Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Mariner Books (2017), Edition: Reprint, 352 pages
Description
"A contemporary gothic from an author in the company of Kelly Link and Aimee Bender, Mr. Splitfoot tracks two women in two times as they march toward a mysterious reckoning. Ruth and Nat are orphans, packed into a house full of abandoned children run by a religious fanatic. To entertain their siblings, they channel the dead. Decades later, Ruth's niece, Cora, finds herself accidentally pregnant. After years of absence, Aunt Ruth appears, mute and full of intention. She is on a mysterious mission, leading Cora on an odyssey across the entire state of New York on foot. Where is Ruth taking them? Where has she been? And who -- or what -- has she hidden in the woods at the end of the road? In an ingeniously structured dual narrative, two separate timelines move toward the same point of crisis. Their merging will upend and reinvent the whole. A subversive ghost story that is carefully plotted and elegantly constructed, Mr. Splitfoot will set your heart racing and your brain churning. Mysteries abound, criminals roam free, utopian communities show their age, the mundane world intrudes on the supernatural and vice versa. Making good on the extraordinary acclaim for her previous books, Samantha Hunt continues to be "dazzling" (Vanity Fair) and to deliver fiction that is "daring and delicious" (Chicago Tribune)"--… (more)
Media reviews
*** 3 out 5 Stars
Review by: Mark Palm
Twisted Ghosts...
I was a teenager when I first “discovered” South American Magic Realism. Now Magic Realism has been with us for a long, long time, from Laurence Sterne to Franz Kafka, but the South Americans were trending, and I read Jorge Luis Borges,
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Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Julio Cortazar, etc, but The Green House by Mario Vargas Llosa was the one that warped my mind the most. It was so trippy that I had to resort to a notebook to keep it all straight, and even then most of the time I was reading it I felt like I had a serious fever.
All of which brings me to Mr. Splitfoot by Samantha Hunt, which is probably the most hallucinatory book I have read since then. It’s a shame that I read this as an arc, because I can’t quote from it, and Ms. Hunt is a superb line-by-line writer, and her prose absolutely sings. Like The Green House however, I can’t quite grasp exactly what happened.
Ruth grows up in the Love of Christ! foster home run by an abusive religious fanatic who mistreats his charges. After her older sister Eleanor ages out of foster care Ruth teams up with a boy named Nat, who can channel the dead. As teens the two meet Mr. Bell, who is a con artist. Ruth marries him, but they are stalked by Zeke, a dangerous psycho who wants Ruth for himself.
This narrative is entwined with one fourteen years later, with Ruth’s niece, Cora, who is pregnant and unmarried and generally bored with her life. Ruth shows up, and silently convinces Cora to follow her. The two spend the next several months walking around New York state, even as Cora’s pregnancy makes it harder and more dangerous for her. Of course Cora has a Destiny, but by the time it came around I was pretty perplexed. There are cults and religious fanatics and raving lunatics, and I was just waiting for someone that felt like they were from this planet.
Now as I said, Ms. Hunt is a wonderful writer of prose, but the biggest problem I had with this book was the characters. Almost everyone felt like they had dropped in from another plane of existence, and while there is nothing wrong with weirdness, I felt that the weirdness was sometimes forced. It didn’t help that almost no one was sympathetic either. I feel that this was purposeful, and I don’t believe that characters need to be likeable; but the level of inexplicability was a bit to high for me.
The dream-like quality of the storylines was effective, and there was a palpable sense of ghostly menace that provided a great deal of suspense, and there was never a page that was boring or dull, but I felt that a few moments of normalcy may have better served to illustrate the strange and sometimes miraculous elements of this book. One thing is for sure; Ms Hunt doesn't play it safe. While she didn’t quite nail it Mr. Splitfoot is certainly a powerful book, by a writer who seems to be just bursting with talent.
Full reviews available at: http://www.thebookendfamily.weebly.com
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User reviews
LibraryThing member AltheaAnn
Ruth and Nat are two teenagers stuck in a religious group home in upstate New York. Unsure what they'll do when they turn 18 and 'age out' of the Love of Christ! facility, Ruth is ready to consider desperate measures to find some kind of future for herself and her best friend. An option turns up
Intercut with Ruth & Nat's story is one that unfolds some 20 years later. Cora is a seemingly ordinary young woman with a normal job and life. She knows that her mother didn't have a good childhood, but those foster homes and abuse seem very far in the past. But when her boyfriend reacts very, very badly to the news that Cora is pregnant, an emotional crisis point is reached. Just at that moment, Cora's enigmatic but long-idolized Aunt Ruth appears. Refusing or unable to speak, Ruth leads Cora on a long walk through New York State, with no known destination.
