“Told in heartwrenchingly beautiful prose…
brief but brilliant…this remarkable work
is highly recommended.”
—LIBRARY JOURNAL [*starred review*]
Lime Creek
In this wonderful work of fiction, JOE HENRY explores the complex relationship between a father and his sons, whose deep connections to each other, to the land, and to the creatures that inhabit it give meaning to their lives.
Spencer Davis, his wife Elizabeth, and their sons Lonny, Whitney and Luke, work with horses and with their hands. They spend long relentless days cutting and putting up summer hay and then feeding it to their cattle through fierce Wyoming winters. As a family, they play their part in the endless cycle of life, bringing foals into the world and deciding when it’s time to let a favored mare pass on to the next. As Luke grows older, falls in love, and begins to assert his independence, Spencer strives to impart the wisdom of their way of life to his headstrong son, whatever the cost.
Moving, powerful and beautifully rendered, LIME CREEK brings readers into the lives of this unforgettable family and into a world that, though often harsh, is lit by flashes of spectacular grace.
—Random House
“LIME CREEK is a wonderful book, subtle in texture, rich in sorrow.”
—LARRY MCMURTRY, author of Lonesome Dove
“Like water, like shelter, LIME CREEK is the kind of story readers not only want, but need. Joe Henry brings us an extended family of people and horses, terrible winters and beautiful land. Moving and lyrical, with a strong, honest spine, LIME CREEK is a gift.”
—AMY BLOOM, author of Where the God of Love Hangs Out
“These are beautiful stories, bravely written, and at their best, intoxicating. Word by careful word, Joe Henry shows us a world, as experienced by these Wyoming ranchers, that is both ravishing and terrible in equal measure–and hardly bounded by human experience. Though the prose brings Faulkner to mind, I found myself thinking of LIME CREEK as a kind of DUBLINERS for Wyoming.”
—DAVID WROBLEWSKI, author of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
“There is a design aesthetic that calls for clean lines, less clutter, so that you can really see what it is you’re trying to show. Not only see it, but feel it. That aesthetic is what is presented in this spare but inordinately rich novel. Set on a horse and cattle ranch in Wyoming, Joe Henry offers up scenes of a way of life that is radically different from the way most of us live. Very quickly, though, one finds and draws comfort from the universal truths so lyrically and honestly presented here: The love of a man for a woman, and of parents for children. The bond between man and animal. The mighty forces of nature both in us and around us. This book, which made me both laugh and cry, moved me in a way I’ve not been moved for a long time, and it flat out charmed me, too. It is a gift from an unusually talented author that I will accept again and again, in the many re-readings I know the book will have. LIME CREEK will remind you of what literature is supposed to be, and do.”