Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this adult novel. It was released September 7, 2021 by Hanover Square Press.
At the turn of the century, from the late 1800’s on, my grandfather logged his way across the United States and north into Canada. He owned his own company and my grandmother cooked for the crew. My mother was the last of their 17 children. All my uncles were lumberjacks. Many of their male children were jacks. My father married my mother and joined their ranks. They were tough, untamed men with hearts as big as the forests they decimated.
I tell you this because I want you to know that when I tell you how authentic the voice in this novel by singer/songwriter Josh Ritter is, I know what I’m talking about.
From the Goodreads blurb:
“In the tiny timber town of Cordelia, Idaho, ninety-nine year old Weldon Applegate recounts his life in all its glory, filled with tall tales writ large with murder, mayhem, avalanches and bootlegging. It’s the story of dark pine forests brewing with ancient magic, and Weldon’s struggle as a boy to keep his father’s inherited timber claim, the Lost Lot, from the ravenous clutches of Linden Laughlin.”
From his hospital bed, the mythic Weldon Applegate moves back and forth in time narrating the two interwoven threads of his life.
One is the story of his youth and coming of age. His father, Tom, was a lumberjack who gave up logging for his mother. Upon his mother’s death, thirteen year old Weldon and his father moved to operate a store in the small timber town of Cordelia, Idaho. Tom had inherited the Lost Lot, a treacherous timber claim on a mountain just outside the town. They hadn't been there long when the legendary Linden Laughlin showed up and connived his way into their lives. Tom was seduced into breaking his vow to his wife and headed out logging the Lost Lot with Laughlin. He died on the mountain soon afterwards. The magnitude of Laughlin’s evil becomes obvious when, in an attempt at stealing Weldon's inheritance, he terrorizes Weldon and Sohvia, the Witch woman who lived with them. Once Weldon realizes he can’t sell the Lost Lot, he returns to Cordelia, gathers supplies and courage, and heads up the mountain to work with the crew.
In the story of his later years Weldon talks about his more recent mortal enemy, Joe Mouffreau, son of the original mill owner. Joe is a greedy braggart about 15 years younger than Weldon. “A lot of people had to perish to keep Joe’s war stories fresh, but it was a sacrifice that he was willing to make.” If the two of them are enemies in life, they represent conflict on a much larger scale. Theirs is difference in world views. It's the difference between integrity and deceit. It's the difference between generosity and greed. It's the difference between preserving the natural world and destroying it. Weldon, after working the mountain in his thirteenth year, never felled another tree on his land. He ended up giving it to a Nature Preservers group. In contrast, Joe clearcut the mountain he inherited from his father.
Ritter’s beautifully crafted words transport the reader into an enchanted forest and logging town right smack in the middle of this coming of age tale. Along with Weldon, they get to figure out just what it means to be a hero. I wish I had Ritter's way with words to tell you how brilliant this books is. Weldon is as authentic a character as any I have ever read. He could well have been any of my relatives. Reading his story brought them back to me in all their rough hewn glory.
