The Risen

by Ron Rash

New York Times bestselling author Ron Rash demonstrates his superb narrative skills in this suspenseful and evocative tale of two brothers whose lives are altered irrevocably by the events of one long-ago summer — and one bewitching young woman—and the secrets that could destroy their lives.

While swimming in a secluded creek on a hot Sunday in 1969, sixteen-year-old Eugene and his older brother, Bill, meet the entrancing Ligeia. A sexy, free-spirited redhead from Daytona Beach banished to their small North Carolina town until the fall, Ligeia will not only bewitch the two brothers, but lure them into a struggle that reveals the hidden differences in their natures.

Drawn in by her raw sensuality and rebellious attitude, Eugene falls deeper under her spell. Ligeia introduces him to the thrills and pleasures of the counterculture movement, then in its headiest moment. But just as the movement’s youthful optimism turns dark elsewhere in the country that summer, so does Eugene and Ligeia’s brief romance. Eugene moves farther and farther away from his brother, the cautious and dutiful Bill, and when Ligeia vanishes as suddenly as she appeared, the growing rift between the two brothers becomes immutable.

Decades later, their relationship is still turbulent, and the once close brothers now lead completely different lives. Bill is a gifted and successful surgeon, a paragon of the community, while Eugene, the town reprobate, is a failed writer and determined alcoholic.

When a shocking reminder of the past unexpectedly surfaces, Eugene is plunged back into that fateful summer, and the girl he cannot forget. The deeper he delves into his memories, the closer he comes to finding the truth. But can Eugene’s recollections be trusted? And will the truth set him free and offer salvation . . . or destroy his damaged life and everyone he loves?

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Southern, Historical Fiction, Coming Of Age, Family, Novels

272 pages, ebook

First published September 6, 2016

About the author

Ron Rash is the author of the 2009 PEN/Faulkner Finalist and New York Times bestselling novel, Serena, in addition to three other prizewinning novels, One Foot in Eden, Saints at the River, and The World Made Straight; three collections of poems; and four collections of stories, among them Burning Bright, which won the 2010 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, and Chemistry and Other Stories, which was a finalist for the 2007 PEN/Faulkner Award. Twice the recipient of the O.Henry Prize, he teaches at Western Carolina University.

Reviews

[Will Byrnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

People don’t have to be dead to be ghosts.

A body has emerged from a riverside grave, exposed by a lifetime of erosion, and revives decades-old questions about just how the dead woman had met her end. In Ron Rash’s latest novel, The Risen, broken, alcoholic Eugene is thus prompted to look back over forty six years to the seminal summer of his life.


Ron Rash

1969 was a special time for the Matney brothers in Sylva, North Carolina. After Sunday services, sixteen-year-old Eugene and his four-years-older brother, Bill, would fish in out-of-the-way Panther Creek, returning home at day’s end with the trout their grandfather loved. It was an idyllic, innocent recreation. At least it was until Ligeia appeared. Seventeen, exiled to the care of religious, boonie relations after some dodgy doings back home in Daytona Beach, she becomes a regular part of the boys’ weekly outings, no longer so innocent. She is exotic, worldly, sexual, experienced in much of the 60s culture that has yet to touch their lives, and she entices them to unexplored shores. The young men live at home with their widowed mother, well, for the summer anyway. Bill is away for most of the year as an undergrad at Wake Forest. Eugene, Bill, and their mother are all supported by the domineering patriarch, Liam Matney, town GP, and world-class bully. The story looks at how Ligeia sparks changes in the boys that will flow down the rivers of their lives.

The epigraph to The Risen is a quote from The Brothers Karamazov, “And after that the punishment began.” So you might be looking for sibling rivalry and a dastardly act. If so, you will not be disappointed. One might look for a character named Ligeia to have some death-defying DNA, but her physical return is not of the horror story sort, much though her body being unearthed represents quite a jolt for characters in the tale, and much though her brief presence in their lives continues to impact them all their days.

However, there is still a fair bit of magic to her. In the prologue, as her long-entombed body is exposed, what stands out is the personification. She is waiting…she is patient… as if she were something alive. This lends her a sense of immortality, as does this, From the beginning, Ligeia’s ability to appear or disappear seemed magical. Or this, Her arms lay languidly on the rock shelf, head and shoulders out of the water, the green bikini top just under the surface. Her long red hair set off aqua eyes and unblemished complexion. Later, staring at the sky with Eugene and comparing their visions, “I see the ocean,” she said. “I really must be part mermaid, because if I’m not at the ocean, I don’t feel at home.” It does make one note that the book title is only one letter-swap removed from being called The Siren. Magic of a sort manifests beyond Ligeia as well. Gene sees Nebo, his grandfather’s mute, bald, tough-as-nails helper, as more golem than handyman. Nebo shares Ligeia’s uncanny talent for appearing and disappearing seemingly at will. And has a frightening aspect that separates him from the ordinary.

