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Binding: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-57131-077-4
Pages: 384
Publish Date: Dec, 2009
Genre: Fiction
The Easter House
BY David Rhodes
The largest residence in Ontarion, Iowa, looms over the town and three generations of the Easters. A minister favored by the townspeople until he rescued a Caliban-like creature from a carnival sideshow, Ansel Easter 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.
From the celebrated author of Driftless, a masterful and suspenseful novel.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.
OTHER BOOKS BY THIS AUTHOR:
Driftless
When David Rhodes' first three novels were published in the mid-seventies, he was acclaimed as "one of the best eyes in recent fiction" (John Gardner), and compared favorably to Sherwood Anderson.
Read more ›
The Last Fair Deal Going Down
Originally published in 1972, the debut novel from the acclaimed author of Driftless.
Read more ›
"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 the great American novels."
—The 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 is a moving literary experience."
—Cleveland Plain Dealer"Rhodes's writing is smooth and wry, combining Richard Russo's genius for the details of small-town thinking and Flannery O'Connor's flair for shading things toward the weird side of normal. If there was any justice in the literary world, its shocking end alone would make it an American classic. If you liked Driftless, do yourself a favor and read The Easter House."
—Mpls.St.Paul Magazine
