Guest Post: One Foot In Eden

As a southernist, I am obviously partial to any new literature coming out of the South.

I could go for days and do nothing but post brilliant Southern fiction written in the last hundred years (don’t worry, I’ll refrain).

However, I cannot resist singing the praises of Ron Rash. I feel he’ll eventually be regarded in such esteemed Southern company as William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor.

Born, raised, and educated in the Carolinas, Rash is an accomplished novelist and poet who has received numerous awards during his short tenure on the mainstream literary market.

Devastated by the sudden loss, a few years ago, of Mississippi’s Larry Brown, I was brokenheartedly looking for some new Southern fiction when a friend and colleague introduced me to Rash. I was immediately hooked.

His first novel, One Foot In Eden, is his best (in my opinion). The narrative is a tale of murder and infidelity set in the Jocassee region of the South Carolina mountains. The story is, in part, based on actual events surrounding the decision by Carolina Power (now Duke Energy) to forcibly remove farmers and flood the gorges to create two lakes amassing over 20,000+ acres.

Heartbreaking, brilliant, and mind-blowing - you won’t be able to put it down once you start reading. - Allison