Title

Spoonwood

Authors

Ernest Hebert, Dartmouth CollegeFollow

Document Type

Book

Publication Date

2005

Publication Title

Spoonwood (Darby Chronicles)

Department

Department of English and Creative Writing

Abstract

Ernest Hebert's series of novels set in Darby, New Hampshire, has been hailed by the Boston Globe as "one of the most interesting accomplishments of contemporary American fiction . . . [a series] into which the texture of class is as skillfully woven as it is in Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County." After almost fifteen years, Hebert has returned to this rich literary landscape for a new novel of the changing economic and social character of New England. Hebert's previous Darby novel, Live Free or Die, recounted the ill-fated love between Freddie Elman, son of the town trash collector, and Lilith Salmon, child of Upper Darby gentility. At its conclusion, Lilith died giving birth to their son. As Spoonwood opens, Freddie, consumed by grief and anger and struggling with alcoholism, is not prepared to be a father to Birch. But as both his family and Lilith's begin to maneuver for custody of the child, Freddie embarks on a course of action that satisfies none of them. Once again, Hebert masterfully conveys the natural and social landscape of contemporary rural New England. Grounded in complex, fully realized characters, Spoonwood offers Hebert's most optimistic vision yet of acceptance and accommodation across class lines.

Comments

This title is part of the Darby novels series which include:

• The Dogs of March

• A Little More Than Kin

• Whisper My Name

• The Passion of Estelle Jordan

• Live Free or Die

• Spoonwood

• Howard Elman's Farewell

Dartmouth Digital Commons Citation

Hebert, Ernest, "Spoonwood" (2005). Dartmouth Scholarship. 3958.
https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/facoa/3958