An unforgettable generational saga about the roots of American culture,class, identity, and the meaning of freedom
The Killing Ground begins in 1978 with the return of Hannah McKarkle to her hometown of Canona, West Virginia, where she sets out to remove the shroud of mystery that has surrounded her brother's murder for more than two decades. In her quest Hannah pieces together a collective history of Canona, peels away the facades that mask the town's "best people," and becomes acquainted with the community's unpretentious citizenry. Her search for truth reveals a heritage that extends back to Johnny Church of Prisons, bringing the story of The Beulah Quintet full circle and yielding a tale told with moving conviction.
Mary Lee Settle was born in Charleston, West Virginia, and has lived in England, Turkey, and New York. Her novel Blood Tie won the National Book Award and her novel Choices received the Lillian Smith Award for fiction. Settle's other works include the novels Charley Bland, Celebration, The Clam Shell, The Love Eaters, The Kiss of Kin and a memoir, All the Brave Promises. Settle now lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.
"The Killing Ground is quite a book. It is a moving novel, people by fully realized characters, about the liberation—in the best sense of that abused word—of a remarkable woman."—Walker Percy
"Every word of The Killing Ground rings true, every character is fully formed, and best of all is the sense running through it of time co-existing, the past richly evident in the present."—Anne Tyler