Black River (Hulse)

Black River 
S.M. Hulse, 2015
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
240 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780544309876


Summary
A tense Western and an assured debut, Black River tells the story of a man marked by a prison riot as he returns to the town, and the convict, who shaped him.
 
When Wes Carver returns to Black River, he carries two things in the cab of his truck: his wife’s ashes and a letter from the prison parole board. The convict who held him hostage during a riot, twenty years ago, is being considered for release.

Wes has been away from Black River ever since the riot. He grew up in this small Montana town, encircled by mountains, and, like his father before him and most of the men there, he made his living as a Corrections Officer. A talented, natural fiddler, he found solace and joy in his music. But during that riot Bobby Williams changed everything for Wes—undermining his faith and taking away his ability to play.

How can a man who once embodied evil ever come to good? How can he pay for such crimes with anything but his life? As Wes considers his own choices and grieves for all he’s lost, he must decide what he believes and whether he can let Williams walk away.

With spare prose and stunning detail, S. M. Hulse drops us deep into the heart and darkness of an American town. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1984
• Rasied—Spokane, Washington, USA
• Education—B.A., University of Montana; M.F.A., University of Oregon
• Currently—lives in Spokane, Washington


Although born in California, S.M. "Sarah" Hulse was raised in Spokane, Washington. As a high schooler, she was a congressional page and enrolled at Georgetown University in D.C., thinking of a possible career in the foreign service. She left Georgetown after a year, however, transferring to the University of Montana, where she received her B.A. in English. She taught high school in Idaho and then decided to pursue a degree in creative writing. She earned an M.F.A.from the University of Oregon. Black River, her 2015 debut novel, was her thesis project.

Hulse has also written and published short fiction. "Sine Die," a story about a congressman with anterograde amnesia, won literary magazine Willow Springs’ 2011 fiction prize, earning Hulse $2,000. She has said, though, that "short stories are hard for me. I’m glad I wrote them in grad school—they’re wonderful for craft—but the prime comment I got was, 'This would make a great novel!' "

Hulse claims a kinship with the Western writing community. The list of authors who have been influential to her includes Ron Hansen, Kent Haruf, Annnie Proulx, Mark Sprague, and Thomas Savage, as well as Canadian author Mary Lawson and Ozarks native Daniel Woodrell. (Woodrell wrote a blurb for Black River.) (Adapted from a Publishers' Weekly interview.)

Book Reviews
Mainly the book is about stubborn men who communicate in begrudging fragments, circling one another like moody horses. Ms. Hulse aspires to Kent Haruf territory, and comes close enough to make this a promising debut. The sentimental overtones could be quieted a bit, but the lyrical landscapes and the emotional weather are in place.
John Williams - New York Times


Hulse has positioned this slim novel at the confluence of several extraordinary events that could easily have caused an emotional pileup. In addition to returning his wife’s ashes to Black River at the very moment he must face his old torturer, Wes also becomes reacquainted with his stepson, Dennis, an angry young man he abandoned years earlier after an armed confrontation at the kitchen table. A rape, a train crash, a pair of suicides and some plotted murders hardly lower the story’s temperature.... [A] tough, honest novel by a surprisingly wise young writer.
Ron Charles - Washington Post


Hulse evokes the Montana landscape in lyrical, vivid prose...[she] is a gifted wordsmith with promising dramatic instincts.
Boston Globe


The assured rhythms of the language convey grace, restraint, insights, power, and beauty. Black River transcends its setting and the circumstances of a few people in a small Montana town to say something true and enduring about violence and families, and grief and compassion.
Los Angeles Review of Books


Transcending its genre-fiction setting, Black River is a powerful meditation on faith, family and redemption set in present-day Montana.
Guardian (UK)


(Starred review.) This top-of-the-line modern American Western debut explores the themes of violence, revenge, and forgiveness with a sure hand.... Wes [Carver], ...a man of faith, has a moral struggle over accepting the sincerity of his former tormentor’s religious conversion. Events take a darker, more tragic turn before any hope for a resolution can arise.... Hulse handles his story like a pro.
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review.) Hulse is a smart writer, able to reveal her character's gut-level emotions and trickiest self manipulations. Comparing the author to Annie Proulx, Wallace Stegner, or Kent Haruf is no exaggeration. Her debut is bound to turn readers' hearts inside out and leave them yearning for some sweet, mournful fiddle music. —Keddy Ann Outlaw, Houston
Library Journal


(Starred review.) Hulse clearly loves Montana, and her own fiddle playing and knowledge of horses shine through the novel. She maintains suspense and manages to avoid the clichés of redemption stories in this assured debut.
Booklist


(Starred review.) [A] stark, tender tale about one man's quest for faith and forgiveness.The initial question is whether Wes Carver can forgive Bobby Williams, the inmate who tortured him during a prison riot that left two of his fellow corrections officers dead..... Profound issues addressed with a delicate touch...from a gifted young artist.
Kirkus Reviews

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