There is another way one might look at the goings on. Very Old Testament Grandfather Liam, (You could definitely see this guy bellowing that there will be no god before him) with his golem in tow, does battle not only with the forces of modernity, but with the ancient classical gods, as embodied by Ligeia, a nereid, as likely as not. A stretch, perhaps, but conceivable. Another notion might be to see Ligeia as representing the corruption of the modern world making its way into the backwaters, with Grandfather guarding the portals to his world-in-amber like the GOP faced with a Supreme Court nominee from a Democratic president.


Thomas Wolfe - from Simon & Schuster

One of the thematic elements, probably the main one, that runs through the novel is the recurring reference to Thomas Wolfe’s Look Homeward, Angel. Eugene’s mother named him for Eugene Gant, the main character in Wolfe’s greatest work. They visit Wolfe’s childhood home in Asheville. Eugene did his thesis on Wolfe. He quotes from the end of Wolfe’s novel, (He was like a man who stands upon a hill above the town he has left, yet does not say “The town is near” but turns his eyes upon the distant soaring ranges.) and turns his eyes to dreams of living as a writer in Paris, New York or Key West. One could see The Risen as the story of what might have happened had Wolfe’s fictional Eugene Gant, or Wolfe himself for that matter, not left home. The full title of Wolfe’s book is Look homeward Angel: A Story of the Buried Life, which could relate to Ligeia certainly, but clearly much more to Eugene as a manifestation of a life that could never sustain itself in the full light of day.

One last bit of digging. Water imagery flows through Rash’s work, short and long, like well…you know. Panther Creek is where the boys encounter a maybe magical being, but even if one sees Ligeia in purely real-world terms, it remains the stream, a body of water, where they come of age, in a way. Maybe where they are lured into crashing on the rocks, if you go for the siren imagery, maybe where they are baptized from an old testament into a new testament world. Ligeia certainly offers them a new take on things. Their father, after all, had died falling from a tree stand. He may not have been nailed to it, but…And one does not have to look too far into Christian iconography to catch some significance from the fact that the boys are out there every Sunday catching fish. I know, I know, probably stretching too far, but it’s fun to keep casting and hoping, catching and releasing.

Readers of Ron Rash will recognize some elements other than water that echo his prior work. The power of grandfather Matney made me think of Serena. I have not read Rash’s work prior to that, so there may be better comparisons, but Grandfather is clearly willing to do anything, break any law or moral guideline, to get what he wants. Having a scary ally also echoes Serena’s association with Galloway, her scary assistant. And, of course, there is place. Rash writes of Appalachia, and the lives of its inhabitants. As with his earlier work, we see the meeting of old and new, urban and rural, education vs ignorance. And the use of nature elements to illuminate his story.

It is a bit hard to root too much for Eugene. He has clearly succumbed to his demons, has caused considerable damage in the world, not least to himself. We wish he had gotten it together to make a better stand for his better self. Sadly, it is pretty clear that that ship, probably a Cutty Sark, has sailed. But it is also not all his fault. He is shown to have clearly had a physical predisposition to alcohol. We can feel some sympathy for his having been subjected to overpowering forces in his youth. Even when he stands up for himself, even when he rebels, it does not end well. He has had a tough go of it. Brother Bill has gifts that Eugene could never approach, athleticism, confidence, professional accomplishment, but at what cost? How much good must one do to right a wrong, and is it even possible? While each are convincingly portrayed, each, separately, seem lacking in some crucial elements. Each are damaged in their own way. If they could somehow be fused, the two of them might make one complete person. While Ligeia is given a number of movingly human moments, she functions mostly as a catalyst for changes in the boys’ lives.

The story definitely held my interest. While we may or may not feel particularly close to the divided Matney boys, we remain eager to find out just what the hell happened way back when, and how the events informed the lives they led in the decades since.

The Siren, sorry, The Risen, does not, IMHO, stand at the pinnacle of Ron Rash’s oeuvre. Serena occupies that throne. But it is still a pretty good book, and is a disarmingly fast read. My ARE volume comes in at 253 pages, but those pages have large borders. It reads more like two hundred, or two twenty five. You can rip through it in short order. You don’t have to go all OCD besotted angler fishing for clues to meaning, like some people we won’t name, to enjoy this book. But if you appreciate literary fiction, you would do well casting a line into these waters. I read it twice and kept feeling more and more tugs on my line. You shoulda seen one of them, it was as long as a person is tall, but the sumbitch got a lucky tail shot at my head, after I lugged it up onto the pier. That thing was four feet across. I ducked in time, but that was all it took. I could swear it rolled over and waved a flipper at me as it headed back out to GodKnowsWhere. I don’t know if you can never go home again. Maybe you can. But you will never know, if you never leave.

Publication – September 6, 2016

Review first Posted – April 29, 2016

=============================EXTRA STUFF

Reviews of other Ron Rash books
-----Burning Bright
-----Nothing Gold Can Stay
-----The Cove
-----Serena
-----Above the Waterfall

Rash does not, so far as I can tell, have a facebook page. But his son, James, set up a Fan Club FB page for him.

