Call number
FIC FFI
Collection
Genres
Publication
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2019), Edition: 1st Edition, 304 pages
Description
"This hilarious, truth-telling debut upends notions of family, protest, and Appalachia, and forces us to reimagine an America we think we know"--
User reviews
LibraryThing member Lauranthalas
Helen and her boyfriend move to Appalachian Ohio to live off the land. They buy a piece of land and live in a tiny camper but soon after, Helen’s boyfriend leaves
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Karen and Lily are living at the Women’s Land Trust but are in search of a new place to live because they are expecting a baby boy.
Knowing that Karen and Lily are in need of a new place to live and have little money, Helen offers up her land. They can split the work/food, build a house, and live off the land. This seems to go semi-okay until Karen and Lily’s son, Perley, decides to go to school.
The description states that this book will have us “laughing” but I didn’t laugh once. To me this book was actually heartbreaking. Overall this was an alright story about family, communal living, being a parent, and challenging societal norms.
Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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Karen and Lily are living at the Women’s Land Trust but are in search of a new place to live because they are expecting a baby boy.
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Knowing that Karen and Lily are in need of a new place to live and have little money, Helen offers up her land. They can split the work/food, build a house, and live off the land. This seems to go semi-okay until Karen and Lily’s son, Perley, decides to go to school.
The description states that this book will have us “laughing” but I didn’t laugh once. To me this book was actually heartbreaking. Overall this was an alright story about family, communal living, being a parent, and challenging societal norms.
Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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LibraryThing member ShannonRose4
The opening will startle you; make you cringe and make you want to put the book down… only to have curiosity get the best of you.
You will find yourself absorbed by how the unlikely family finds a way to survive, hope and even thrive; while the unforgiving land they call home and everything else
You will find yourself absorbed by how the unlikely family finds a way to survive, hope and even thrive; while the unforgiving land they call home and everything else
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they have ever known is on the verge destruction. Show Less
LibraryThing member ShannonRose4
The opening will startle you; make you cringe and make you want to put the book down… only to have curiosity get the best of you.
You will find yourself absorbed by how the unlikely family finds a way to survive, hope and even thrive; while the unforgiving land they call home and everything else
You will find yourself absorbed by how the unlikely family finds a way to survive, hope and even thrive; while the unforgiving land they call home and everything else
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they have ever known is on the verge destruction. Show Less
LibraryThing member jphamilton
"Stay and Fight" is a very curious and funny book that goes deep into a group of people living almost off-the-grid in Appalachia, just trying to live as free as possible. But they have a constant struggle against certain aspects of our society and their always precarious finances. This is a
Rudy is a true “character” and friend who lived nearby in the beginning, and then almost on their crooked doorstep when he pitches a tent near the young fruit trees he planted down one side of Helen’s plot. Old Rudy is a rough and freethinking man who simply doesn’t understand the clients of his arbor business who refuse the free fruit trees he offers with every job he does. Eventually he takes it upon himself to play an aggressive version of Johnny Appleseed, one who comes secretly in the night to plant fruit trees on his ungrateful clients’ land. Rudy is known far and wide as being resolutely odd, and he’s taken this small, independent group somewhat under his wing. He sometimes hires one of them to help with his tree work, and he offers them help and advice—if they want it or not.
The black snakes gather in ever-increasing numbers inside the porous house, and play a major role in the plot. The normally friendly snake that shared Perley’s bed, bites him badly in the night when the boy rolls on top of him. When the school he’s just started sees his injuries and asked him about his home life, the answers got Children’s Services involved very quickly, and he’s removed to a foster home. The couple is given a 90-day plan of required improvements to bring the house up to snuff. The snakes are definitely on the list, along with the sad state of the house and a number of other items, but it’s their concern about the in-house five-gallon shit bucket is the biggest problem. The thousands needed for a septic system are far beyond their current income.
I won’t continue with the plot, just know that the novel’s action soon splits as Karen leaves to raise the funds for the septic system. The book also brings one of the oddest lawyers in literary history into their fight to get Perley back, which was entirely understandable when you know that Rudy had recommended his close friend for the job.
I related strongly to these people’s struggles when they constantly did things counter to our society’s norms. There was also a definite kinship to their constant search for the funds to live a life that they valued. There are so many things that I loved about Ffitch’s first book, just know that it’s well worth the reading for its multifaceted and fascinating characters, and some extraordinary writing that will stay in your head for some time.
