Hey..
Throughout these waning days of November, I’ve locked myself within the quietness of my writing room while completing my third-annual read of the novel Plainsong by Kent Haruf.
Set on the high plains of fictional Holt, Colorado, Plainsong follows the lives of several town residents: a pregnant teenager whose mother wants nothing to do with her; an overburdened high school teacher whose marriage has failed and is now faced with raising his two sons; and in the country, two brothers, elderly bachelors, who for decades have existed for nothing more than their farmland and each other. Although each resident undergoes a life-altering and unforgettable tribulation, their intertwining paths to triumph reshape the landscape of the Great Plains as we know it.
Emotional, charming, and conveyed with an authentic sense of authority which captures pulse of these courageous souls perfectly, Plainsong is a conduit for both inspiration and hope.
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On November 30, 2014, when I began penning this monthly entry, I punched up Wikipedia on a whim to read a bit about Kent Haruf, and to my dismay, I discovered that Mr. Haruf had passed away this same day.
My heart, prayers, and blessings go out to both the family and friends of Kent Haruf..
And although my own fiction writing career has not yet blossomed, he has already proven to be amongst the greatest inspirations for my literary works.
P. Edwin