June 6, 2017 - I was alerted by GR friend Linda to the following from April 2017 - WCU's Ron Rash wins Guggenheim Fellowship - Rash deserves all the recognition there is, he is a national treasure.

Here is the Poetry Foundation’s bio of Rash, who, after beginning his writing life with short stories, spent about ten years focusing on poetry, and has published several volumes.

The full text of Poe’s Ligeia. Oh, go ahead. You know you want to read it. It’s not long.

The full text of Thomas Wolfe’s Look Homeward, Angel, courtesy of Gutenberg

[karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is the second fairly quiet novel in a row from ron rash, after 2014's Above the Waterfall. i wouldn't recommend either of them to first-time rashers, because compared to some of his other books, they're a bit spare in terms of story, but for people like me, who've already gorged ourselves on his meatier stuff and can appreciate this lighter touch more for knowing what he's capable of when he lets loose, or for people who prefer their books a little wispy, it will still satisfy.

i liked this one more than Above the Waterfall, even though less actually happens in it.

it's a pretty straightforward story - two teenaged brothers fishing in panther creek, north carolina meet a wild and careless girl named ligeia back in the summer of '69 and spend the rest of the summer with her in a lazy haze of sex, drinking, and drugs before ligeia returns to florida. the individual choices the brothers make that summer set them each on the diverging trajectories their adult lives will take and will ultimately contribute to their long estrangement.

nearly fifty years after that summer, ligeia's bones wash up in panther creek, revealing that she never did make it back to florida, and now there are many questions that need to be answered and family secrets to drag into the light. in chapters alternating between past and present, in a story dark with regret and wasted time, a man will look back on the defining summer of his life and see events more clearly from an alcoholic distance than he did when he was living them.

playing on this idea of faulty memory and missing information, the best part of this book is actually something that isn't written - it's a jaw-droppingly unsettling incident alluded to, but not spelled out, involving "the second cut," which is a phrase that means nothing to you until it does, and when you clock the significance of it, there will be shivers. and i loved that - i loved his restraint in not writing that scene out but leaving it there teasingly, knowing his readers would get it. and it only makes me wish he'd trusted his readers with the other nice turn here - the one involving freckles - which, when it's first revealed, is subtle and exquisite, but then is later hammered home at least two more times, destroying that nice delicate reveal and spotlighting something most readers probably already 'got' the first time.

but no matter.

it's a quiet book, sure, but it still leaves its mark, and ron rash doesn't need to bring fireworks and a marching band to impress anybody.

but know that he could, if he wanted to.
and you would be impressed.

*********************************************
so, i come home from breakfast with James Renner to find THIS in my mailbox.



sometimes life is pretty great.

come to my blog!

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

It might have been the summer of love in most of the country, but 1969 in this small town was mostly passed over. But for two brothers, Eugene and his older brother Bill, this summer would change everything.

First love, first sex, first drink, for young Eugene it was a summer he would never forget. The magic of this author is not just the southern settings which he is known for but that he gives his characters situations and problems that could be for anyone, anywhere. This is written very simply, but with much depth, of the characters and the situation. A grandfather who is a dictator and after their Father's death wants to run the lives of their mother and of both boys. The story is told from an older Eugene looking back and reevaluating what he know after a horrific discovery. Does the end ever justify the means? Does the tremendous service one does when older excuse mishaps of the past? So simply written but at the same time very complex. Rather ingenuous, especially Ina shorter paged book.

So I loved this but feel the synopsis of the book almost gives too much away. Don't know why they do that. Anyway, think this book would make an interesting book discussion.

ARC from publisher.

[Angela M · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's 2015 in Sylva, a small town near Asheville, NC. and a family tale unfolds as Eugene, an unsuccessful professor of literature, an alcoholic whose wife and daughter have left him, takes us back 46 years to the summer of 1969. It's also the story of his brother Bill, now a successful neurosurgeon. The story moves back and forth between these times and focuses on what happened that summer when a care free , wild girl named Ligeia beguiles them and introduces them to drugs, alcohol, sex . She seems to cast a spell that leads them to a place that changes their lives forever . Something happened that summer and it comes to light in the present causing the reader to question who is responsible.

Their lives, Bill's in particular, are influenced by a controlling grandfather who is adamant that Bill will follow in his foot steps and become a Doctor. The grandfather gives up on trying to bring Eugene into this legacy since his talents and interests lie in books not in the scalpel. I was taken in immediately by their story and finding out what really happened that summer. I have to admit that I made a good guess before the truth is divulged. While the focus seems to be a particular day and event, the heart of the story is about the ties that bind these brothers as well as the moral dilemmas , the choices that people make because they believe it is the right thing to do. This is my first but not last Ron Rash book.

Thanks to Ecco/HarperCollins and Edelweiss.

[Zoeytron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our lives are shaped by the choices we make, and by the ensuing consequences. This is true in any walk of life. The path Eugene has taken has led him to drink. Indeed, he is well acquainted with the bottoms of any number of whiskey bottles. As a result, he has failed miserably at his chosen profession of writing, lost his wife and daughter, and is just a tweak away from becoming the town drunk.