I picked up this book because of the comparison to Kelly Link, but I didn't quite feel the similarity there. Rather, I felt that this book was very much written in the style of a great deal of contemporary post-apocalyptic lit-fic. It's not apocalyptic (although there is that apocalyptic cult), but the way it is written makes modern life feel apocalyptic. The fact that all the characters are alienated from modern society (either emotionally or through forced isolation) contributes significantly to this, as does the narrative's occasional tips into the realm of the bizarre. The themes of the book are also ones that are present in much of the post-apoc genre.
I liked the book, and moreover, appreciated that it was very well-crafted. I didn't emotionally love it, however... perhaps just because of the high unpleasantness quotient.
Many thanks to HMH and NetGalley for the opportunity to read. As always, my opinion is solely my own.
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when the two meet a traveling con man, Mr. Bell, who suggests that they start profiting off Nat's reputed ability to speak to the dead - one he's so far only used to scare and entertain the fellow foster kids at the home. Mr. Bell also comes from an unusual religious background, we learn - his father was the leader of an apocalyptic cult. Is this commonality of experience the reason he's drawn to Ruth and Nat, or is there a different agenda behind his seeking them out?Intercut with Ruth & Nat's story is one that unfolds some 20 years later. Cora is a seemingly ordinary young woman with a normal job and life. She knows that her mother didn't have a good childhood, but those foster homes and abuse seem very far in the past. But when her boyfriend reacts very, very badly to the news that Cora is pregnant, an emotional crisis point is reached. Just at that moment, Cora's enigmatic but long-idolized Aunt Ruth appears. Refusing or unable to speak, Ruth leads Cora on a long walk through New York State, with no known destination.
I picked up this book because of the comparison to Kelly Link, but I didn't quite feel the similarity there. Rather, I felt that this book was very much written in the style of a great deal of contemporary post-apocalyptic lit-fic. It's not apocalyptic (although there is that apocalyptic cult), but the way it is written makes modern life feel apocalyptic. The fact that all the characters are alienated from modern society (either emotionally or through forced isolation) contributes significantly to this, as does the narrative's occasional tips into the realm of the bizarre. The themes of the book are also ones that are present in much of the post-apoc genre.
I liked the book, and moreover, appreciated that it was very well-crafted. I didn't emotionally love it, however... perhaps just because of the high unpleasantness quotient.
Many thanks to HMH and NetGalley for the opportunity to read. As always, my opinion is solely my own.
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LibraryThing member KatyBee
The striking cover and spooky title of this novel build a certain type of expectation but please be aware - there's some great writing inside. Atmospheric and compelling dual stories are interwoven skillfully and greet each other in the end. Sure, it's a ghost story, but so much more... The Love of
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Christ! Foster Home and a collection damaged kids, a very long walk with a mute aunt and her pregnant niece, a creepy cult leader and strange Carl Sagan/glam rocker religion mashup, a sexy pirate con artist, mothers good and mothers bad, and even a blurb on the back cover from a dead writer. Unique. Show Less
LibraryThing member lisapeet
Man, this is a weird, weird, wonderful book. It's a ghost story, set in rural upstate New York, and there are orphans and con artists and fake spiritualists and religious cults and the records that Carl Sagan made to send up in the Voyager spacecraft. And Elton John lyrics. And the most bizarre
There were a few moments when I almost lost faith in what Hunt was doing—there's a lot of stuff that seems totally random at first, and this is NOT a book for readers who need instant gratification as they go. But in the end it all makes perfect sense, in a very weird, weird, wonderful way. I kind of want to skim through it again now and check out all the parts that seemed loose-end-like to see where they fit, because they all do.
I think this may not be for everyone, but I just loved it—I read the last quarter in a white hot sinful heat when I was supposed to be doing something else. Now I really have to read The Invention of Everything Else, which I've had on the shelf for ages.
