Ashes to Ashes - by Thomas Maltman (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Small-town Minnesota teenager Basil "The Brute" Thorson--a shy, reluctant wrestling star and "special" tracked into special education classes--vows to make his family whole again in the wake of multiple tragedies, during a year in which his community is roiled by strange religious and mythological events.

Another perceptive and empathetic novel from the author of Indie Next and All Iowa Reads selection Little Wolves, blending myth, history, and religion with a nuanced look at contemporary rural life, perfect for fans of Marilynne Robinson, Richard Russo, and Paul Harding.

In the prairie town of Andwhen, Minnesota, a small congregation doesn't know if they've been blessed or cursed when the ashes administered during an Ash Wednesday service won't wash off. This event leads Basil, a "gentle giant" of a teen, to make a secret vow to save his family through prayer and fasting. His family is in a difficult place, stricken by a recent farming accident and his mother's decade-long confinement to a state mental hospital. Basil keeps his struggles secret from his two outsider friends, Lukas and Morgan (the three self-identifying as "a gay, a goth, and a giant"). When the trio discovers what may be the centuries-old remains of a Viking explorer in a local meadow, the find brings its own complications, as folk history clashes with the agendas of online racists. Meanwhile, Basil's unrelenting commitment to fasting unravels his sense of reality, putting himself and his family in danger.

Ashes to Ashes moves between characters and perspectives, exploring the stories we tell about family, community, and our larger histories, blending elements of Norse saga with a fine-grained examination of rural Midwestern life at the start of the pandemic. This is Thomas Maltman's most ambitious novel yet, mixing forms and eras to reveal the lives and struggles of the teens and adults of Andwhen, Minnesota.

Review Quotes

Praise for Thomas Maltman

"Powerful. . . Maltman combines mythology and small-town claustrophobia to show how the roots of the violence [are] planted."
--The Christian Science Monitor

"Here's one I'll recommend--Tom Maltman's written an ambitious mythic thriller that hums with energy and portent."
--Leif Enger, author of Peace Like a River

"Satisfying on so many levels . . . Heartbreakingly real. This unpretentious tale of life in rural Minnesota is writing at its finest."
--William Kent Krueger, New York Times bestseller and winner of the Edgar Award

"Part allegory, part mystery and pure poetry, layered with Norse mythology and Anglo Saxon narratives, Maltman's second novel is dark, redemptive and very beautiful."
--Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"As rich in myth and metaphors as Cormac McCarthy's The Road."
--Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

"Magical story, magical writing."
--Saint Paul Pioneer Press

"A powerful mix of tragedy, myth, psychological thriller, and discovery told in a style so engaging that the reader might easily get caught up in the beauty of the words if the story itself were not so stunning."
--Library Journal Starred Review

About the Author

Thomas Maltman is the author of the novels The Night Birds, Little Wolves, and The Land. He has won an Alex Award, a Spur Award, and the Friends of American Writers Literary Award, and his work has been an Indie Next and All Iowa Reads selection. He has an MFA from Minnesota State University, Mankato, teaches at Normandale Community College, and lives in the Twin Cities area.