In the Fall

This “richly detailed and expertly plotted” historical epic chronicles the dark secrets and forbidden loves of an American family across three generations (Publishers Weekly, starred review). In the twilight of the Civil War, a Union soldier meets a runaway slave and returns with her to his family homestead in Vermont, launching the story of a bold, interracial union and its myriad 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 the post–Civil War era to the edge of the Great Depression, In the Fall is an expansive saga 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. “Remarkable for its grace, felicity and precision,” Jeffrey Lent’s debut novel is an utterly compelling vision of America, and an unforgettable portrait of an American family (Publishers Weekly, starred review). “Jeffrey Lent has quietly created some of the finest novels of our new century.” —Ron Rash “Jeffrey Lent builds characters and their world like a painter layering his canvas, telling his story but substantiating it with color and light.” —Tim Pears “Sentence by sentence . . . Lent’s language draws you in like a clear stream in summer.” —Tim Gautreaux Jeffrey Lent's astonishing debut novel, In the Fall, is already creating a sensation. It has been chosen as a Main Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club, preempted for paperback for six figures, and acquired by leading publishers around the world. In the Fall is the 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 its members over the course of six decades. In the twilight of the Civil War, a Union soldier meets a runaway slave and returns with her to his family homestead in Vermont, launching the story of a bold, interracial union and its consequences. This passionate couple and their descendents will grapple with the ongoing devastations of the war, racism, and a haunting family legacy that lie dormant until a grandson is driven to discover the secret of his ancestors. Spanning the post-Civil War era to the edge of the Great 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 "Spanning the post-Civil War era to the edge of the Great Depression, In the Fall is a richly layered rendering of a rapidly evolving America from life on the farm, through the final years of Prohibition and bootlegging, to the advent of modern times. Jeffrey Lent illumines the ineluctable connections that exist between black and white, North and South, past and present, as well as the violent collisions they give rise to. In the Fall is a vision of an American landscape and history, and a portrait of an American family."--BOOK 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 follows three generations from the end of the Civil War to the Great Depression.