One Foot in Eden: A Novel

Winner of the 2002 Novello Literary Award, One Foot in Eden is the first novel from acclaimed poet and short-fiction writer Ron Rash. The book was chosen for publication from more than 100 manuscript submissions. A richly textured story of love and murder, One Foot in Eden unfolds through the distinctive voices of a small-town sheriff, a young married couple, and those who share in their secrets. Sheriff Will Alexander knows who murdered Holland Winchester, but he can't find the body and no one's talking, least of all Holland's neighbor, Billy Holcombe. And Billy's pretty wife Amy seems to know something about it, too. For years, the mystery will go unsolved-until the day the power company forces everyone out and floods the valley and family farms where this close-knit community has lived and worked for generations. Rash is a native Appalachian, and writes with deep understanding and affection for a region often misunderstood. The story is a tribute to a time, place, and way of life slowly vanishing from the modern South.