Flashback to the summer of 1969. These are lazy days for Eugene, spent fishing and swimming in the river. Then one day, Ligeia comes into his life. No plain Jane is she, in either looks or in actions. Wild and daring, she turns Eugene's world on its head. Sex, drugs, and rock & roll. The proverbial summer of love has come for Eugene in a big way. Just as suddenly as she appeared, Ligeia vanishes.

I loved that final chapter. So easy to see the writer on the porch, phrasing and rephrasing what might have been. As a woman in the distance approaches the water, he begins to fade, growing fainter until there is only a speck of light to be seen. Then that, too, wicks out. This was my first Ron Rash experience (not to be confused with the Jimi Hendrix experience, of course!) and I look forward to reading more of his books.

[Cheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t want to write this review because it means this book is read, over. I guess that’s the biggest testament I can give; I wish it didn’t have to end. My personal recommendation is to read this book, don’t bother with reading any reviews, including mine. Just read it.

I haven’t read that many of Ron Rash’s earlier works, the first book of his I read was “The Cove,” then “Serena,” and “Above the Waterfall” more recently, and now “The Risen.” I’ve enjoyed them all, and while they all have that somewhat “Calgon, Take Me Away” quality to them, his latest is full of those quiet moments where everything builds so gradually you don’t even notice what’s coming.

I spent all of my summers growing up in the South, part of the time on the Chesapeake Bay and part of the time in Asheville, typically. To stay inside the US borders, you couldn’t get much further away from anything like the “summer of love,” even though Woodstock was that summer, it might as well have been another world. The magic of the spell Ligeia cast upon these two boys-not-yet-men, in such a lovely setting, introduced Eugene and Bill to a life full of memories. For Eugene, at least, first sip of alcohol, first taste of love, sex, how could he forget?

A wonderful story of young love with a twist of Rash.

Pub Date: 6 September 2016

Many thanks to Ecco Press, to Edelweiss, and to Ron Rash for providing me with an advanced copy for reading and review.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Eugene and his brother Bill meet a girl while swimming in a creek, their lives are drawn into her web of sex and drugs. Eugene falls hard for Ligeia and would do anything for her until she suddenly leaves town. Now, almost fifty years later, a body identified as Ligeia's is found along the same creek. Just what the hell happened to the girl Eugene never got over?

During my Goodreads visit in 2016, they had a massive pile of books for us, free for the taking. I managed to restrain myself, taking only The Impossible Fortress, an Anthony Bourdain book (may he rest in peace) that I regifted to my brother, and this one. I devoured it on a couple sweltering weekend days.

The Risen is the story of the buried secrets of Eugene Matny's past coming back to haunt him, although they'd been subtly haunting him for a few decades. Back in the day, Eugene was hot and heavy for a hippy chick named Ligeia until she vanished from his life. When her body is discovered, he immediately suspects his brother lied to him about taking her to the bus station. What exactly his brother was lying about proved to be quite something.

Rash's writing style sucked me right in, easy yet poignant. The parallel structure of the book, one set in the present day and the other in the mythical age of 1969, kept me interested even in the stretches where not a lot was happening. Knowing the train wreck is coming doesn't mean you'll be able to get off the tracks in time to avoid getting swept up in it. The ending was even better than I was expecting.

And now we've come to the point in the review where I reveal why I only gave The Risen a three. The book felt like it was missing a little something, like the time I forgot to put bay leaves in my beef stew. For the reputation Ron Rash has, this book was kind of a letdown. "Average" would be the first word that comes to mind when I think of this book. It was engaging but I'm already forgetting details and I just finished it a few minutes ago.

I think the characters needed to be fleshed out more. Eugene was a drunk. Bill was a med student. Ligeia was a hippy. Eugene and Bill's grandfather was a tyrant. That's pretty much it. The characters were pretty flat to me.

The Risen was a worthwhile read but it probably wasn't the Ron Rash book I should have read if I wanted a new author to follow. Three out of five stars.

[Esil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A high 4 stars! This was my second Ron Rash read, and as I said when I reviewed Above the Waterfall, it won't be my last. This a short novel, but Rash seems to be very skilled at packing a lot into few words. Set near Asheville, North Carolina, the story focuses on two brothers -- Eugene and Bill -- something that happened between them in the summer of 1968, and the reckoning between them nearly 50 years later. The story is told from younger Eugene's perspective, as he moves back and forth in time. I won't say anything more to avoid spoilers and also because the story itself is a bit besides the point. What makes this book compelling is the relationship between the brothers -- complicated bonds that stem from a mixture of love and resentment, the legacy of their tyrannical grandfather, and some old secrets and lies. The Risen is dark, tense and foreboding, but it isn't violent -- and I suspect it may be a little less dark than some of his earlier books. The Risen is a powerful well crafted read. Highly recommended for anyone who likes dark character studies with plenty of moral ambiguity. Thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss for an advance copy.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I worship and adore Ron Rash, but I have always felt his true calling (aside from his masterpiece “Serena”) is the short story. Now I am rethinking everything because THIS BOOK!!! I have seen some lukewarm reviews on this one and while I will agree it is not up to his usual standards on breathtaking prose, he has constructed a very taut and gripping little gem that had me on the edge of my seat until the perfectly crafted and moving end.

