Long Man
A Novel
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Long Man
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Narrated by:
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Dale Dickey
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Written by:
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Amy Greene
About this listen
From the critically acclaimed author of Bloodroot, a gripping, wondrously evocative novel of a family in turmoil, set against the backdrop of real-life historical event—the story of three days in the summer of 1936, as a government-built dam is about to flood an Appalachian town, and a little girl goes missing.
A river called Long Man has coursed through East Tennessee from time immemorial, bringing sustenance to the people who farm along its banks and who trade among its small towns. But as Long Man opens, the Tennessee Valley Authority’s plans to dam the river and flood the town of Yuneetah for the sake of progress—to bring electricity and jobs to the region—are about to take effect. Just a few days remain before the river will rise, and most of the town has been evacuated. Among the holdouts is a young, headstrong mother, Annie Clyde Dodson, whose ancestors have lived for generations on her mountaintop farm; she’ll do anything to ensure that her three-year-old daughter, Gracie, will inherit the family’s land. But her husband wants to make a fresh start in Michigan, where he’s found work that will bring the family a more secure future. As the deadline looms, a storm as powerful as the emotions between them rages outside their door. Suddenly they realize that Gracie is nowhere to be found. Has the little girl simply wandered off into the rain? Or has she been taken by Amos, the mysterious drifter who has come back to Yuneetah, perhaps to save his hometown in a last, desperate act of violence?
Suspenseful, visceral, gorgeously told, Long Man is a searing portrait of a tight-knit community brought together by change and crisis, and of one family facing a terrifying ticking clock. A novel set in history that resonates with our own times, it is a dazzling and unforgettable tour de force.
©2014 Amy Greene (P)2014 Random House AudioWhat the critics say
“Greene even-handedly renders a lost and mostly forgotten world to perfection in Long Man. It’s midsummer 1936, and in the bucolic Tennessee town of Yuneetah, FDR is a pretty unpopular president. Through his federal programs, geared to revive the economy and bring electricity to the region, locals are being bought out or relocated. [But] not everyone is going quietly into that good night. Annie Clyde Dodson and her folks have labored for generations on a hilltop farm, and it’s her dream to introduce her daughter to a natural world the author memorably renders as a New World Eden . . . Caught up in this drama are several colorful figures, all with troubled pasts, buried secrets being brought to the surface like graves uncovered by the enveloping waters.” —Dan Dervin, Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star
“Greene was immediately hailed as a new voice in Southern literature when she published Bloodroot, her first novel. In Long Man, she finds a way to embrace both the beauty and the intrinsic ferocity of small-town Appalachia as she returns to [its] hills, this time with a look at people who don’t want to leave, despite outside threats . . . She has written a vibrant novel, gripping in its depiction of what has been forgotten. Be sure to put some time aside. Long Man is spellbinding as it chronicles endings and beginnings with the hardscrabble poetry of the way of life it depicts.” —Steven Whitton, The Anniston Star
“Gorgeous . . . A novel about passion, mystery and loss . . . A panorama of a people and way of life pressed upon by progress. Strong women [are] key to the plot and soul. The book is also about evocative writing. It’s pungent, and never lazy. It can make a reader nostalgic for a place she’s never known . . . A virtually perfect blend of lyrical writing and page-turning plot. This book gives me hope for the future of the literary novel. Beautiful.” —Karen Sandstrom, Cleveland Plain Dealer