"To say that this is an astonishing piece of work for a first time novelists underrates it. This is an astonishing piece of work-period. No part of Lent's narrative is superficial. Loamy and visceral, Lent's writing is deeply introspective, intelligent, and beautifully descriptive." -Booklist
In the Fall is an extraordinary epic of three generations of an American family, the dark secrets that blister at its core, and the forbidden, transcendent love affairs that fuel the characters over the course of six decades.
In the twilight of the Civil War, Union soldier Norman Pelham meets a runaway slave named Leah and returns with her to his family homestead in Vermont, launching the story of a bold, inter-racial union and its consequences. This passionate couple and their descendants will grapple with the ongoing devastations of the war, racism and a haunting family legacy that lies dormant until a grandson is driven to discover the secret of his ancestors.
Spanning post-Civil War America to the edge of the Depression, In the Fall is an incredible rendering of a rapidly evolving America from life on a farm, through the final years of Prohibition and bootlegging in the resort towns of New Hampshire, to the advent of modern times. Jeffrey Lent's novel is a fierce and utterly compelling vision of an American landscape and history and an unforgettable portrait of an American family.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
When 17-year-old Norman Pelham departs his father's Vermont farm to join the Union army, he can little anticipate the incredulity and scorn that his return--accompanied by his former-slave bride--will elicit. The newlyweds make a go of country life, Leah's industry wins the locals' begrudging respect, and the two transact a fidelity that only rarely acknowledges their racial dissimilarities. Leah, however, who fled her native North Carolina after lashing out violently against a lifetime of abuse, believes an inescapable retribution stalks her. And so, beset with guilt and anxious to confront her own past, she briefly leaves Norman and their three children, throwing all five lives into disarray. Her desperation eventually reemerges in her youngest child, the volatile Jamie, who abandons farm life for bootlegging and rash romance. When his own ruthlessness undoes him, it falls to his son, Foster, to uncover the lingering mystery of Leah's life and death, as well as the obstinate racism that has stalked the Pelhams.
Throughout its pages, In the Fall suggests that identity consists of an undeniable duality--that although we can make of ourselves what we will, we can never completely efface what made us. Foster, upon returning to the farm his father had left years before, understands that it is "a world he was not even sure he wanted part of, and yet a part of it belonged to him by the simple fact of his existence." Unlike his grandmother, though, who found only a disillusioning misery in self-discovery, or his father, who simply shirked the quest, Foster is confident of redemption. Despite a few prolonged episodes and an occasionally portentous dialogue, Jeffrey Lent's debut is admirable, a sobering and painstaking chronicle of the persistence of tragedy and the irrefutability of hope. --Ben Guterson
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Book Description Softcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. An interracial relationship between a Union soldier from Vermont and a runaway slave at the end of the Civil War initiates a haunting family legacy of war, racism, and secrets that follow three generations from the Civil War to the Great Depression. Please note the image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item. Book. Seller Inventory # 123683490
Book Description Soft cover. Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. 1st edition (advance reader's copy, in pictorial wraps as issued) NF condition. Seller Inventory # 1773
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!. Seller Inventory # S_285016914
Book Description paperback. Condition: Very Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!. Seller Inventory # S_360009390
Book Description Befriedigend/Good: Durchschnittlich erhaltenes Buch bzw. Schutzumschlag mit Gebrauchsspuren, aber vollständigen Seiten. / Describes the average WORN book or dust jacket that has all the pages present. Seller Inventory # M0037572589X-G
Book Description Soft cover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. 1st Edition. This is a fine, Uncorrected Advance Proof from Grove/Atlantic of this wonderful novel. 542 pages. In pictorial wrapper. Same cover as the hardcover. It has been signed by Jeffrey Lent on the title page, at a book signing here in Vermont, where he lives, and where part of the book takes place. As new. Unread. From my smoke-free collection. Ships in well-padded box. Seller Inventory # 985