Description

Maybelline Docherty, “Granny May,” is a folk healer with a dark past. She concocts potions and cures for the people of the mountains – her powers rumoured to rival those of a wood witch – while watching over her grandson, Rory Docherty, who has returned from the Korean War with a wooden leg and nightmares of the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. Rory runs bootleg whiskey in a high-powered car to roadhouses, brothels, and private clients in the mill town at the foot of the mountains – a hotbed of violence, moonshine, and the burgeoning sport of stock-car racing.

Granny May must help her grandson battle rival runners and federal revenue agents, snake-handling pastors, and the mystery of his own haunted past: namely, the real story behind his mother’s long confinement in a mental hospital, during which she has remained completely silent.

With gritty and atmospheric prose, Taylor Brown brings to life a perilous mountain and the family who rules it, tying together past and present in one captivating narrative.

Publisher Review

"It's the characters, so wonderfully vibrant and alive in their all-too-human variety--scared, tightly wound, angry, damaged, yet resourceful and resilient, some honorable, some not--that demonstrate Brown's prodigious talent. Brown has quickly established himself in the top echelon of Southern writers, and his latest will please readers of Wiley Cash and Ron Rash." - Booklist, starred review "In his third novel (after The River of Kings), critically acclaimed novelist Brown gazes unflinchingly at the Howl Mountain community of 1950s North Carolina...Not to be missed, this bold, dark, gritty novel is another coup for Brown, whose lyrical descriptions of the landscape only add to the captivating story of indomitable but isolated folks bound by folklore, tradition, and a hardscrabble life." - Library Journal, starred review "Powerful...explosive...Brown's lyrical prose invokes a verdant landscape whose rich past is woven into its roots and people; their dependence on the land and respect for its great mysteries are palpable. This tale of loyalty and retribution will linger with readers." - Publishers Weekly "The writing is strong and evocative, yielding a vivid picture whether he's describing a forest or a car chase, and there's plenty of action and intrigue. Pick up a copy of Gods of Howl Mountain and hold on. You're in for a ride you won't soon forget." - Greensboro Triad Praise for The River of Kings: "A literary achievement: a complex, character-driven story that's powerful in concept and execution." --Kirkus, starred review "Drawing comparisons to James Dickey's Deliverance and Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain, Brown's impressive second novel is an intense, solidly written story of family loyalty, Southern traditions, and haunting historic landscapes." --Library Journal, starred review