The American master's first novel since Winter's Bone tells of a deadly dance hall fire and its impact over several generations.
Alma DeGeer Dunahew, the mother of three young boys, works as the maid for a prominent citizen and his family in West Table, Missouri. Her husband is mostly absent, and, in 1929, her scandalous, beloved younger sister is one of the 42 killed in an explosion at the local dance hall. Who is to blame? Mobsters from St. Louis? The embittered local gypsies? The preacher who railed against the loose morals of the waltzing couples? Or could it have been a colossal accident?
Alma thinks she knows the answer-and that its roots lie in a dangerous love affair. Her dogged pursuit of justice makes her an outcast and causes a long-standing rift with her own son. By telling her story to her grandson, she finally gains some solace-and peace for her sister. He is advised to "Tell it. Go on and tell it"-tell the story of his family's struggles, suspicions, secrets, and triumphs.
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“The hunger for truth, and to a lesser extent justice, is the grandtheme of The Maid’s Version. Yes,Woodrell shows us the consequences and reverberations of a tragedy down throughthe generations. But he also shows us, more to the point, that unansweredquestions will always torture us more than the tragedy itself.”
— Barnes&Noble.com, editorial review
“Woodrell sets a spooky tone in his ninth novel. Based on a true story…this is an entirely original, brutal, and darkly elegant book, and Woodrell is a storyteller at the top of his game.”
— Amazon.com Review“Exquisite…Woodrell orchestrates a captivating, almost operatic narrative of how tragedy and grief can transform places and people…Woodrell delivers a stunning story of one small town and all of its profound complexities and opaque mysteries. It’s a considerable achievement and a pleasure to read.”
— New York Times Book Review“I’d gladly sign a petition to see Mr. Woodrell included on any roll call of America’s finest living writers. He conveys a sense of the past with the stringent affection of Katherine Anne Porter, his turns at bedlam humor are worthy of Charles Portis, and his gorgeously tangled prose is all his own.
— Wall Street Journal“Compact and soulful...The Maid’s Version’s worth is also in its luminous prose. Woodrell’s sentences bristle with finely tuned language and almost biblical rhythms of his character’s speech...further proof, as if we needed it, that Woodrell is a writer to cherish.”
— Seattle Times“From an economy of poetic prose springs forth an emotionally volcanic story of family, justice, and the everlasting power of the truth.”
— Publishers Weekly“This may be a minor work for this major American writer, but no craftsman toiling away in a workshop ever fashioned his wares so carefully. A commanding fable about trespass and reconstruction from a titan of Southern fiction.”
— Kirkus ReviewsIn prose both taut and lyrical, Winter's Bone vividly evokes the spirit of one little woman warrior.
— Edna O'BrienBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Daniel Woodrell lives in the Missouri Ozarks near the Arkansas state line. His five most recent novels were selected as New York Times Notable Books of the Year, and Tomato Red won the PEN West Award for the Novel. Two novels have been adapted as major motion pictures: Woe to Live On, filmed in 1999 by Ang Lee as Ride with the Devil, starring Tobey Maguire and Skeet Ulrich, and Winter’s Bone, a 2010 film accepted to the US dramatic competition category at the Sundance Film Festival.
Brian Troxell is an audiobook narrator and Atlanta-based actor and voice talent who can be seen and heard on television, film, radio, podcasts, and the live stage. He is a regular cast member of the Sketchworks sketch comedy troupe and performs regularly with the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company. He can also be heard as a cast member of the Harry Strange Radio Drama.