Bloodroot: A Novel

By Aaron R. Even

Book Overview

Aaron Roy Even's startling, imagistic debut takes its cue from a true event: In 1936, in a small town near Charlottesville, Virginia, an aging black caretaker and his sister shot dead a white sheriff acting on orders to turn them off their land. In Bloodroot, Even explores the circumstances leading up to this violent standoff and the tragedy that followed as seen through the eyes of Elsa, a young, white county employee fresh out of school and filled with aspiration and illusion, and those of Wesley, the aging black caretaker of a vanished family's estate. While Elsa struggles to retain her authority and self-respect, Wesley is haunted by past concessions and his sister's attachment to the land. When he stands in the way of a proposed turpentine plant by refusing the county's purchase offer, both Elsa and Wesley find themselves moving relentlessly toward an end neither wants to reach. The novel's title is taken from the flower. Native to Virginia, its tie to the land is such that its roots bleed red when cut. Bloodroot marks the powerful debut of a gifted writer.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312265611
• ISBN13: 9780312265618
• Release Date: October 2000
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.6" x 1.0" x 6.4"

Customer Reviews

Great book!

I'm usually running around all over the place, so it is rare that I read a book in one sitting. However, I couldn't put the book down. It is a true work of literature, the kind that one rarely sees in our paperback marketing times. I loved it! I recommend it to anyone who wants to be entertained by a contemporary literary classic.

haunting and lyrical

I was really moved by Aaron Roy Even's debut. Bloodroot is an impressive and moving portrait of the racial and power dynamics of a struggling southern town in the early 20th century. Especially, if you are interested in race and gender relations in this country, this is not a book to miss.