I don’t want to give too much away here, even the plot – I think the story is best experienced going in blind. It’s a coming of age tale with a melancholy and heartbreaking twist. Like “Serena,” evil is personified in this book but it is not manifested by the main three characters. Evil is “off stage,” and is only referenced in discussions between brothers Bill and Eugene, but the sense of claustrophobia and menace is powerful. Even though you understand early on what is going to happen, you can’t look away because you have to know exactly how it is going to play out. It’s brilliant, I loved it.

I recommend this to all fans of Ron Rash and/or fans of “hillbilly noir,” readers who enjoys suspenseful tales, and anyone who just plain enjoys good writing and gripping story-telling.

A 4.5 for me. Not quite up to “Serena,” but close! This is a story I won’t soon forget.

[Diane Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This felt more like an expanded short story or novelette than an honest-to-God novel. The characters were wooden and I couldn't make myself care about any of them. The story was interesting, but nothing special. The one true villain in the book, the grandfather, could have given Serena a run for the money, but was never fleshed out with motives or mysteries to explain his evil ways.
I did like all the literary allusions, especially the Thomas Wolfe connections. The setting of the small town of Sylva N.C., close to Asheville, was familiar. There were a lot of really great characters in this novel, but none of them were given any depth, which could have turned the book into something special. In short, I was disappointed.

I had been forewarned of that possibility by other reviewers, and was determined not to go into this reading with high expectations or comparisons to earlier works of Ron Rash. I think I managed to do that, but I just couldn't make it work for me.

[Camie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to a friend for the gift of Ron Rashes latest book.
Eugene Matney, a struggling alcoholic writer, relates this coming of age story and precautionary tale about he and his older brother Bill, a renowned neurosurgeon who grew up in a South Carolina town, with their widowed mother and disciplinary and influential though pretty steely Grandfather, the local physician and keeper of the small towns secrets.
Things start to go awry when they meet a visiting free spirited girl Ligeia Mosely from Miami who gets them into a whole lot of trouble. Alcohol, drugs, sex, and rock and roll in the summer of 1969 lead to life changing disaster. How well do you know the brother you grew up with, and to what lengths will you go to protect them ?
I thought I had the mystery figured out several times but I did not. A clever book which I enjoyed much more than Above The Waterfall Rash’s last book. 5 stars

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hauntingly beautiful coming of age tale that ripples through the years. Two brothers (Eugene and Bill) are fishing and swimming one Sunday afternoon in 1969 when they meet Ligeia - a 'free spirited' 16 year old who has been sent to live with relatives in North Carolina after running away to join a commune. Ligeia introduces the brothers to sex, drugs and rock and roll - and then things take a very dark turn. The writing is crisp and lean, and it is not surprising as Ron Rash is also a poet; one of the best books I have read this year.

[Perry · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Perniciousness of Pot, Prophylactics and an Appealing Pool
Rash's Homage to Dostoevsky

The setting here alternates between 1989 and the summer of 1969 in rural appalachian North Carolina. The latter was during the sinful Summer of Love, and brothers Eugene and Bill are on summer break from high school. About a hundred yards downstream from their regular swimmin' hole, a teen siren mesmerizes Eugene, the novel's narrator, avec toute sa splendeur naturelle:

"Her long red hair set off her aqua eyes and unblemished complexion. Close up, she looked younger, close to my age than Bill's. Bright beads circled her neck. Love beads, I knew they were called. Affixed to the beads was a penny-size peace symbol. She raised a hand and tucked her dripping hair behind her ears, exposing a pale crescent of breast. I look away, feeling my face flush."

The narrator Eugene names Ms. Mosely "Ligeia," for a Greek siren, on his promise to so name her if he ever used her for a character in a story. The alluring Ligeia is in town from Daytona Beach, Florida in hopes that her religionist aunt and uncle can save her from her evil ways. Ligeia spends much of her time at the mountain stream swimming hole giving the naive Eugene interactive instructions on sexual intercourse. In exchange he brings her Valium and Quaaludes from his grandfather's medical clinic. This is really risky since grandpa is an evil, narcissistic SOB.

Past summers were spent fishing with a rod and reel, but in the summer of '69, it's kissing with rubbers and reefer. Bill partakes in escapades with Ligeia at first, but becomes skeptical when she continues to ask for prescription drugs and he fears losing his long-time girlfriend. Toward summer's end, Eugene doesn't carry a condom. A few weeks later, Ligeia tells Eugene she's pregnant and it's his baby.

In 1989, Ligeia's body surfaces. By this time, Eugene has grown up to be a divorced, raging alcoholic and sometimes writer, who's estranged from his teen daughter due to an auto accident several years back in which she was injured and his drinking was a factor. Meantime, brother Bill is an esteemed surgeon who subscribes to Christianity Today and, as he'll be glad to tell you, has saved lots of lives and will save many more. What happened to Ligeia?