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drug abuse incident imaginable.There were a few moments when I almost lost faith in what Hunt was doing—there's a lot of stuff that seems totally random at first, and this is NOT a book for readers who need instant gratification as they go. But in the end it all makes perfect sense, in a very weird, weird, wonderful way. I kind of want to skim through it again now and check out all the parts that seemed loose-end-like to see where they fit, because they all do.
I think this may not be for everyone, but I just loved it—I read the last quarter in a white hot sinful heat when I was supposed to be doing something else. Now I really have to read The Invention of Everything Else, which I've had on the shelf for ages.
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LibraryThing member mhanlon
I was wandering the shelves at Barnes & Noble and found this book, face out on the shelf, and thank Pete it was.
I loved this crooked tale of orphans, mothers, speaking with the dead, the influence of the dead on the living, cons, religion, and upstate New York. I loved that dear, dirty Worcester,
Beautiful book, so glad I stumbled across it.
I loved this crooked tale of orphans, mothers, speaking with the dead, the influence of the dead on the living, cons, religion, and upstate New York. I loved that dear, dirty Worcester,
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Massachusetts made a cameo as the hometown of Tonya, an orphan in the same house as Nat and Ruth. Samantha Hunt does a fantastic job of weaving the story in the past (Nat and Ruth's) with the present, where Ruth and her niece Cora take off across New York State on an epic quest, made moreso by the fact that they walk most of the journey and Cora does it heavily pregnant. The action happens along two strands of a DNA double helix connected by Ruth. So the storylines are fantastic, well-told, and her language sparkles: I love that Ceph, another orphan, is characterized as "angry enough to deform DNA."Beautiful book, so glad I stumbled across it.
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LibraryThing member JReynolds1959
Ruth and Nat are living in a home, having been abandoned by their respective parents. The home is taken care of by a minister and the home is called Love of Christ! Ruth and Nat are so like siblings, even sharing a bedroom.
They are both 17 and want to escape the realm that they live in. They
In the meantime, we are journeying with Cora, who is being lead around New York, near the Erie Canal, by a woman named Ruth. This is taking place about 14 years later than the story of Nat & Ruth.
The two different stories take place every other chapter. They meld somewhat and you can feel the stories coming together.
This was really well written and really makes you think. I will definitely pick up more of Samantha Hunt's works from here.
They are both 17 and want to escape the realm that they live in. They
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wander off the property and meet a man named Mr. Bell. Mr. Bell sees that Nat knows how to work a good con, by acting as if he can talk to the dead. The three then create a group that works people with the dead.In the meantime, we are journeying with Cora, who is being lead around New York, near the Erie Canal, by a woman named Ruth. This is taking place about 14 years later than the story of Nat & Ruth.
The two different stories take place every other chapter. They meld somewhat and you can feel the stories coming together.
This was really well written and really makes you think. I will definitely pick up more of Samantha Hunt's works from here.
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LibraryThing member flying_monkeys
Mr. Splitfoot is difficult for me to "review" because I wasn't glued to the page and yet I never considered quitting. The writing was lovely and its characters strong, but I guessed the twist as soon as Ruth showed up. However, I kept reading and the climax was a page-turner if for no other reason
So all in all, an enjoyable experience which has prompted me to add Hunt's other novels to my list.
3.5 stars
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than I was completely invested in Cora's fate by that point.So all in all, an enjoyable experience which has prompted me to add Hunt's other novels to my list.
3.5 stars
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LibraryThing member kcshankd
What a weird book. Read it as part of my Indiespensable subscription. I was drawn along the long walk by the language and by sharing Cora's bewilderment. The ending, and really entire novel was just too precious for me to ultimately enjoy.
LibraryThing member jphamilton
Well, not every book (even one by an author you've loved before) can click. There was certainly no clicking going on with this book. I found myself reading several other books after starting this ... never a good sign.
LibraryThing member Othemts
This gothic mystery tells two interwoven stories. The first is about the young Ruth and Nat, foster children growing up in a group home under a strange Christian cult leader. They begin to claim that they can talk with the dead, and with the help of a con man named Mr. Bell, they escape and begin
The second story is about a directionless young woman named Cora who becomes pregnant by her cruel boyfriend, who is married to another woman. Her aunt Ruth, now unable to speak, arrives and takes Cora on a long journey across the state of New York. There's a lot of mystery and creepiness in this book, although the real horror is the cruelty of humankind. {SPOILER} The biggest surprise of this book is that it manages a happy ending. {/SPOILER}
Favorite Passages:
“Forget God. Or don’t call it that. I’m talking about mystery, unsolvable mystery. Maybe it’s as simple as love. I say it is."
