Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Ashes to Ashes

Ashes to Ashes

Maltman, Thomas

Hardcover

General Fiction

Publisher Price: $29.00

ISBN10: 1641296704
ISBN13: 9781641296700
Publisher: Soho Press
Published: Jul 15 2025
Pages: 336
Weight: 1.01
Height: 1.30 Width: 5.60 Depth: 8.40
Language: English
Small-town Minnesota teenager Basil The Brute Thorson--a shy, reluctant wrestling star and special tracked into special education classes--vows to make his family whole again in the wake of multiple tragedies, during a year in which his community is roiled by strange religious and mythological events.

Another perceptive and empathetic novel from the author of Indie Next and All Iowa Reads selection Little Wolves, blending myth, history, and religion with a nuanced look at contemporary rural life, perfect for fans of Marilynne Robinson, Richard Russo, and Paul Harding.

When the ashes from an Ash Wednesday service in the prairie town of Andwhen, Minnesota, refuse to wash off, members of a small congregation are left wondering whether they've been blessed or cursed. For sixteen-year-old Basil--a shy wrestling star reeling from a farming accident and his mother's institutionalization--the ashes become a sign. He embarks on a secret ritual of fasting and prayer, seeking meaning in his unraveling world.

Meanwhile, Basil and his friends come upon what may be the centuries-old remains of a Viking explorer in a local meadow, a find that brings its own complications, as folk history clashes with the agendas of online racists. As Basil's relentless fasting warps his grip on reality, the danger he poses to himself and his family escalates.

Blending the fragments of a Norse saga with a finely observed portrait of rural Midwestern life at the start of the pandemic, Thomas Maltman delivers a novel of narrative daring and profound empathy--his most inventive and compassionate work yet.

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