The Ballad of Falling Rock
Truth told, folks still ask if Saul Crabtree sold his soul for the perfect hymn. If he sold it to angels or devils. A Bristol newspaper once asked: “are his love songs closer to heaven than dying?” Others wonder how he wrote a song so sad, everyone who heard it died of a broken heart.
Yet, more than anything else folks ponder in the town of Trinity, one question lingers: why did this angel-toned preacher’s son, just as his fame seemed ready to light the Appalachian nightsky forever, disappear completely?
In 1938, the decisions Saul makes will alter his family’s story for generations. He and his eerily talented descendants ignite religious fear throughout Red Pine County. They navigate chapels, decaying sanatoriums, high school hallways, and a lingering myth from their Cherokee heritage that follows them wherever they go.
In the end, however, it’s Saul’s precocious grandson, Eli, who must find answers to these heartbreaking questions, who must enter this world rich in music and voices, where people die to hear the unspoken, and salvation is only found in the not-yet sung.
Pricing
Hardcover
Softcover
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ISBN Numbers:
Hardcover: 978-1-64397-364-7
Softcover: 978-1-64397-365-4
Ebook: 978-1-64397-366-1
LCCN: 2023930895
Page Count: 368
Release Date: 9/24/2024
Copyright © 2024 BHC Press. All Rights Reserved.
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“Dotson does a wonderful job giving the prose and the dialogue a very time-appropriate feel and sound. He takes an old-time melodic and very poetic approach here that is very fitting.”
—NetGalley Reviewer
“This was the most beautiful story ever written about the saddest song ever sung. I was taken on a journey across generations where love, family and music; however complicated, overpowered all else. I am absolutely blown away…”
—Goodreads Reviewer
“Dotson's sentences crackle on every page and are infused with a joy and love for the region and its people. This heartbreaking and tender debut is not to be missed.”
—Sybil Baker, author of Apparitions
“…a story of hope, with the promise of a brighter future as long as we dare to continue to dream. A truly original debut, we look forward to much more from this powerful voice of a very talented writer.”
—Xu Xi, author of That Man In Our Lives
“Dotson’s way with words is absolutely breathtaking. I can hear the characters and feel the music. This is a must read book, without doubt.”
—Goodreads Reviewer