'One of the great American authors at work today' New York Times It 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 from out of town. They had bigger plans for him. Now Jacob has been called up to fight in Korea, leaving a pregnant Naomi behind. The only person he can entrust to take care of her is his lifelong friend, Blackburn Gant. Blackburn, who tends the local cemetery alone, is an outsider too, his appearance irrevocably altered by childhood disease. Slowly the two outcasts grow closer, their friendship blooming under small acts of kindness. Then, 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.

Winner of the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, "Burning Bright" captures the complexities of Appalachia--a rugged, brutal landscape of exceptional beauty, promise, and suffering that serves as "New York Times" bestselling author Ron Rash's muse. Spanning from the Civil War to the present day, Rash's historical and modern settings are sewn together in a haunting patchwork of suspense and myth, populated by raw and unforgettable characters mined from the landscape.

Travis Shelton is 17 the summer he wanders into the woods onto private property near his North Carolina home, discovers a grove of marijuana large enough to make him some serious money, and steps into the jaws of a bear trap. Ron Rash is also the author of 'Saints at the River' and 'One Foot in Eden'.

It is 1918 and the world is at war. But this feels a million miles away for Laurel Shelton. In the house where her parents toiled and died, in the wilds of the Appalachian Mountains, Laurel aches for her life to begin. And then one day a stranger is discovered in the cove near her house. What follows is an unforgettable story of love, fate and divided loyalties.

Deep in the rugged Appalachians of North Carolina lies the cove, a dark, forbidding place where spirits and fetches wander, and even the light fears to travel. Or so the townsfolk of Mars Hill believe-just as they know that Laurel Shelton, the lonely young woman who lives within its shadows, is a witch.

Then it happens-a stranger appears, carrying nothing but a silver flute and a note explaining that his name is Walter and he is mute-and Laurel experiences true companionship and happiness for the first time.

But Walter harbors a secret that could destroy everything. In a time of uncertainty, when fear and danger reign, Laurel and Walter will discover that love alone may not be enough to protect them.

A New York Times notable book of the year

Award-winning and New York Times bestselling novelist Ron Rash conjures a gothic tale of greed, corruption, and revenge with a ruthless, powerful, and unforgettable woman at its heart, set amid the wilds of 1930s North Carolina and against the backdrop of America's burgeoning environmental movement.

The Night the New Jesus Fell to Earth was originally released in 1994 and was the first published book from acclaimed writer Ron Rash. This twentieth anniversary edition takes us back to where it all began with ten linked short stories, framed like a novel, introducing us to a trio of memorable narrators - Tracy, Randy, and Vincent - making their way against the hardscrabble backdrop of the North Carolina foothills. With a comedic touch that may surprise readers familiar only with Rash's later, darker fiction, these earnest tales reveal the hard lessons of good whiskey, bad marriages, weak foundations, familial legacies, questionable religious observances, and the dubious merits of possum breeding, as well as the hard-won reconciliations with self, others, and home that can only be garnered in good time. The Night the New Jesus Fell to Earth shows us the promising beginnings of a master storyteller honing his craft and contributing from the start to the fine traditions of southern fiction and lore. This Southern Revivals edition includes a new introduction from the author and a contextualizing preface from series editor Robert H. Brinkmeyer, director of the University of South Carolina Institute for Southern Studies.

George and Serena Pemberton arrive in the wilds of the North Carolina mountains to build a life together in a rural logging town. But Serena Pemberton is unlike any woman this town has ever seen: overseeing crews, hunting rattlesnakes and even saving her husband in the wilderness. So when Serena learns that she will never bear a child, she is determined that her intensely passionate marriage will not unravel. A course of events unfolds that will change the lives of everyone in their rural community and bring this riveting tale of love and revenge to its shocking reckoning.

Summer in Madison County. Seventeen-year-old Travis Shelton cannot see a way out of his small town - until he discovers a grove of marijuana in the woods that could make him some serious money. But Travis has stumbled across more than drugs. His discovery is the first unwitting step in a journey back to the savage violence and betrayal festering in the community's past, and to the corruption in its present. Vivid and unsettling, The World Made Straight is a powerful exploration of the secrets that bind us together and drive us apart.

A FARMER and his wife fall on hard times. They haven't lost everything the way others have, but they have lost enough. Their hope for a better future comes under threat when they discover an intruder on their land. A WOMAN from a small town marries an outsider. Her love for him battles with her suspicions that he is the source of the fires ravaging the mountains. A YOUNG BOY, neglected by his parents, sits in the remains of a crashed plane and lovingly tends to two frozen bodies. These remarkable stories and many more can be found in Burning Bright, an award-winning collection that captures the complexities of a place and conjures characters that will burn bright in your mind long after you have finished reading.

Nothing else comes so I set the notebook beside me. What else is here? I ask myself and listen. This section of stream purls and riffles amid small stones. What word might be made for what I hear . . . Les Clary's final case has broken the still surface of his backwater town. Becky, a park ranger with her own mysterious past, shares Les's consolation in the natural world that lies just beyond their hopelessly broken town. As Les and Becky explore of the county's lyrically beautiful landscape, they finds themselves led deeper into the heart of the town's corruption, and into the darkness of their own ruptured histories. This haunting novel is a poetic journey into the wilderness of the heart.

