“A compelling novel...Rash tells his story with subtlety and with the best kind of empathy.” ―The Wall Street Journal
“Captivating...Rash's clear, concise prose and regional voice add an authentic veneer to this rich tableau of Southern life.” ―Entertainment Weekly
“Ron Rash writes like a prince.” ―Pat Conroy
“Maggie is an ideal observer from the center for things. Her knowing voice carries us through this sad, complex, and beautiful story.” ―Time Out (New York)
“Rash's clean prose and love for the land easily carry this book to its conclusion, providing readers with a powerful ending that is both surprising and well earned.” ―The Charlotte Observer
“Shows [Rash's] versatility and chutzpah...Rash's prose... has a peculiar headlong drive akin to that of hard-boiled detective novels--the best sort.” ―The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Fluid...Rash's prose sparkles....He does the best thing a writer can do: entrench the reader in a scene.” ―Greensboro News & Record
“Gripping...Spare, resonant, unputdownable.” ―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
The Southern Bestseller
"A compelling novel...Rash tells his story with subtlety and with the best kind of empathy."--The Wall Street Journal
When a twelve-year-old girl drowns in the Tamassee River and her body is trapped in a deep eddy, the people of the small South Carolina town that bears the river's name are thrown into the national spotlight. The girl's parents want to attempt a rescue of the body; environmentalists are convinced the rescue operation will cause permanent damage to the river and set a dangerous precedent. Torn between the two sides is Maggie Glenn, a twenty-eight-year-old newspaper photographer who grew up in the town and has been sent to document the incident. Since leaving home almost ten years ago, Maggie has done her best to avoid her father, but now, as the town's conflict opens old wounds, she finds herself revisiting the past she's fought so hard to leave behind.
"Captivating...Rash's clear, concise prose and regional voice add an authentic veneer to this rich tableau of Southern life."---Entertainment Weekly
"Ron Rash writes like a prince."---Pat Conroy
"Rash's clean prose and love for the land easily carry this book to its conclusion, providing readers with a powerful ending that is both surprising and well earned."---The Charlotte Observer
"Shows [Rash's] versatility and chutzpah...Rash's prose...has a peculiar headlong drive akin to that of hard-boiled detective novels---the best sort."---The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Maggie is an ideal observer from the center for things. Her knowing voice carries us through this sad, complex, and beautiful story."---Time Out (New York)
Ron Rash has published one previous novel, One Foot in Eden, three collections of poetry and two of short stories. He is the recipient of an NEA poetry grant and holds the John Parris Chair in Appalachian Studies at Western Carolina University. Rash lives in Clemson, South Carolina.
About the Author
Ron Rash is the author of the prize-winning novels One Foot in Eden, Saints at the River and The World Made Straight, as well as several collections of poetry and short stories. He is the recipient of an O. Henry Prize and the James Still Award from the Fellowship of Southern Writers. For Saints at the River he received the 2004 Weatherford Award for Best Novel and the 2005 SEBA Best Book Award for Fiction. Rash holds the John Parris Chair in Appalachian Studies at Western Carolina University and lives in Clemson, South Carolina.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Saints at the River
By Ron RashPicador USA
Copyright ©2005 Ron Rash
All right reserved.
ISBN: 9780312424916
From Saints at the River:
Listening to Ben, you would have thought he'd gone through childhood with nothing worse happening to him than a stubbed toe. Someone who didn't know him well would say he was merely in denial, but I did know Ben well, and I knew the life he'd made for himself as a man. The early history of his life was like history written in chalk on a blackboard-something he could smudge and then erase through sheer good-heartedness.
But I wasn't like my brother. I couldn't let things go. I didn't even want to. Forgetting, like forgiving, only blurred things. Even Ben, for all his nostalgia, had put the whole width of the United States between him and South Carolina.
Continues...
Excerpted from Saints at the Riverby Ron Rash Copyright ©2005 by Ron Rash. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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