by David Rhodes
—Jonathan Carroll, author of The Ghost in Love
“Rhodes writes with both symphonic grandeur and down-to-earth humility in this galvanizing novel of ‘the quick, naked bones of survival.’ This is a descent into grief as resonant as James Agee’s, an embrace of the heartland spirit as profound as Cather’s and Marilynne Robinson’s, a story that echoes Dreiser, Steinbeck, Gardner, and Bellow—and an authentically great American novel in its own right.”
—Booklist (starred)
Born and raised in a small town not far from Iowa City, July Montgomery’s early years are filled with four-leaf-clovers, dogs, and fishing. But this idyllic world comes to an end with the tragic death of his parents, after which July flees via the Rock Island Line, eventually landing in Philadelphia and fashioning a ghostly home beneath an underground train station.
When a young woman frees July from his malaise, they return together to the heartland. Restored to his ancestral home and yet perched on the precipice of a disaster that could herald his end, July must decide whether to continue running, or stand still and hope for the promised dawn of Paradise Regained.
THE EASTER HOUSE
David Rhodes
“The Easter House offers the tale of another tormented Midwestern clan, but in its pages no border exists between everyday life and the super-real. I wouldn’t trade a word of The Easter House for anything.”
—New York Times Book Review
“Rhodes proves that there is still vigorous life in the dark Gothic roots of great American novels.”
—Tennessean
“This is [an almost impossible book to put down,] with its forceful narrative and striking characters. Rhodes is a brilliant writer and The Easter House a moving literary experience.”
—Cleveland Plain Dealer
The largest residence in Ontarion, Iowa, looms over the town and three generations of the Easters. Ansel Easter—a minister favored by the townspeople until he rescued a Caliban-like creature from a carnival sideshow—paved a difficult path for his sons, C and Sam. After Ansel’s violent death, no one in town was surprised when his children abandoned the house their father built in search of a new beginning.
Unable to shake Ansel’s burdensome legacy from afar, the brothers return separately to the house. C and his wife start a junkyard in the expansive lawn of the Easter house and barter used appliances, cars, and random items for necessities. Eventually, C and Sam create a more lucrative business: the Associates, a group of men offering services for a fee. When a rash of deaths occur and the Ontarions suspect the Associates, the sins of the father appear to revisit the sons.
Shocking and suspenseful, The Easter House is an engrossing story of family redemption and survival. Originally published in 1974, David Rhodes’ second novel captures the oppressive somnolence of a small community while intertwining elements of the American gothic tradition, illuminating the strangeness that lurks beneath the surface.
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Interior design by Wendy Holdman
Typeset in Dante by BookMobile Design and Publishing Services
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
© 2008, Text by David Rhodes
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher:
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Published 2009 by Milkweed Editions
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Library of Congress
Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rhodes, David, 1946-
eISBN : 978-1-571-31800-8
1. Wisconsin—Fiction. 2. City and
town life—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3568.H55D75 2008
813’.54—dc22
2008020881