book review: "Southernmost"...

 ... written by Silas House published in 2018. Lately several books I have picked up at the library have been recently printed, found on the shelves of newest additions to the collection. A published author, he is also a contributor to the New York Times and was a commentator on Public Radio. The jacket only provides a brief biography, listing awards won, but I suspect he lives in the South, possibly Tennessee, as this is the setting at the beginning of the book.

Asher Sharp is a minister of a small church in the Cumberland Valley. The book opens with continuous rain, causing a massive flood. Houses, vehicles, livestock, mobile homes, people all washed away unless they were safe at the top of the mountain ridges. Asher's son, Justin, goes out looking for is missing pet, Roscoe, who ran out the door and disappeared into the rain and the dark.
Justin returns with two men, neighbors who had their newly built house carried away in the gushing waters. Asher's wife believes the men to be gay, and refuses to allow them to take shelter in their home.  Asher begins to recall when his brother Luke left home years ago, when no one in the family could accept him. Luke has lately been sending cryptic messages on cards, with glossy photos of sunny scenes, posted in Key West.

Asher is removed from his position in the church, and finds himself at loose ends. He is changed by the men who moved to the valley from Nashville, wanting only to live in peace, but finding no sense of community in the small town where no one can accept their alternative life style.Asher tells his wife he cannot continue to live the way he has, in a narrow-minded, judgmental environment. She flies for divorce, and is granted full custody of their son.

With an 'I'll show you' attitude Asher takes the youth and drives to Key West, desperate to spend more time with Justin, hoping he can find his estranged brother and make amends. The title of the book is a reference to the Keys, with the tip of the Island chain being the southern most point in the US. It is a well written story, peopled with interesting characters, thought-inducing conversations. I enjoyed it so much I will try to find some of House's other books to read.