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A Novel
by S.M. Hulse
Book Reviewed by:A former prison guard and talented fiddler returns to his Montana hometown to bury his wife and confront the inmate who, twenty years ago, held him hostage during a prison riot.
When Wes Carver returns to Black River, he carries two things in the cab of his truck: his wife's ashes and a letter from the prison parole board. The convict who held him hostage during a riot, twenty years ago, is being considered for release.
Wes has been away from Black River ever since the riot. He grew up in this small Montana town, encircled by mountains, and, like his father before him and most of the men there, he made his living as a Corrections Officer. A talented, natural fiddler, he found solace and joy in his music. But during that riot Bobby Williams changed everything for Wes — undermining his faith and taking away his ability to play.
How can a man who once embodied evil ever come to good? How can he pay for such crimes with anything but his life? As Wes considers his own choices and grieves for all he's lost, he must decide what he believes and whether he can let Williams walk away.
With spare prose and stunning detail, S. M. Hulse drops us deep into the heart and darkness of an American town.
This carefully told story richly explores themes of loss, revenge and forgiveness, fatherhood, and faith in God through the eyes of one man, Wesley Carver. The precise, evocative prose perfectly mirrors the content of this emotionally wrought debut novel. This a gritty story, dealing with misery and pain. After all, in a prison-town, there is no escaping the fact that bad things happen. Some people commit horrendous crimes. And yet, despite the tough truths, there is also hope, and a deep appreciation for beauty. The story is much like the rugged mountains of Montana: beautiful, yet rough and immense...continued
Full Review
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(Reviewed by Sarah Tomp).
In Black River, Wes's father made a handmade fiddle for his son. This treasured belonging supports many of the story's themes. The fiddle itself is a multi-sensory object. Beyond its key function of making music, it is also visually beautiful, and provides a tactile and kinesthetic release for Wes.
A fiddle and a violin are pretty much the same instrument. Although there can be variance in playing methodology and the set-up of the instrument (including the strings, tuners and bridge), the difference is most significantly a matter of perception and cultural use—and the type of music played. A musician playing classical music is more likely to call the instrument a violin, while a fiddler plays folk music and bluegrass. Or, as is ...
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Kent Meyers, author of The Work of Wolves
Hulse writes with great clarity and precision, her language a celebration of rigor and intensity, and with such awareness of human rage and love—and fear of love—that her novel Black River feels like a river itself, teeming and unexpected and driven. She has an amazing sensibility for creating the understated, the emotionally-pressurized, the contained-and-explosive, the unsaid-and-impossible-to-say. One of the great joys of reading this novel is watching how she manages this—and how her perfect balance allows her deeper and deeper insights into the ways that people, especially men, negotiate their love for, and their fear of, each other and themselves.
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