The Ballad of Falling Rock - by Jordan Dotson (Paperback)

About the Book

Music is both a generational curse and salvation for the Crabtree family in 1930's Appalachia when one man's song ignites superstition, rustic fears of heaven, and a lingering Cherokee myth that has followed them across centuries.

Book Synopsis

Truth told, folks still ask if Saul Crabtree sold his soul for the perfect hymn. If he sold it to angels or devils. A Bristol newspaper once asked: "are his love songs closer to heaven than dying?" Others wonder how he wrote a song so sad, everyone who heard it died of a broken heart.

Yet, more than anything else folks ponder in the town of Trinity, one question lingers: why did this angel-toned preacher's son, just as his fame seemed ready to light the Appalachian nightsky forever, disappear completely?

In 1938, the decisions Saul makes will alter his family's story for generations. He and his eerily talented descendants ignite religious fear throughout Red Pine County. They navigate chapels, decaying sanatoriums, high school hallways, and a lingering myth from their Cherokee heritage that follows them wherever they go.

In the end, however, it's Saul's precocious grandson, Eli, who must find answers to these heartbreaking questions, who must enter this world rich in music and voices, where people die to hear the unspoken, and salvation is only found in the not-yet sung.

Review Quotes

"From the first page, Jordan Dotson's novel FALLING ROCK, crackles with energy and joy. Set in Virginia's Appalachia, Saul and Eli, separated by secrets but bound by blood and their musical talent, are complicated and compelling characters who must navigate a world both mysterious and magical, a world I didn't want to leave." -Sybil Baker, author of Apparitions

"...a story of hope, with the promise of a brighter future as long as we dare to continue to dream. A truly original debut, we look forward to much more from this powerful voice of a very talented writer." -Xu Xi, author of That Man In Our Lives