by: Ron Rash
Goodreads description:
Told against the backdrop of the Korean War as a small Appalachian town sends its sons to battle, The Caretaker by award-winning author Ron Rash (“One of the great American authors at work today” —The New York Times) is a breathtaking love story and a searing examination of the acts we seek to justify in the name of duty, family, honor, and love.
It’s 1951 in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Blackburn Gant, his life irrevocably altered by a childhood case of polio, seems condemned to spend his life among the dead as the sole caretaker of a hilltop cemetery. It suits his withdrawn personality, and the inexplicable occurrences that happen from time to time rattle him less than interaction with the living. But when his best and only friend, the kind but impulsive Jacob Lampton, is conscripted to serve overseas, Blackburn is charged with caring for Jacob’s wife, Naomi, as well.
Sixteen-year-old Naomi Clare is an outcast in Blowing Rock, an outsider, poor and uneducated, who works as a seasonal maid in the town’s most elegant hotel. When Naomi elopes with Jacob a few months after her arrival, the marriage scandalizes the community, most of all his wealthy parents who disinherit him. Shunned by the townsfolk for their differences and equally fearful that Jacob may never come home, Blackburn and Naomi grow closer and closer until a shattering development derails numerous lives.
A tender examination of male friendship and rivalry as well as a riveting, page-turning novel of familial devotion, The Caretaker brilliantly depicts the human capacity for delusion and destruction all too often justified as acts of love.
Helen says: 🤓🤓🤓🤓
This was life imitating art, as I listened to this book on a treacherous road trip from Boone to Sewanee, TN. The book took place on the road between both of these locations. I was a huge fan of Serena by Ron Rash, so I was excited to get my hands on this book….well…ears on this book- ha. This was the story of a cemetery caretaker and grave digger in Blowing Rock, NC during the Korean War…Digging seemed to be a central theme in the book. There were a lot of stubborn characters in this story that really ‘dug’ their heels in….and a lie was told that they couldn’t “dig” their way out of…It was a great book to listen to on a road trip. The ending was very satisfying!
Holly says: 🤓🤓🤓🤓
What depraved parents! There are some terrible people in this book – I have no idea how they could sleep at night, but this is a really good read. Ron Rash lives near Blowing Rock and writes well about western North Carolina. I love all the references to western NC locations – shout out to the Old Hampton Store! This would be a fun one to read during your next visit to the mountains! Highly recommended!
Helen and Holly Hit the Books 