LATE SUMMER READS - posted 8.21.2025

I'm sharing in this reading list two authors who knocked me out this summer. David Rhodes, like the author Kent Haruf, understands human nature and the qualities that make up the best and the worst in people. Being a Midwesterner, he represents folks from rural towns, farmers and laborers, how they think and move through the world. Carys Davis's writing style is ethereal, quiet and deeply wise to human nature. She deserves to be read, to be talked about, to have her books recommended to readers who would be happy to discover her lovely writing. I hope you become immersed in these remarkable works of fiction, as I did.

Rock Island Line   -   David Rhodes

I discovered David Rhodes this summer upon receiving an email from his publisher, Milkweed Books, about a new release from Rhodes, a writer I'd never heard of. Liking what I read about that book, I was inspired to check out this new-to-me author. Oh, am I happy I did! Though not marketed as a series, the four books I subsequently read of his follow characters who intersect through time and place. July Montgomery is a central character, first introduced as a happy, young, well-loved boy in rural Iowa who has the rug pulled out from under him when his parents tragically die in a car wreck. Choosing to flee rather than live under the thumb of his god-fearing relatives, he splits town — remember he is a young boy, not yet a teenager — on the Rock Island RR Line, winding up in Philadelphia. Hungry and needing money, he watches Philly street urchins and realizes he can sell newspapers on the street. But, to protect himself from threats from his competitor paper vendors, he creates a solemn life for himself and makes a home for himself in a secluded corner of an underground train station. Through the years of this lonely existence, we learn alot about July and become invested in his well-being. When a woman enters his life, we rejoice with him and his eventual decision to return with her to his Iowa homestead, where their lives are rich and joyful . . . until tragedy sets July back to the Rock Island Line, where he again flees from having the rug pulled out from under him yet again. A sad tender story that made me want to read more from this brilliant writer.

Jewelweed   -   David Rhodes

Author David Rhodes' adult life was spent in rural Wisconsin, allowing him to give voice to the fictionalized community of Words, Wisconsin with eloquence and with compassion. In Jewelweed Rhodes introduces characters we don't meet in future books: the compassionate long-haul driver Nate and his imprisoned son Blake, Blake's former girlfriend Danielle and her young son, Ivan, as well as a host of others. We also meet characters Rhodes' expands on in his next two novels: Ivan's childhood friend August and his parents Winnie and Jacob, and Vietnam War veteran Lester Mortal and his Vietnamese adopted child, Jewelweed. What takes place in Jewelweed is a small-town tale, rich with the portrayal of day-to-day ups and downs and people you want to meet and share a meal with and share life stories with, along with people you can't help but pity. This is a tender novel from a writer who has empathy for and an understanding of people.

Painting Beyond Walls   -   David Rhodes

Going forward from Jewelweed, we meet up with August as a 30-year old adult, working in a biochemical lab in Chicago. Lonely, rather bored with his life, and completely removed from his rural upbringing. At a party he meets Amanda, a gorgeous woman who is brilliant, immensely accomplished, extremely wealthy and hot for August. After simultaneously losing his job through an unfortunate happenstance and Amanda breaking his heart because he's beneath her stature in life, with his tail between his legs, August drives north to Wisconsin's Driftless Area, home to his home in Words, to see the parents he hasn't visited in years. This is where some of the characters from Jewelweed return, as August reconnects with his childhood friend Ivan and their now elderly friend Lester Mortal, and his adopted daughter, Jewelweed. As is true in life, the story has many complications and side stories, but it is rich with mercy, tenderness, kindness, and yes, much sorrow. This is a story of community, trust and faith in the familiarity that comes from growing up in a small town. A jewel of a story.

Driftless   -   David Rhodes

In his first published book in 30 years, David Rhodes and this novel have been added to my list of must-read authors and books. A quiet book taking place in current-day rural Wisconsin about the lives, belief systems, and struggles of a handful of residents: dairy farmers, religious zealots, lonely folks. Very slowly we meet the handful of the residents we've me in Rhodes' earlier novels, including Rock Island Line's July Montgomery, some of whom are neighbors, some of whom have no opportunity to meet their neighbors. As the story develops, circumstances arise that force the community together to reckon with the dramatic loss of income at the hands of the lying/cheating milk cooperative. How sad that, again and again, hard-working people are disrespected and lied to for the benefit of the wealthy. Yes, it's a same-old story of life in small-town America, but Rhodes' style of telling it is remarkable, written delicately and a story that will carry with you.

West   -   Carys Davis

One of my new author finds, Scottish writer Carys Davis, has reminded me of the thrill I get when discovering a uniquely talented writer who is far above the rest. I'm excited to share her books with visitors to my reading list. Davis's debut novel, West deservedly received the 2019 Wales Book of the Year for Fiction, with countless other worldwide accolades. Her gentle way with words as she speaks to the human condition read like a breath of fresh air. In this rather simple story, a lonely widowed mule breeder leaves his young daughter home, under the care of his dour sister, in rural Pennsylvania to care for their decrepit home and animals, as he sets out on a soul-destroying search for ancient dinosaur bones rumored to be buried in the uncharted wilderness beyond the Mississippi River. As the daughter fearfully waits for word from her father, his wanderings and desperation take him further from home and sanity. The manner in which Carys Davis brought an end to the story proves her worthy of the praise she received from this tender novel of the American frontier. 

Clear    -   Carys Davis

Scottish author Carys David unveils her stories with intentional calm and quiet. It's 1843. A newly-married penniless minister, John Ferguson, is sent to a small remote Scottish island to evict its sole inhabitant, Ivar. Unaware of the harsh surroundings, Ferguson's first foray takes him wandering the craggy island, where he slips and is knocked unconscious and gravely injured amongst the rocks in the water. When the loner Ivar discovers John, he takes him to his simple home, unaware of John's purpose on the island, but curious to this strangers appearance. Though they do not share a common language, over time they develop a rudimentary means of communication, as Ivar is able to slowly nurse John back to life. John's purpose becomes swayed as a sort of intimacy grows between them and he finds himself unable to admit to Ivar, much less act on, his intent. Eventually, the ship that dropped John off on the island returns to bring him back, and an emotional tug-of-war ensues, resulting in a surprising and exquisite ending.