River Rising

Welcome to Pilotville, Louisiana, 1927, isolated outpost on the Mississippi River--a stilt village bounded by swampland to the horizon, accessible only by boat, an island of brotherly love in a sea of racism. Meet Hale Poser, a stranger with a bad hip who's come looking for his roots--a humble man, a righteous man, a miracle man. In the swamp beyond the cypress and the tupelo and veiled by Spanish moss lies a lingering evil. For years it slept in dreadful isolation. Now comes Hale Poser, and it will sleep no more. It will rain down on Pilotville, it will rise up like a river, and nothing but a miracle can stop this awful flood.

"When, at the beginning of this novel, Rev. Hale Poser arrives in Pilotsville, La., the story appears to unfold in an all-too-familiar way: a stranger of humble means comes to a Southern town, scandalizes it and, in true Christ-figure fashion, changes the lives of everyone there forever. However, a series of twists and surprises quickly pull the narrative into unexpected territory that is at once entrancing and painful to behold. Set during the great Mississippi flood of 1927, Dickson's novel does not simply explore racism, faith and poverty, but somehow inhabits them, mostly by way of Hale's journey. Told from the perspective of several characters, Hale's first days in Pilotsville — where readers quickly learn he has come to find the parents he never knew — reveal something close to utopia: black and white residents working and living together congenially, and almost equally, while the beneficent white man who essentially owns the town keeps all the ugliness of Southern racism at bay. Sadly, nothing is quite as it seems, and the miracles, revelations and moments of despair that make up the bulk of this book lead its characters and readers to some disturbing conclusions. Atmospheric, well-paced and powerfully imagined, this novel is reminiscent of Octavia Butler's Kindred and deserves similar readership and respect." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

In 1927 Louisiana, Rev. Hale Poser arrives in the bayous of Pilotville, looking for his roots. In the swamp beyond the cypress lies a lingering evil. For years it slept in dreadful isolation. Now comes Hale Poser, and it will sleep no more.