I picked this book up about two years ago, and it sat on my shelf, falling further down my reading queue as other, seemingly more interesting works jumped ahead. I finally gave in, and man, I wish I hadn't waited. This is an excellent debut novel, and Cash is a fresh voice in the semi-stagnating world of contemporary Southern fiction. With the heavies mostly out of the picture (Brown, Hannah, Gay, Crews, et al) I've been pretty hard pressed to find new Southern fiction that I really love. Cash does not incorporate the cliches and tropes that seem to flourish in contemporary "grit lit" (shudder) Southern writers who aren't named Franklin and Woodrell, and his prose, like the best regional writers before him, seems authentic, comfortable, and lived in. The story itself is wonderfully paced and compelling, but the real star of the novel is the language. Cash's narrators, without being overly fleshed out or mired in backstory, feel like people you've known all of your life. This is extraordinary writing, plain and simple. I usually dislike first person narratives, but Cash's three storytellers here really grabbed ahold of me.

This is an incredibly heartbreaking story (like most great fiction is), and Cash understands loss and trauma and yearning better than most and is able to still craft a story that is stunningly beautiful and, in the end, uplifting. I highly recommend this novel to everyone. I found myself re-reading numerous passages over and over again to really absorb and admire the beauty of the language, and the story is plotted and paced perfectly. The ending (the last few paragraphs) can come off as a bit heavy-handed to some, but the final message makes perfect sense given who the final narrator is. Cash understands his people, and he understands the struggle of trying to maintain faith in the goodness of humanity in the face of its ugliest and most base aspects. I can't wait to see what Cash has in store for us with subsequent offerings, because if this debut is any indication, Wiley Cash has a very bright future.