story about the bonds of friendship, the contradictions of family and what it really means to love.

Read the full description

Find This Book In