In spare, but elegant, prose, Rash tells the unsettling and hauntingly beautiful moral tale of wicked domination, innocence lost, remorse and responsibility.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ron Rash proves once again he is a master of southern fiction (as if there was any doubt) in his latest book "The Risen."

When erosion reveals human bones alongside Panther Creek in a small North Carolina town, brothers Eugene and Bill relive the fateful summer of 1969 when they met the wild and mysterious Ligeia.

While the novel is fueled with questions of "who dunnit?" and "what the heck happened?" its true strength is in its character study of two very different brothers, their tyrannical grandfather, and an untethered free spirit. Rash forces his readers to consider whether reprehensible acts are ever justifiable, and what, if anything, someone can do to earn redemption. He relies on his readers to draw conclusions and says just enough, without fully closing the circle -- which can make for an even stronger impact.

Highly recommended. 4+ stars

Thank you to Ecco publishing and Edelweiss for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Connie G · Rating 4 out of 5]

A shocking newspaper article brought the alcoholic writer, Eugene Matney, back 46 years to the summer of 1969. He and his older brother, Bill, were spending an afternoon fishing in a stream when Eugene met his first love. The beautiful, manipulative teenager (who assumed the exotic name Ligeia) was sent to stay with religious relatives in the boonies of North Carolina. Her parents were trying to keep her safe since she had recently run away to a hippie commune. While Bill could see that she was trouble, Eugene fell for Ligeia's charms. He was introduced to alcohol, drugs, sex, and rock music. Now, secrets about that fateful summer and Ligeia are finally uncovered.

The two boys were living with their widowed mother and their domineering grandfather. Bill was the golden boy--intelligent, athletic, personable, talented, and destined to fulfill his grandfather's wish that he become a doctor. Eugene became a writer, but his love of alcohol derailed his career and his marriage. Eugene confronts Bill about events from 1969. The rivalry and strained relationship between the two brothers, and the influence of their tyrannical grandfather come to the surface. There is much moral ambiguity and shared responsibility for the tragedy that is revealed.

This is the fourth book by Ron Rash that I have read, and I enjoy how he includes Biblical or literary references in his works. Throughout this book, the main literary reference is Look Homeward, Angel, a book loved by Eugene's mother. The younger brother was named for the character Eugene Gant who wanted to leave his small North Carolina town and difficult family for life as a writer in a distant city.

I remember the summer of 1969--the great music, love beads, hearing about Woodstock and Haight-Ashbury--so Ligeia seemed very real. While this is not my favorite book by this author, The Risen kept my interest and was a good suspenseful read.

[Cathrine ☯️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75★
A bit longer than a novella but shorter than a novel, it was just right.
It did not pack quite the punch that his other works usually deliver but if you love his writing it’s an enjoyable read.
If you still haven’t developed a Rash (starts with J ends with an A), I would definitely point you to his Burning Bright or perhaps Serena or The Cove as a starter if you want the ultimate in literary enjoyment from the man’s works.
For me this really falls under the three star/I liked it rating (which I think of as quite respectable but almost everyone else on GR seems to think of as book death) so I must bump it up to four. I rarely do this but it is a Ron Rash after all and I’m a fangirl.

[☮Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tale of two brothers, bewitched, bothered, and beguiled one coming-of-age summer by a beautiful girl who likes to think she's a mermaid. But she's something else. One brother catches on; one stays under her spell. One brother goes on to become a successful surgeon; the other a drunk. Any correlation? Ultimately, what happened that summer altered their lives forever.

It's an evocative tale you will want to, and can, read straight through. Rash ensnares you with his words and then mixes things up a bit at the end in ways unexpected but then, oh of course, so shrewd. Sparse, yet impactful. What isn't said says so much. I am in awe. 4.5 stars.

[LA · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Ron Rash better than butter. His works are amazing. Maybe with a bar set so high, disappointment was inevitable.

Let me get past my woeful reaction, and maybe Ill jot more details soon. Until then..

This is still lovely in its writing, but the bad guy here did not have the depth and nuance I have come to expect in Rash's villains. My favorite was the murderer who was sweetly diligent in trimming his elderly mother's fingernails, in buying her favorite candies, and making sure she had a chilled cup of water to wash those sweets down.

Dialogue always feels like Im there in that grassy field, hearing the unspoken pain of a man doing one awful thing but saying another, no matter his conscience. The conversations between the teens in this book bored me and didn't seem real. I realize this was the 60s, but "groovy" was so overused (yeah, I get that groovy was today's "awesome" but still..) that my eyes wanted to roll around every time it was said.

Rash has led us to a girl in the water before. In just four paragraphs, he made me become that adventurous child trying to put one icy foot on either side of the state line, drawn by the shallow, rapid river. The young lady who has risen in this tale seemed a bit cartoonish - no back story to feed any little seedlings of my empathy.

