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"In the places set between folds in the Earth, voices echo against mountains..."
So begins the story of Concord, Virginia, one of those places set between folds in the Earth. It's a place like almost any other Southern town, filled with self-righteous preachers, descendants of slaves, upstanding town leaders, and the ladies of the local bridge club. But, Concord has something else: a dark heart. A church has been abandoned. Vultures have been roosting in the trees at George MacJenkins's house. Poisonous snakes follow Rachel Stetson into the river for a swim. And, the ghost of Thomas Jefferson has recently spoken through a man chained to fate. Deftly spinning a web of stories from the voices of the town, Peter Neofotis creates a captivating portrait -comic, dramatic, bombastic, and tragic, of a place trapped in time and possessed by the valley landscape that surrounds it. In the tradition of great Southern gothic writing, Peter Neofotis brings to life the town of Concord, Virginia, allowing even the ancient voices there to swirl through the glazed brick streets like the Fork River. This collection of short stories is a pulse-raising debut by a writer who's created a place the reader will never forget.
So begins the story of Concord, Virginia, one of those places set between folds in the Earth. It's a place like almost any other Southern town, filled with self-righteous preachers, descendants of slaves, upstanding town leaders, and the ladies of the local bridge club. But, Concord has something else: a dark heart. A church has been abandoned. Vultures have been roosting in the trees at George MacJenkins's house. Poisonous snakes follow Rachel Stetson into the river for a swim. And, the ghost of Thomas Jefferson has recently spoken through a man chained to fate. Deftly spinning a web of stories from the voices of the town, Peter Neofotis creates a captivating portrait -comic, dramatic, bombastic, and tragic, of a place trapped in time and possessed by the valley landscape that surrounds it. In the tradition of great Southern gothic writing, Peter Neofotis brings to life the town of Concord, Virginia, allowing even the ancient voices there to swirl through the glazed brick streets like the Fork River. This collection of short stories is a pulse-raising debut by a writer who's created a place the reader will never forget.
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Reviews
"This colorful debut collection consists of 11 interlinked stories set in a fictitious Shenandoah Valley town between the early 1950s and late '70s. The stories exhibit an Appalachian Gothic vibe, and their outlandish, often violent plots draw on the antics of the local eccentrics... Neofotis smartly captures a sometimes creepy, sometimes beautiful corner of Americana."
Publisher's Weekly
"From story to story in this collection, Peter Neofotis develops a vision centered in the various and compelling characters of Concord, Virginia. Starting with the complex inter-relationships among the people of the town, Neofotis is inspired to see into their friendships deeper layers of history and mythology - with an echo of Aeschylus. Neofotis' vision is of a town crying from its wounds, the wounds of America, but a town also joyful in the victories of America. His stories, like his extraordinary performances of them, move from tears to laughter, from darkness to brightness. His writing contains within it a profound moral sense that revives in the reader a long lost reason for reading and an engagement with life's deepest meanings."
David Plante, author of The Country and National Book Award Nominee The Family
"Beautiful, often even Homeric portrayals of relationships black and white. A community's salute to a mother, night swimming lovers, and a flood - all set in a mountain river and town we love."
Sally Mann, photographer/author of Immediate Family and Deep South