Synopses & Reviews
A brave, beautifully written story about a man who reluctantly accepts his birthright in a hard-luck Montana sheep-ranching family, from the critically acclaimed author of
The Light of Falling Stars.Hoping to make a new life for himself after World War II and to escape the guilt he feels over the death of a brother who fought and died in his stead, Grant Person abandons his family's ranch in Montana for a fishing boat on the Atlantic. But the death of his mother three years later draws him back to the nearly deserted ranch. His father has mysteriously disappeared, and his only remaining brother, Max, a lifelong rival, takes off the day Grant returns, leaving Grant with a couple of hired hands, a sickly flock, and a pile of debt. Max comes home a year later, bringing with him a young woman named Sophia. As Grant falls in love with Sophia, he contemplates the possibility of a less isolated future. But Sophia is only happiness enough for one brother.
With unflinching honesty, J. Robert Lennon tackles the complications of love, loss, and work; loyalty to family, the land, and one's own desires; and the nature of solitude. Showing us the beauty of a bleak place, he redefines the notion of a life worth living.
Review
". . . an unsentimental examination of the ways in which we find and lose those we love, both before and after death."--
The New Yorker"A moving, gracefully wrought exploration of grief and love." --Entertainment Weekly
"A debut of unusual depth and sensitivity." --Mademoiselle
"Lennon is an artist of the first rank . . . [this is] a book that will ure." --Chicago Tribune
Review
“[A] somber, affecting work...[
On the Night Plain] hasa self-sustaining emotional strength...[that] stealsslowly into the readers sympathy...brilliantly drawn... impressive.” —
The New York Times“The considerable satisfactions of this story lie mostlyin the skill of its telling....An austere meditation on physical labor, endurance, and the consolations—if any—of art in relation to life.” —The New Yorker
“Evocative...Lennons novel paints a vivid and moving portrait of rural life...[and] achieves an austere, earthy beauty.” —The Denver Post
“With a poets precision, J. Robert Lennon has created a mid-20th-century family saga thats as sweeping as Steinbecks East of Eden and as down-to-earth as a Larry McMurtry Western.” —The Seattle Times
“[A] beautiful and exciting book.” —The New York Times Book Review
Synopsis
At the end of World War II, Grant Person abandons his familys ranch on the Great Plains for a fishing boat on the Atlantic, only to be drawn back by his mothers death. His father has mysteriously disappeared, and Grants brother, Max, a lifelong rival, takes off on the day Grant returns, leaving him with a sickly flock and a pile of debt. When Max returns a year later with a young woman named Sophia, a contest of will begins between the brothers, reviving ghosts that Grant had hoped were banished from the homestead.
About the Author
J. Robert Lennon is the author of the Barnes & Noble Discover Prize-winning novel
The Light of Falling Stars, as well as the novel
The Funnies. He lives with his family in Ithaca, New York.