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"A chimerical blend of magic, power, hope, and freedom that stretches across time, touching diverse members of two black families, [this book] is a ... kaleidoscopic portrait of racism--the terrifying specter that continues to haunt us today"--Page 4 of cover.Book Synopsis
Now an HBO(R) Series from J.J. Abrams (Executive Producer of Westworld), Misha Green (Creator of Underground) and Jordan Peele (Director of Get Out)
The critically acclaimed cult novelist makes visceral the terrors of life in Jim Crow America and its lingering effects in this brilliant and wondrous work of the imagination that melds historical fiction, pulp noir, and Lovecraftian horror and fantasy.
Chicago, 1954. When his father Montrose goes missing, 22-year-old Army veteran Atticus Turner embarks on a road trip to New England to find him, accompanied by his Uncle George--publisher of The Safe Negro Travel Guide--and his childhood friend Letitia. On their journey to the manor of Mr. Braithwhite--heir to the estate that owned one of Atticus's ancestors--they encounter both mundane terrors of white America and malevolent spirits that seem straight out of the weird tales George devours.
At the manor, Atticus discovers his father in chains, held prisoner by a secret cabal named the Order of the Ancient Dawn--led by Samuel Braithwhite and his son Caleb--which has gathered to orchestrate a ritual that shockingly centers on Atticus. And his one hope of salvation may be the seed of his--and the whole Turner clan's--destruction.
A chimerical blend of magic, power, hope, and freedom that stretches across time, touching diverse members of two black families, Lovecraft Country is a devastating kaleidoscopic portrait of racism--the terrifying specter that continues to haunt us today.
From the Back Cover
Chicago, 1954. When his father goes missing, twenty-two-year-old army veteran Atticus Turner embarks on a road trip to New England to find him, accompanied by his uncle George--publisher of The Safe Negro Travel Guide--and his childhood friend Letitia. On their journey to the manor of Samuel Braithwhite--heir to the estate that owned one of Atticus's ancestors--they encounter both mundane terrors of white America and malevolent spirits that seem straight out of the weird tales George devours.
Atticus discovers his father in chains, held prisoner by a secret cabal, the Order of the Ancient Dawn--led by Braithwhite and his son, Caleb--which has gathered to perform a ritual that shockingly centers on Atticus. And his one hope of salvation may be the seed of his--and the whole Turner clan's destruction.
A chimerical blend of magic, power, hope, and freedom that stretches across time, touching diverse members of two black families, Lovecraft Country is a devastating kaleidoscopic portrait of racism--the terrifying specter that still haunts us today.
Review Quotes
"At every turn, Ruff has great fun pitting mid-20th-century horror and sci-fi cliches against the banal and ever-present bigotry of the era. And at every turn, it is the bigotry that hums with the greater evil." -- New York Times Book Review
"Nonstop adventure that includes time-shifting, shape-shifting, and Lovecraft-like horrors ... Ruff, a cult favorite for his mind-bending fiction, vividly portrays racism as a horror worse than anything conceived by Lovecraft in this provocative, chimerical novel" -- Booklist (starred review)
"Another 'only Matt Ruff could do this' production. Lovecraft Country takes the unlikeliest of premises and spins it into a funny, fast, exciting and affecting read." -- Neal Stephenson, New York Times bestselling author of Seveneves and Anathem
"Lovecraft Country is bound to appeal to any reader who wants to delve into the strangeness of our land's racial legacy." -- Seattle Times
"Lovecraft Country rubs the pervasive, eldritch dread of Lovecraft's universe against the very real, historical dread of Jim Crow America and sparks fly. . . . Ruff renders a very high-concept, imaginary world with such vividness that you can't help but feel it's disturbingly real." -- Christopher Moore, New York Times bestselling author of Lamb and A Dirty Job
"Genuinely spooky... But the real horror is the reality of life for African-Americans in the Jim Crow era... sparks the imagination while also igniting the reader's empathy." -- Library Journal
"Ruff shows with great cleverness how it's possible for a group of victims to appropriate the very methods used to victimize them, master those methods, and bend them to serve their own purposes." -- Locus
"This newer book rewards patience, and nowhere more so than in the passages where it heartbreakingly weaves Hippolyta into the actual events that surrounded Pluto's discovery and naming. Once Ruff took me there, I would've followed him anywhere in Lovecraft Country." -- Seattle Review of Books
"Come for the mix of historical fiction, pulp noir, and Lovecraftian horror. Stay for the fun of it." -- Kirkus Reviews