"The Risen is an important novel -- and an intriguing one -- from one of our master storytellers. In its pages, the past rises up, haunting and chiding, demanding answers of us all." --The News & Observer New York Times bestselling author Ron Rash demonstrates his superb narrative skills in this suspenseful and evocative tale of two brothers whose lives are altered irrevocably by the events of one long-ago summer, one bewitching young woman--and the secrets that could destroy their lives. While swimming in a secluded creek on a hot Sunday in 1969, sixteen-year-old Eugene and his older brother, Bill, meet the entrancing Ligeia. A sexy, free-spirited redhead from Daytona Beach banished to their small North Carolina town, Ligeia entrances the brothers, especially Eugene, who is drawn to her raw sensuality and rebellious attitude. Eugene begins to move farther and farther away from his brother, the cautious and dutiful Bill, and when Ligeia vanishes as suddenly as she appeared, the growing rift between the two brothers becomes immutable. Decades later, the once close brothers now lead completely different lives. Bill is a gifted and successful surgeon, and a paragon of the community, while Eugene, the town reprobate, is a failed writer and determined alcoholic. When a shocking reminder of the past unexpectedly surfaces, Eugene is plunged back into that fateful summer, and the girl he cannot forget. The deeper Eugene delves into his memories, the closer he comes to finding the truth. But can Eugene's recollections be trusted? And will the truth set him free and offer salvation . . . or destroy his damaged life and everyone he loves?

Will Alexander is the sheriff in a small town in southern Appalachia, and he knows that the local thug Holland Winchester has been murdered. The only thing is, the sheriff can find neither the body nor someone to attest to the killing. Simply, almost elementally told through the voices of the sheriff, a local farmer, his beautiful wife, their son, and the sheriff's deputy, One Foot in Eden signals the bellwether arrival of one the most mature and distinctive voices in southern literature.

New York Times bestselling author Ron Rash returns again to Appalachia to capture lives haunted by violence and tenderness, hope and fear, in a collection of unforgettable stories that span the Civil War to the present day. The violence of Rash's characters and their raw settings are matched only by their resonance and stark beauty, a masterful combination that has earned Rash an avalanche of praise.

20th Anniversary Edition of this classic poetry collection, with a foreword by New York TImes Bestselling author, Robert Morgan and a new preface by the author. First published in 1998, Eureka Mill is Ron Rash’s seminal collection of poetry. It introduced the world to an often overlooked Appalachian region and cemented Rash’s name as synonymous with Southern writing. Eureka Mill presents a lyrical portrait of the migration of poor North Carolina farmers to Chester, South Carolina to work in the Eureka Cotton Mill in the years before the Great Depression. Drawing on his family history in the region that stretches back three hundred years, Rash assembles a nuanced tapestry of mill village life, from the foremen in their offices to the men and women at the looms toiling in the often inhumane conditions of the mills. Rash’s poetry elevates the people and landscapes of rural Appalachia to incandescent heights, garnering comparisons to the work of Seamus Heaney and Robert Frost. Still one of Rash’s finest works to date, Eureka Mill is a vital record of one of the South’s most important historic shifts, offering readers at once intimacy and perspective, heart and understanding.

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 previousnovel, "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.

Among the Believers by Ron Rash is a book of poetry set in the mountains of the western Carolinas. The book also has an introduction by Anthony Hecht.

Raising the Dead by Ron Rash is a collection of poetry.Many of the poems are set in the Southern Appalachian mountains.

Set in the border states of Kansas and Missouri, WOE TO LIVE ON explores the nature of lawlessness and violence, friendship and loyalty, through the eyes of young recruit Jake Roedel. Where he and his fellow First Kansas Irregulars go, no one is safe, no one can be neutral. Roedel grows up fast, experiencing a brutal parody of war without standards or mercy. But as friends fall and families flee, he questions his loyalties and becomes an outsider even to those who have become outlaws.

Building on its successful 27 Views series, Eno Publishers showcases the literary community of Asheville, North Carolina, in 27 Views of Asheville: A Southern Mountain Town in Prose & Poetry. Twenty-seven writers contribute poetry, essays, short stories, and book excerpts that focus on the fabled mountain town, offering readers a broad and varied picture of life in Asheville, past and present, as well as a sense of the town's literary breadth. Contributing authors include Sharyn McCrumb, Gail Godwin, Ron Rash, Pamela Duncan, Nan Chase, Allan Wolf, Dale Neal, Charles Frazier, and Robert Morgan. A fictionalized account of a battle between citizens and developers in the 1980s; reflections on the legacy of Thomas Wolfe; a look at Asheville's literary renaissance; and a poem by Robert Morgan recalling milkshakes at the Asheville Dairy Bar are just a few of the topics covered in this literary montage. The cover illustration is by Daniel Wallace, author of the novel Big Fish.