I could go on with specifics, but sadly, I dont care enough to do so. As for the two brothers and the groovy Ligeia (name of Poe poem where a dead wife eventually takes over the body of the new wife), unfortunately, I would not have cared if all three of them had drowned.

EDITED TO ADD: I did just pull up an interview with Ron Rash, and yes - my comparison to the risen Ligeia in the Edgar Allen Poe was correct. That narrator is an opium addict who cannot get over losing Ligeia, and here we have a life-long alcoholic. However, in this story, had the younger brother remarried and perhaps had bad dreams about wife number two after Ligeia is found... I dont know. That would have pulled me in more.

As for the parallel with the Brothers K, what with the foreward quotation punishment coming straight out of Dostoyevsky's mouth, it was far too blatant for me to say "ooooooo.."

Rash cranked this book out quickly (maybe because he decided to take much longer with his most recent novel, Waterfall?), and perhaps he had some sort of hard deadline in his contract for this particular book. I'm guessing here. I do not pretend to understand how publishing works, but I wish he had not released this at all or had done so in a short story format.

It is as if Rembrandt just painted my garage. Well done but way beneath his talent. 3.5

[Snotchocheez · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This meager review is going to sound a little bitchy (which will hopefully be offset by my 3.5 star rating) but while I completely enjoyed Ron Rash's almost novella-length novel The Risen, I can't help but feel I've read it before. If you've never read Rash's ethereal North Carolina-centric grit-lit before, this would probably be a good place to "get your feet wet" with him. Rash fans, though, might have trouble with its overt similarity to portions of The Cove, Above The Waterfall, (what I've heard about) The World Made Straight, and many of his short stories. Ron Rash is too gifted a writer to apply the epithet 'You've read one of his books, you've read them all", but, in reading The Risen the déjà vu-ish feelings are impossible to ignore.

It's Summer, 1969 in Ron Rash-land (this time Sylva, an Ashville-centric dinky town abutting the Great Smoky Mountains, worlds away from the Vietnam War (and the counter-culture movement)), and brothers Bill (a Wake Forest U. student and aspiring surgeon, home for summer) and Eugene (five years younger, with an academic bent toward literature, much to the consternation of their over-bearing doctor grandfather), who (on one of many post-church Sunday fishing/swimming excursions) encounter Ligeia, a mysterious and exotic (to the brothers, anyway) sylph/siren/mermaid, swimming adjacent to their fishing hole. Turns out, she's been shipped up to her aunt and uncle in NC for the summer, for some pharmacological misdeeds down in Florida.
She enchants the two (mostly straight-laced, but fun-loving) brothers into some Summer of Love misdeeds, NC-style (mostly, swilling convenience-store Strawberry Hill and coaxing the brothers to score "brain candy" samples from their grandfather) Fast-forward 46 years to 2015 (with Bill a successful neurosurgeon, and Eugene a hopeless drunk) and the announcement of Bill and Eugene's '69 enchantrix Ligeia's skeletal remains being unearthed from a 4 1/2-decade-long muddy grave.

I swallowed The Risen down like.a 12-ounce bottle of Cheerwine Soda (to the uninitiated, an insanely sweet and addictive caffeinated beverage based in NC, sorta like red-tinted Dr. Pepper), and would not hesitate recommending it, but, like an itty bottle of Cheerwine, its overfamiliarity simultaneously satisfies yet keeps you wanting more, never quite slaking your thirst. I've gotten my Ron Rash fix, but I'm left wanting more.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great story by Ron Rash taking place about 30 minutes from my home, in a town my grandfather was born.
The Risen is a coming of age story during the summer of 1969; a story of love, relationships, and mystery.
It is best to go into this book without reading the blurb about it, as I feel it gives away too much.
I enjoyed this short story by Rash -- it's my second and I'm looking forward to reading more of his work. He's a wonderful storyteller!
A high 4 stars!

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first book by Ron Rash and perhaps this wasn’t the best one to start with. I’m left feeling that this book failed to demonstrate the author’s talent that I’ve heard so much about.

It was a page-turner, which is always a good thing. I read it quickly and found it to be fairly enjoyable overall but that’s about it. I didn’t really know any of the characters by the end and therefore wasn't invested in their fates. In particular, the girl Ligeia felt like the caricature of a young, beautiful temptress singing her siren-song to the brothers Matney at the riverside. Hook, line, sinker.

One thing I do think Rash executed perfectly is Eugene’s alcoholic behavior, even at the age of sixteen when he drinks his first beer. As someone who spent years of my life chasing that ever-elusive glow, I could almost feel that first buzz coming on, so perfectly did he render this moment:

”As I opened it and took a long swallow, I didn’t experience what I’d read later in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, the “click” Brick spoke of. No, what I felt on this Sunday afternoon was a gliding sensation, then a soft smooth landing where the world greeted me with a warm glowing smile.”

