But Luz’s hand was on the handle. Ray reached for it as she swung the door open. She said, coolly and with a hard grace, “I have to go, baby.”
Ray lunged for her. But she was out of the lorry, stepping to her waist in the opaque rage of water. It pushed her and she lurched, nearly fell, but her face was serene. Ray scrambled to pull her in, but she would not allow it.
She would not allow it. Ray’s phrase years later, in Wisconsin, the Carolinas. In Greencastle, Indiana, where the soybeans no longer grew.
“I’m okay,” Luz shouted back over the miraculous roar of water, all those prayers answered late. “I’d be okay,” she revised, smiling before she slipped forever under, “if I could just get my feet under me.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This novel is indebted to too many books, films, artists, and writers to list, but the following deserve specific acknowledgment: The Control of Nature by John McPhee, Beyond the Hundredth Meridian by Wallace Stegner, Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner, The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan, The American Religion by Harold Bloom, Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer, Demon Camp by Jennifer Percy, The Art of Dowsing by Richard Webster, Into Eternity directed by Michael Madsen, and Picture Me directed by Ole Schell and Sara Ziff.
Billy Dunn’s sermon on sulfur is based on that by Pastor Deacon Fred of Landover Baptist Church, entitled “Friends in Christ, Do You Have Demons in Your Colon?” Ray’s poetic influences are K. A. Hays & Will Schutt. Jimmer’s homeopathic remedies are informed by pamphlets on the topic published by the Aurand Press of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Luz’s rooty epiphanies about nature imagery are inspired by the artwork of Anna Kell.
Finally, my sincere gratitude for the expertise of Ben Marsh, Chris Helvey and Henry Brean, and for generous support from the Creative Writing Program at Princeton University and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
Looking for more?
Visit Penguin.com for more about this author and a complete list of their books.
Discover your next great read!
Gold Fame Citrus Page 29
