Union, WV
A novel of loss, healing, and redemption in contemporary Appalachia
Wayne Derek Quarles wins no sainthood awards. A resident of bustling, polyglot Northern Virginia, Quarles is self-centered, egotistical, and cantankerous – an equal opportunity bigot. Within the span of a week, his malevolence causes him to lose his mistress, his job, his Hummer, and his wife. On his way to look over some free furniture at the home of Professor Phil McGranahan, an elderly great-uncle in tiny Union, West Virginia, Wayne’s life turns even more wretched when he sustains immobilizing injuries and is forced to stay for awhile.
Through family lore recounted by Uncle Phil, Wayne finds that his troubles, as well as his recovery process, mirror those of his great-great-great-great grandfather, Andrew Jackson McGranahan, Confederate veteran of the War Between The States, whose likeness was memorialized by grateful townspeople in a statue that stands today in a cow pasture at the end of Main Street.
Union, WV is the story of healing and redemption in contemporary Appalachia.
Please bear in mind that Union, WV, contains violence, language, and sexual content. Reader descretion advised.