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The Caretaker

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The Caretaker

By: Ron Rash
Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
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'One of the great American authors at work today' New York Times

ONE OF THE NEW YORKER’S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR

It is 1951. The close-knit community of Blowing Rock, North Carolina, does not welcome those who are different.

Jacob Hampton’s wealthy parents disinherited him when he married Naomi, an uneducated hotel maid. Now Jacob has been called up to fight in Korea, leaving a pregnant Naomi behind. The only person he can trust to take care of her is his lifelong friend, Blackburn Gant. Blackburn, who tends the local cemetery, is an outsider too, his appearance irrevocably altered by childhood disease.

Slowly the two outcasts grow closer and as they await news of Jacob’s return, a terrible, shattering act of deception derails all their lives. But no secret can stay hidden for ever.

Tender and luminous with truth, The Caretaker is a riveting story about the bonds of friendship, the contradictions of family and what it really means to love.

 Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological Fiction
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Critic reviews

"Ron Rash is an American master who writes the heart’s language with tremendous grit and grace" (PAUL LYNCH)
"[Rash's] vivid, lyrical stories of rural American life deal in minute specificity . . . The Caretaker is a tender, neatly crafted tale of a close-knit 1950s North Carolina community grappling with the macro (the Korean war, conservative values, prejudices) and the micro (family secrets, parental deceptions, star-crossed lovers). For an introduction to Rash’s evocative world, start here"
"With each Ron Rash story, you expect flawed people trying desperately to survive against the odds and a rich sense of place, and images that linger, and beautiful language that you catch yourself reading over and over. What you don’t always expect is a wicked plot. The Caretaker delivers all of the above in a story that becomes a race to the finish" (JOHN GRISHAM)
"Splendid in its evocation of time and place. [Rash] is a writer who never sets out to impress but is always impressive. There are novels you enjoy and forget. Ron Rash is one whose books always invite a second reading; they are true to life, to experience and imagination – rich treasure. The Caretaker is one of his best" (ALLAN MASSIE)
"Thrilling . . . In [The Caretaker] the outcast has a heart of gold, teenage love is true love and, like the goods on display at Weaver’s Hardware, everything finds its right place"
"Hard to put down . . . [Ron Rash] may be regionally focused in his fiction, but his works tap deep veins of human nature and national strife"
"Ron Rash is a vivid chronicler of deprived rural America . . . There is a taut, atmospheric melodrama . . . at the heart of this book"
"If it’s a gripping yarn you’re after, look no further than this stirring tale of intergenerational deceit set in small-town America during the Korean war"
"[An] Immersive novel . . . Explores the reverberations of a young man’s decision to elope with a teen-age hotel maid"
"Rash . . is one of America’s most respected novelists, poets and short story writers . . . Rash has been compared to John Steinbeck and Cormac McCarthy and his spare prose and deference to nature’s brutality recall both authors, but I was also reminded of Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These here, and her protagonist Bill Furlong, the good man trying to do the right thing in a community that prefers to look away and maintain the status quo" (EDEL COFFEY)
All stars
Most relevant
I loved every minute of this beautifully written story, a page turner. Can’t wait to read more of Ron Rash books.

Fabulous

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A beautiful book, had me gripped very quickly and left me missing it when it ended. It had a mixture of characters I loved, very important and characters I disliked. Highly recommended!

Fabulous

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I really enjoyed the plot of this story and also felt very invested in the characters. The narration was authentic too. I enjoy a story that comes to a proper conclusion, so this book had it all for me. Will definitely look for more of Ron Rash’s work.

Thoroughly good listen

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