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traveling and hosting seances.The second story is about a directionless young woman named Cora who becomes pregnant by her cruel boyfriend, who is married to another woman. Her aunt Ruth, now unable to speak, arrives and takes Cora on a long journey across the state of New York. There's a lot of mystery and creepiness in this book, although the real horror is the cruelty of humankind. {SPOILER} The biggest surprise of this book is that it manages a happy ending. {/SPOILER}
Favorite Passages:
“Forget God. Or don’t call it that. I’m talking about mystery, unsolvable mystery. Maybe it’s as simple as love. I say it is."
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LibraryThing member irregularreader
Unusual and unpredictable. A mystery wrapped around disparate and strange threads
LibraryThing member ireneattolia
just not as interesting a plot as i thought it would be.
LibraryThing member veeshee
I like weird novels with weird stories that could literally take you anywhere. That's what I felt about this novel, when I first read its premise. It was just so out-of-the-box and unexpected that I was excited to give it a shot. Well, here is my review!
When you are a ward of the state, there
Even though it has been a couple of days since I have read this book, I'm still confused on my feelings about it. That isn't to say that this book isn't good. It's very very good. It's well-written and has an interesting slew of characters. The story jumps back and forth between the time that Ruth and Nat were at the group home to the present time when Cora and Ruth are on their mysterious adventure. Throughout the novel, I kept wondering what it was that was bringing these two events closer and closer together. All the while, I was fascinated by both of these two storylines as separate entities. I will confess, I preferred the story line concerned with Ruth and Nat more than the one with Cora and Ruth, but both very so intriguing. One thing is for sure: at the end of the novel, you yourself will be questioning whether there was any truth to it at all. Overall, this was a bizarre and interesting read, and if you are looking for something that will be completely unexpected, then check this novel out!
When you are a ward of the state, there
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aren't many options you have in terms of places to live. Ruth and Nat are orphans that live together with a group of other children in a home run by a religious fanatic. With nothing else to do with their time, Ruth and Nat channel the dead for those who ask for it. Decades later, Ruth's niece, Cora, is struggling to find her place in the world, especially now that she is pregnant. Suddenly Aunt Ruth appears and makes it clear that she wants Cora to follow her, all while remaining mute. As Cora and Ruth walk across the entire state of New York, Cora begins to wonder what exactly Ruth's mysterious mission is and what her role is in all of this. Even though it has been a couple of days since I have read this book, I'm still confused on my feelings about it. That isn't to say that this book isn't good. It's very very good. It's well-written and has an interesting slew of characters. The story jumps back and forth between the time that Ruth and Nat were at the group home to the present time when Cora and Ruth are on their mysterious adventure. Throughout the novel, I kept wondering what it was that was bringing these two events closer and closer together. All the while, I was fascinated by both of these two storylines as separate entities. I will confess, I preferred the story line concerned with Ruth and Nat more than the one with Cora and Ruth, but both very so intriguing. One thing is for sure: at the end of the novel, you yourself will be questioning whether there was any truth to it at all. Overall, this was a bizarre and interesting read, and if you are looking for something that will be completely unexpected, then check this novel out!
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LibraryThing member lissabeth21
Strange, the intermingled lives of lost souls crashing together at odd angles and the waves that are created as a result. Across the boundaries of death and life, space and time, Niagara Falls to Troy this split plot joins the past to the present in order to prepare for the future. Magic spins,
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creating the forces that pull the ordinary into extraordinary circumstances. Show Less
LibraryThing member Mithril
Nice kicker after a slower middle third.
