Bailey Martin is in perpetual motion--a child of the South Carolina
lowcountry tides, being pulled to and from a reckoning with
destiny. A marine biologist by training and an artist by dedication
and talent, Bailey is a woman of contradictions, at once a
free-spirited adventurer giving deeply of herself to environmental
causes and familial loyalties but also consumed by primal,
isolating appetites and dangerous attractions. Restless and
troubled, Bailey chafes at her existence, becoming uneasy in her
success, her life, and her own skin. Untying the Moon, the debut
novel from southern storyteller Ellen Malphrus, is a vibrant tale
of self-discovery, approaching the realms of myth and lore as
readers ride shotgun with Bailey in Blue Ruby, her '67 Skylark
convertible, from Manhattan down the eastern seaboard, from coastal
Carolina to the Alaskan wilderness and back again, all in search of
the embrace of love and--finally--of home. When Bailey trades the
freedom of the road for a relationship with Padgett Turner, a
Vietnam veteran haunted by his past, she finds the compelling
possibility of settling into one place and one relationship. But
the weight of Padgett's emotional scars is too much for either to
bear, even together. As Padgett's darkness escalates, a moment of
horrific violence pulls Bailey homeward to the Jericho River of
Kirk's Bluff, South Carolina--a river of dolphins, dreams, and
portents. In her lifelong friendship with neighbour Ben Simmons and
under the sheltering gaze of her fisherman father, Cecil, and Ben's
parents, George and Retta, Bailey uncovers the healing connections
she had been seeking elsewhere and earns her chance at the truest
prize of all--a balance between her dedication to her inner life
and responsibilities to the outer world. Recalling the writings of
James Dickey, Jack Kerouac, Jack London, Pat Conroy, Mary Alice
Monroe, and Lee Smith, Untying the Moon explores the redemptive
powers of home, nature, creation, and storytelling itself. With
prose that ebbs and flows from the lyrical and lush to the staccato
and sparse, Malphrus's novel is rich with classical allusions and
regional folklore, the enrapturing beauty of its settings, a
racially and geographically diverse charismatic cast, and all the
mystery and magic of fate. New York Times best-selling writer and
Story River Books editor at large Pat Conroy provides a foreword to
the novel.
General
Imprint: |
University of South Carolina Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Series: |
Story River Books |
Release date: |
November 2015 |
Authors: |
Ellen Malphrus
|
Foreword by: |
Pat Conroy
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 23mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover - Cloth over boards
|
Pages: |
184 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-61117-610-0 |
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
General & literary fiction >
Modern fiction
|
LSN: |
1-61117-610-7 |
Barcode: |
9781611176100 |
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