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Summary
Summary
In an Appalachian community haunted by the legacy of a Civil War massacre, a rebellious young man struggles to escape the violence that would bind him to the past
Travis Shelton is seventeen the summer he wanders onto a neighbor's property in the woods, discovers a crop of marijuana large enough to make him some serious money, and steps into the jaws of a bear trap. After hours of passing in and out of consciousness, Travis is discovered by Carlton Toomey, the wise and vicious farmer who set the trap to protect his plants, and Travis's confrontation with the subtle evils within his rural world has begun.
Before long, Travis has moved out of his parents' home to live with Leonard Shuler, a one-time schoolteacher who lost his job and custody of his daughter years ago, when he was framed by a vindictive student. Now Leonard lives with his dogs and his sometime girlfriend in a run-down trailer outside town, deals a few drugs, and studies journals from the Civil War. Travis becomes his student, of sorts, and the fate of these two outsiders becomes increasingly entwined as the community's terrible past and corrupt present bear down on each of them from every direction, leading to a violent reckoning--not only with Carlton, but with the legacy of the Civil War massacre that, even after a century, continues to divide an Appalachian community.
Vivid, harrowing, yet ultimately hopeful, The World Made Straight offers a powerful exploration of the painful conflict between the bonds of home and the desire for independence.
Reviews (1)
Kirkus Review
Civil War ghosts hover over a scrappy teenager and his surrogate father in a Southern tale that mixes suspense, coming-of-age and historical elements. Travis Shelton is a daredevil, a 17-year-old high-school dropout, bitterly at odds with his mean-spirited daddy, a tobacco farmer in the North Carolina mountains. Leonard Shuler, 20 years his senior, is a bootlegger, drug-dealer and former teacher who lost his job, wife and beloved daughter after being the innocent victim of a drug bust. The two meet when Travis steals marijuana plants off the land of Carlton Toomey, a notorious brawler, and sells them to Leonard. Travis pushes his luck; his third time trespassing, Toomey and son Hubert catch him and cut his foot so badly he requires surgery. The incident leads to a final rupture with his daddy, whereupon Travis seeks sanctuary in Leonard's trailer. This is granted reluctantly, for Leonard's already sheltering one stray, Dena, a pill-popping loser, but books bring them together. Leonard is an authority on the 1863 Shelton Laurel Massacre, when Confederate troops killed their Union neighbors. He is the descendant of a Confederate doctor forced to participate, while Travis has kin among the victims. The ex-teacher piques the boy's interest in the affair, and they visit the nearby massacre site twice; meanwhile, Leonard is prepping Travis for his GED. Rash works manfully to mesh the ancient enmities with his protagonists' problems over 100 years later, but the strain is evident. The novel drifts in the middle, as Travis gets serious with Lori, his first-ever girlfriend, while Leonard gets serious about his own life and stops dealing. Then Lori makes a seemingly minor miscalculation, and Travis unravels again. The Toomeys return, and the story roars back to life, with white-knuckle suspense right up to the end. It lacks the seamless strength of Rash's terrific Saints at the River (2004), this is nonetheless thoughtful, above-average entertainment. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
