The Green Age of Asher Witherow

A rich, gothic tale of a young soul coming of age during the fabular boom and bust years of an immigrant coal mining town in 19th-century California.

Supplying a quarter of San Francisco's coal, Nortonville of the 1860s-70s is a flourishing empire in small, seeming to promise unending prosperity and a better future. But beneath the vibrant work ethic of its Welch citizens lies an insidious network of superstitions.

A missing boy first brings these dark undercurrents to light. Then young Asher Witherow falls under the spell of an unorthodox apprentice minister, stirring a whirlpool of suspicion and outrage. Soon Asher finds himself trapped in a nightmarish crucible, all the more excruciating because he himself could end it if he could only find the strength of will. This is a lesson the missing boy has taught him, and what he understands instinctively from the alluring Anna Flood, new to Nortonville, who with her raw sensuality and independence seems to offer some hope of redemption or even escape.

In this powerful debut from a young writer of stunning talent, M. Allen Cunningham takes us into a time and place at once gritty and magical, when the future seems filled with promise but where the day's labor is bone breaking, numbing and always dangerous.

Gorgeously written, historically authentic, The Green Age of Asher Witherow is a novel of tested loyalties, of condemnation and redemption. The characters' deep emotional lives are complex and vivid, fluctuating from the doomed to the transcendent. As he unpacks his heart, Asher comes to realize that all his early traumas have somehow bonded him to the land surrounding Mount Diablo and infused his life with an inward wealth?a treasure at which we can only wonder.

"A miner's son is immersed in the dark spirituality of an insular, mostly Welsh Northern California mining town in the mid-19th century in this gritty coming-of-age debut. When Asher Witherow is eight, he witnesses the burning of his best friend, Thomas Motion, in a horrific accident as the boys explore the caverns of nearby Mt. Diablo. Witherow hides his knowledge of the accident even as a search is mounted, a situation that intrigues Josiah Lyte, the boy's bizarre schoolteacher and local preacher who eventually gets cast out by the populace for integrating Hindu elements from his upbringing in India into his work. Much of the novel deals with Lyte's mystical influence over his precocious pupil, but some years after the accident Witherow also enters into an ill-fated romance with his 'evening friend,' Alice Flood. Cunningham does a superb job of capturing the grim rhythm of life in the mines, balancing that material with fine childhood character studies. Occasionally, the author gets carried away and the spiritual material turns lurid, but the beauty of Cunningham's naturalistic prose and the strong characterization of young Asher Witherow make this a worthwhile debut from a noteworthy new author. Agent, Judy Heiblum. (Oct.) FYI: This is the launch title of a new independent line created by Fred Ramey and Greg Michalson, former heads of MacMurray & Beck and Putnam/BlueHen." Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"[An] accomplished historical novel. Its unusual structure and richly descriptive, evocative language display a mastery that is surprising in a novelistic debut." Booklist

"With heartfelt characters and stunning descriptions, Cunningham presents a historical glimpse of squalor in the mines that will haunt readers. Highly recommended." Library Journal

"The Green Age of Asher Witherow is one of the finest debut novels I've ever read. Cunningham writes with poetic intensity, but this is also a book with enormous narrative drive, memorable characters and relentless drama. And while the author is an artist rather than a scholar, he serves up a wealth of fascinating information about the history of the Golden State. For a twenty-six-year-old novelist to produce this book ought to be impossible, but you hold the shocking evidence in your hands." Steve Yarbrough, author of The Oxygen Man

"Rarely does a writer combine a strikingly beautiful prose style with an unerring instinct for storytelling. But this is indeed M. Allen Cunningham?s startling accomplishment — in his literary debut, no less. The Green Age of Asher Witherow is an enchanting novel by a lushly talented young writer." Robert Olen Butler, author of the Pulitzer Prize winning A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain

"This is a literary novel in the finest sense of the word, magnetic and seductive from first word to last....This is a book to be savored, written by a gifted wordsmith. It has my highest recommendation." Laurel Johnson, Midwest Book Review

Rich in historical detail, this gorgeously written debut novel tells the story of a young soul coming of age during the boom and bust years of a California Welsh coal mining in the 1860-70s. M. Allen Cunnignham writes about a place at once gritty, yet magical. He captures an intimate connection between the characters and a sweeping landscape, where the future seems filled with promise but where a day's labor is bone breaking and dangerous.

In this rich, gothic tale, a young soul comes of age during the fabular boom and bust years of an immigrant coal mining town in 19th-century California.