Home Is Where the Hound Is

By Bill Wilwers

Homer, a bluetick hound pup, noses his way into Jeb Compton's heart. It is the early 1970s, and the dog, who's all ears, mottled fur, and appetite, gives Jeb a reason to get up in the morning after his wife, Annie, passes on. Another reason is the town's newspaper, the Hurlin Express, which he reads religiously, usually sitting on his front porch in Arkansas, where he can hear his soybean crops rustle in the wind. Within its pages, he finds stories of his neighbors, mostly salt-of-the-earth people struggling with the toils of everyday life. Even if you've never stepped foot in the South, you'll feel as if you're walking beside Jeb and Homer, smelling the dewy grass, and hearing the twang of a perfect southern voice. You'll step into a debate club where Bart Scoggins, the elementary football coach, tries to convince the crowd that one of their own has fallen victim to the mad handiwork of space aliens. You'll meet John Winston and the fainting goats he raises, but has to sell to keep his wife happy. And witness two grown men fighting for the hand of a lady - by playing a game of pool. You'll go to work with Bertie May Johnson, pie champion, who loves to eat the way other people love breathing. She's about fed up with her job as a taste-tester who's not allowed to swallow the food she's given. Before the book ends, you'll feel as if you've spent a year in Hurlin, the town still talking about their snake handling preacher who set the congregation scrambling after a mishap of Biblical proportions; the out-of-town antique dealer who discovers the real worth of a family heirloom; and, of course, the salvation of Jeb Compton because of a little girl and a hound who seems to hold the wisdom of the ages inside his old hard head.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1688099085
• ISBN13: 9781688099081
• Release Date: September 2019
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 241 Pages
• Weight: 0.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.6" x 6.0"