The Pallbearer

A Novel

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Pub Date 20 Nov 2018 | Archive Date 06 Nov 2018

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Description

Lynch, West Virginia, is a husk of a town: houses collapsing, deserted coal mines, the money gone. The residents who have not abandoned their homes find themselves living in poverty with little-to-no job opportunities, fighting for scraps and survival under the rule of Ferris Gilbert—the patriarch of a local family who governs the town with manipulative cruelty.

When Jason Felts, a dwarf and aspiring social worker who lives above the town funeral home, is assigned to counsel one of the Gilbert brothers incarcerated inside a youth correctional facility for possession charges, Ferris Gilbert sees a rare opportunity. He seeks out Jason and insists under threat of violence that he smuggle an ominous package into the jail. Torn between his desire to save the young Gilbert brother from a life of crime and concern for his own safety, Jason must make a life-altering decision. At the same time, Gilbert has his hooks in Terry Blankenship, a strung-out young man desperate to carve out a secret life for himself and his boyfriend. If Terry cannot pay his debts to the Gilberts, he has one choice: kill the local sheriff or face the consequences. Sheriff Thompson is found dead soon after. Now both implicated in serious crimes, Jason and Terry must outrun the law and escape the threat of Ferris Gilbert but there may be nowhere to run . . .

The Pallbearer is an unflinching debut for fans of Frank Bill and Sarah Waters that lays bare the lives of the outsiders of society’s outskirts.

Lynch, West Virginia, is a husk of a town: houses collapsing, deserted coal mines, the money gone. The residents who have not abandoned their homes find themselves living in poverty with little-to-no...


Marketing Plan

  • For fans of Daniel Woodrell and Frank Bill, The Pallbearer is a stunning debut that takes an unflinching look at an Appalachian town after several coal mines close, resulting in widespread poverty, unemployment, and drug addiction.

  • The Pallbearer has a physically disabled protagonist and several fully realized gay characters whose narratives go beyond their sexuality. This answers a call for more inclusive and diverse characters in publishing.

  • Jordan Farmer, who has dwarfism, writes about the challenges of physical disability from an informed POV. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate studying creative writing at the University of Lincoln-Nebraska. He will be able to use his connections there to bolster the publicity of the book.

  • The novel directly addresses the contemporary issues surrounding the coal industry, the rage of lower-class white families, the opioid epidemic, discrimination against the LGBTQ community, and the prison industrial complex.
  • For fans of Daniel Woodrell and Frank Bill, The Pallbearer is a stunning debut that takes an unflinching look at an Appalachian town after several coal mines close, resulting in widespread poverty...

Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781510736504
PRICE $24.99 (USD)
PAGES 304

Average rating from 19 members


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