An Indie Next Title • An Indies Introduce Title • Long-listed for the 2015 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize

“Impressive . . . [A] tough, honest novel by a surprisingly wise young writer.” — Washington Post
 
“A complex and powerful story—put Black River on the must-read list.” — Seattle Times
 
Wes Carver returns to his hometown—Black River, Montana—with two things: his wife’s ashes and a letter from the parole board. The convict who once held him hostage during a prison riot is up for release. For years, Wes earned his living as a corrections officer and found his joy playing the fiddle. But the riot shook Wes’s faith and robbed him of his music; now he must decide if his attacker should walk free. With “lovely rhythms, spare language, tenderness, and flashes of rage” (Los Angeles Review of Books), S. M. Hulse shows us the heart and darkness of an American town, and one man’s struggle to find forgiveness in the wake of evil.
 
“Artful . . . Hulse evokes the Montana landscape in lyrical, vivid prose.” — Boston Globe
 
“Hulse believes that grace happens in a look between two people, or a moment of holding back. A powerful elegy.” — Guardian