LibraryThing member TheAmpersand
Let's get the obvious out of the way: Samantha Hunt's "Mr. Splitfoot" often reads like a direct descendant of Katheryn Dunn's "Geek Love." Both book feature ubiquitous, creepily beautiful bodily difference that is capitalized upon for profit, malevolent cult leaders, and an argument that a world
Perhaps I shouldn't have read this one while under quarantine."Mr. Splitfoot" is an emotionally intense book, populated as it is by drifters and misfits who have little to rely upon but themselves and each other. Their feelings for each other -- love, yearning, sadness, betrayal -- are intense and Hunt communicates them expertly. But her characters are also appealing, and may find their way into her reader's sympathies. While most of the book's main characters are, to some extent or another, con artists, the author makes it clear that that they know how to play upon the emotional needs of others because their own emotional needs are so overwhelming. The moments when they connect are intense: two of the characters here share an emotional bond so tight that their barely seem to recognize that they inhabit separate bodies. In this book, even mutual understanding can be a rare and powerful experience: the subplot I liked best had to do with the records sent into space on the Voyager probes, which tried to fit all of life on earth onto one long-playing record. Whether they've made anyone out there understand us any better isn't really known, but that's precisely the sort of mission that every character in "Mr. Splitfoot" seems to be on, and the moments in which they do connect are beautiful are immensely affecting. I'll probably have to read this one again to figure out what I really think of it, but this I've got no doubt that "Mr. Splitfoot" is an accomplishment of some sort.
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defined by normative bodies is necessarily limiting and restrictive. Hunt's novel is grounded in its setting in a way that Dunn's wasn't, though. To be specific, it's set in the vast, sparsely populated wilds and rusted-out towns of upstate New York, and the characters follow the route of the Erie Canal, more or less. Spiritually speaking, it takes place in the in the "old, weird America" that Greil Marcus identified as the source for America's musical traditions. We meet a different sort of freak there: grifters, outcasts, and lonely people stuck in nowhere towns whose heyday was decades, if not generations ago that are looking for a reason to stay or leave. Hunt seems to know this territory intimately: the book's sense of weird desolation and generalized neglect never really lifts and her descriptions are shockingly immediate and sometimes excruciatingly vivid. Hunt's writing is remarkably self-assured and it has a clear poetic bent, but, at the same time, it can be excruciatingly visceral. "Mr. Splitfoot" is one of those books that can be felt, not just read.Perhaps I shouldn't have read this one while under quarantine."Mr. Splitfoot" is an emotionally intense book, populated as it is by drifters and misfits who have little to rely upon but themselves and each other. Their feelings for each other -- love, yearning, sadness, betrayal -- are intense and Hunt communicates them expertly. But her characters are also appealing, and may find their way into her reader's sympathies. While most of the book's main characters are, to some extent or another, con artists, the author makes it clear that that they know how to play upon the emotional needs of others because their own emotional needs are so overwhelming. The moments when they connect are intense: two of the characters here share an emotional bond so tight that their barely seem to recognize that they inhabit separate bodies. In this book, even mutual understanding can be a rare and powerful experience: the subplot I liked best had to do with the records sent into space on the Voyager probes, which tried to fit all of life on earth onto one long-playing record. Whether they've made anyone out there understand us any better isn't really known, but that's precisely the sort of mission that every character in "Mr. Splitfoot" seems to be on, and the moments in which they do connect are beautiful are immensely affecting. I'll probably have to read this one again to figure out what I really think of it, but this I've got no doubt that "Mr. Splitfoot" is an accomplishment of some sort.
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LibraryThing member ToniFGMAMTC
Wow, this one is a doozie of a storyline. Things are a little crazy. I'm not quite sure what the point of the story is, but it's definitely entertaining. It switches back and forth between the past and present. The past is about one girl and the present is about her niece.
LibraryThing member ToniFGMAMTC
Wow, this one is a doozie of a storyline. Things are a little crazy. I'm not quite sure what the point of the story is, but it's definitely entertaining. It switches back and forth between the past and present. The past is about one girl and the present is about her niece.
LibraryThing member CaroPi
This book was highly recommended so I had great expectations. But for some reason it didn't feel so good. The story is interesting. A little bit unexpected and have characters that in general I don't see in books. It also makes me think in the kids in foster care. Nevertheless the writing style
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didn't make me to read non stop. Show Less
LibraryThing member Lauranthalas
What the heck did I just read? Strange yet amazing!
Awards
Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize (Longlist — Fiction — 2016)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2016-01-05
Physical description
352 p.; 5.31 inches
ISBN
054481181X / 9780544811812