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completely fascinating collection of characters who have formed a community around a family of two moms, Lily and Karen, and their young boy, Perley. The boy was born in the rough house that this small group built mostly all on their own. A generous woman, Helen, offered part of her nearby land for the house they built without many of the skills and the knowledge needed to produce a house that is straight, square, and capable of keeping out winter’s cold and the many black snakes seeking warmth. Rudy is a true “character” and friend who lived nearby in the beginning, and then almost on their crooked doorstep when he pitches a tent near the young fruit trees he planted down one side of Helen’s plot. Old Rudy is a rough and freethinking man who simply doesn’t understand the clients of his arbor business who refuse the free fruit trees he offers with every job he does. Eventually he takes it upon himself to play an aggressive version of Johnny Appleseed, one who comes secretly in the night to plant fruit trees on his ungrateful clients’ land. Rudy is known far and wide as being resolutely odd, and he’s taken this small, independent group somewhat under his wing. He sometimes hires one of them to help with his tree work, and he offers them help and advice—if they want it or not.
The black snakes gather in ever-increasing numbers inside the porous house, and play a major role in the plot. The normally friendly snake that shared Perley’s bed, bites him badly in the night when the boy rolls on top of him. When the school he’s just started sees his injuries and asked him about his home life, the answers got Children’s Services involved very quickly, and he’s removed to a foster home. The couple is given a 90-day plan of required improvements to bring the house up to snuff. The snakes are definitely on the list, along with the sad state of the house and a number of other items, but it’s their concern about the in-house five-gallon shit bucket is the biggest problem. The thousands needed for a septic system are far beyond their current income.
I won’t continue with the plot, just know that the novel’s action soon splits as Karen leaves to raise the funds for the septic system. The book also brings one of the oddest lawyers in literary history into their fight to get Perley back, which was entirely understandable when you know that Rudy had recommended his close friend for the job.
I related strongly to these people’s struggles when they constantly did things counter to our society’s norms. There was also a definite kinship to their constant search for the funds to live a life that they valued. There are so many things that I loved about Ffitch’s first book, just know that it’s well worth the reading for its multifaceted and fascinating characters, and some extraordinary writing that will stay in your head for some time.
Show Less
LibraryThing member BibliophageOnCoffee
This book pulled me out of my coronavirus induced reading slump. I was hooked from the first sentence after putting two other books down, and then I devoured this story in one weekend. Loved all the characters and the plot. Also, living off the grid sounds pretty good right about now...
LibraryThing member Gwendydd
Helen, a young woman from Seattle, and her boyfriend move from Seattle to remote Appalachia, looking for something new. Helen spends all of her life savings to buy a plot of wooded land, and then her boyfriend leaves her and she is alone with only this land: no friends, no house, no job. She
The book switches point of view between the three women and the boy, so you see different sides of the events.
I really don't know what to think of this book. All of the main characters are frankly horrible and unlikable, even if ffitch does manage to make them somewhat sympathetic. A lot of terrible things happen to them, but it's kind of hard to feel sorry for them because they bring their problems on themselves. A lot of reviews say the book is funny, but I didn't find it humorous at all. Despite all of this, I found myself unable to put the book down. I don't exactly regret reading it, but I'm not sure I'm glad I finished it.
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decides to stick it out, and manages to survive by living in a trailer and foraging from her land. She meets a lesbian couple who live in a Women's Collective. When the couple gives birth to a son, they aren't allowed to stay at the Women's Collective, so Helen convinces them to move onto her land with her, where the three women build a cabin, live off the land, and raise their son.The book switches point of view between the three women and the boy, so you see different sides of the events.
I really don't know what to think of this book. All of the main characters are frankly horrible and unlikable, even if ffitch does manage to make them somewhat sympathetic. A lot of terrible things happen to them, but it's kind of hard to feel sorry for them because they bring their problems on themselves. A lot of reviews say the book is funny, but I didn't find it humorous at all. Despite all of this, I found myself unable to put the book down. I don't exactly regret reading it, but I'm not sure I'm glad I finished it.
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Awards
Lambda Literary Award (Finalist — 2020)
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — Fiction — 2019)
Washington State Book Award (Finalist — Fiction — 2020)
Pages
304
ISBN
0374268126 / 9780374268121