The Ballad of Falling Rock
by Jordan Dotson
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Pub Date Sep 24 2024 | Archive Date Mar 31 2024
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Description
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.
A Note From the Publisher
The book releases in hardcover, softcover, and ebook. Print distribution through Ingram, Baker & Taylor, and Gardners Books. Library ebook distribution through Overdrive (all sales models), Baker & Taylor, and Hoopla.
Advance Praise
“A mesmerizing exploration of music, family and fate. From the opening lines...Jordan creates a world that is singular — yet alive with voices — the words, desires and rhythms of others, a polyphony of peers, family, society and self.” —Madeleine Thien, Booker Prize shortlisted author of Do Not Say We Have Nothing
“From the first page, Jordan Dotson's novel FALLING ROCK, crackles with energy and joy. Set in Virginia's Appalachia, Saul and Eli, separated by secrets but bound by blood and their musical talent, are complicated and compelling characters who must navigate a world both mysterious and magical, a world I didn't want to leave.” —Sybil Baker, IPPY Silver Medal-winning author of While You Were Gone
Marketing Plan
- Indie Next List & Library Reads Nomination
- National Review Coverage
- Extensive marketing to Booksellers, Librarians, and Book Influencers
- Digital ARCs on Edelweiss, NetGalley & LibraryThing
- Targeted Consumer Email Marketing
- Extensive Social Media Promotion
Key Selling Points:
- The Ballad of Falling Rock will appeal to fans of Bloodroot by Amy Greene and A Parchment of Leaves by Silas House.
- While this is Jordan Dotson’s debut novel, his short fiction received the 2019 Editors’ Prize from Scoundrel Time, as well as a Pushcart Prize nomination.
- The novel is filled with beautiful and descriptive writing that turns Appalachian Virginia, as well as the country and folk music of the area into characters of the story.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781643973647 |
| PRICE | $30.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 368 |
Available on NetGalley
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