I won’t judge Rash on this book and I’ll try something else eventually.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Summer of Love was a couple of years past its Use-By date when it reached the hollers of Appalachia. In fact, if it weren't for bad girl Ligeia, sent by her parents from Daytona Beach to cool off with a staid aunt and uncle in small-town North Carolina, Eugene Matney might never have discovered The Doors. Maybe he'd've been better off. Maybe Ligeia would still be alive. But 46 years later, the details are a little fuzzy, particularly rendered in the mind of a has-been alcoholic writer.

The Risen is a tight, taut murder mystery that slips back and forth between present day and 1969. Although a coming-of-age noir, fraught with sex, drugs, rock-n-roll, the deep mountain setting, sibling rivalry, a tyrannical grandfather, a mean sheriff, and a distressed damsel with flowing red hair give it a fable-like feeling. I kept looking for a robin to coming twittering out of the woods, leaving a trail of crumbs for the truth-seekers to follow.

This is perhaps the most conventionally written - both in style and in substance - of Ron Rash's stories. I've long believed he is an American treasure, one of our most prolific, gifted, and important storytellers, but if you haven't read Rash, please don't start here. The Risen is a compelling whodunit set in Rash's typical and ever-evocative North Carolina mountains—but the novel has little of his rich prose and it's absent his riveting characters. I found the dialogue surprisingly flat at times and Eugene's alcoholic writer trope overplayed. From a lesser author, it would be remarkable. From a writer as remarkable as Ron Rash, it's thin and a bit clichéd.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, the "rash" is back. After a likeable but not great read with Above the Waterfall, I really liked this new novel. The relationship between the brothers reminds me some of the set of brothers in East of Eden. But I also thought Serena and Cathy/Kate were similar in nature. This is a book to definitely chew on for a little bit. I'm thankful I can talk about this one with On the Southern Literary Trail group. The pace is quick and I was not disappointed.

[Kirk Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book suffers some by comparison to Rash's other novels. Perhaps that is it's greatest fault and it might have been praised more if it came from a new or unknown author. I did enjoy it and I never quite suspected or anticipated the ending. That to me is the mark of a truly great author.

[Carmel Hanes · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up.

I think the thing I like most about Ron Rash books is the way he turns people inside out, slowly, relentlessly, to show us the parts they strive to keep hidden; the secret sprouting offshoots creating patterns of behavior and choices directing their lives, immersing them in moral conundrums where characters battle with each other and themselves over universal "rights" and "wrongs".

Rash evokes time and place like few others, creating a world both familiar and new. And while his characters seem to draw you into a love or hate relationship, you find your self-righteous certainty tested as events unfold. The "I'd nevers" can become the "Well, in certain circumstances...."

A novel about brothers, coming of age, a clash of cultures, familial expectations, and what we might be led to do in exceptional circumstances, all within the framework of a mysterious death. When and for whom would we sacrifice, and what form might that take? And what do we keep from others, "for their own good"? And is it really?

It was not my favorite Rash novel, but still an interesting and worthwhile read.

[♥ Sandi ❣ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

Finally!!! A good book. I have had a run of mediocre books, so it is so nice to return to a good author, one who I know will entertain me with a story worth telling and told in the best of ways.

Two boys, one summer of growth and youthful innocence, one murder, and finally the telling of the tale, years later.

This book has again raised my hopes that there are really plenty of 'good' books out there to be had. After a run of bad books it was such a relief to read Ron Rash. He may sometimes be a bit gritty, sometimes right to the point, sometimes a bit off shade, but always good. Thank you Ron Rash for probably preventing a reading slump!

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

review to come

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my third or fourth Ron Rash and one thing I have learned is that he does not write stories with"happy" endings. His stories my end with redemption; with justice; with reconciliation, but usually not with happiness.

This latest effort is a case in point.

In the late sixties, two teenaged boys living in a small town in North Carolina fall under the bewitching spell of a young girl who is visiting from the Florida coast. A full-fledged member of the counterculture which is sweeping the country, but has not yet reached their town, she entices them with "free love" and all that it entails. This encounter not only contributes to the arc each brothers future will take, but also permanently alters the relationship between them.

When, some forty years later, a tragic incident comes to light, the brothers are forced to revisit and confront what happened during that long ago summer.

With his usual well crafted prose, Rash provides just enough about the present, as well as the past, to keep the reader wanting to know what happens next. I did not find any of the characters particularly likable, but I still wanted to know how they all turned
out.

This unique quality in Rash's writing, which invests readers in characters they may not particularly like, is I think what sets his stories apart.

With such engaging writing, who needs a happy ending anyway?

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book centers around a summer in the 1960's when brothers Bill and Eugene meet the sexy and wild Ligeia at the creek where they fish. Both boys become involved with the girl and, years later, it tests their relationship. Memories are dredged up. Questions are asked. Fingers are pointed. Suspicions are raised.

The greatest thing about The Risen is that it is fodder for a great conversation. What really happened? Who really is to blame? What is real? There is a great mystery at the core of this story. I read the last chapter three times. I've still got questions.

The Risen could be called a novella due to its' length. However, it gets the job done in its' few pages. It won't be everyone's favorite Rash story, but it sure will leave Rash fans talking about it for a while.

[Lawyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review to follow