The Fence My Father Built [Paperback]

Linda S. Clare (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2009

In The Fence My Father Built, when legally separated Muri Pond, a librarian, hauls her kids, teenage Nova and eleven year-old Truman, out to the tiny town of Murkee, Oregon, where her father, Joe Pond lived and died, she’s confronted by a neighbor’s harassment over water rights and Joe’s legacy: a fence made from old oven doors.

The fence and accompanying house trailer horrify rebellious Nova, who runs away to the drug-infested streets of Seattle. Muri searches for her daughter and for something to believe in, all the while trying to save her inheritance from the conniving neighbor who calls her dad Chief Joseph. Along with Joe’s sister, Aunt Lutie, and the Red Rock Tabernacle Ladies, Muri must rediscover the faith her alcoholic dad never abandoned in order to reclaim her own spiritual path.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Linda S. Clare  is an award-winning coauthor of three books, including Lost Boys and the Moms Who Love Them (with Melody Carlson and Heather Kopp), Revealed: Spiritual Reality in a Makeover World, and Making Peace with a Dangerous God (with Kristen Johnson Ingram). She has also published many essays, stories, and poems in publications including The Christian Reader, The Denver Post, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Linda grew up in a part of Arizona, where the dirt is as red as it is in Central Oregon. She graduated summa cum laude in Art Education from Arizona State University and taught in public and private schools. She has taught college-level creative writing classes for seven years, and edits and mentors writers. She also is a frequent writing conference presenter and church retreat leader. She and her husband of thirty-one years have four grown children, including a set of twins. They live in Eugene, Oregon, with their five wayward cats: Oliver, Xena the Warrior Kitty, Paladine, Melchior, and Mamma Mia!

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Abingdon Press; Original edition (October 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1426700733
• ISBN-13: 978-1426700736
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #371,907 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Like many writers, I started writing as a child. My mom would type up my stories and poems to send to children's magazines.I published my first pieces in high school (yup, took awhile) but there was a very long hiatus where I did all the family stuff. I got married, had four kids (including a set of twins) and came back to writing the year I was running a daycare out of my home. I'd put all the kids down for rest time and around the corner in the kitchen, I'd stand in front of my stove and type away on my old electric typewriter, which I plugged in on the stovetop. I didn't get much done, but I was hooked.
After a long apprenticeship, I began teaching writing at a community college, where I still teach novel and essay writing. I've coauthored three nonfiction books and have won awards for short fiction, including a Pushcart Prize nomination. In October 2009, my debut novel, The Fence My Father Built, releases from Abingdon Press. I hope I get to keep writing novels--it's so much fun.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant debut novel about coming home, October 22, 2009

By 

Christina Lockstein "Christy's Book Blog" (Oconto Falls, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Fence My Father Built (Paperback)

The Fence My Father Built by Linda S. Clare is a poignant novel about finding where you belong. Muri Pond is taking her two children, Nova and Tru, home to her father's home in the desert area of Oregon after the loss of her job and the end of her marriage. She grew up never knowing Joseph Pond, but after his death, she finds she has nowhere else to go, so going to his home makes sense. Until she finds out that his home is a trailer with a group of cobbled together additions and is occupied by her quirky aunt and uncle and their potbellied pigs. That's only the beginning of Muri's trouble, however. Joseph left a fight over water rights with the town's best-loved citizen in which Muri quickly finds herself trapped in as well, plus Nova has no intention of living in the middle of nowhere. Clare puts Muri in the middle of an impossible situation and every turn of the page only seems to turn up the heat. Her writing is powerful and deeply human. I hope she writes more fiction soon!

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Focused on disfunction, May 31, 2010

By 

L. Smith "musically speaking" (Carmel, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Fence My Father Built (Kindle Edition)

I realize this is a new author and I thought the story line had potential. The main character, Muri, was supposed to be an educated woman but if she had said she didn't understand the importance of water rights (in a desert) one more time I would have been the one screaming. The constant family bickering, remembrances of an alcoholic father and disfunctional relationship with her ex-husband just got old. A good edit may have made this a good novella. Just too drawn out and repetitive to be good. I almost didn't finish it.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!, September 24, 2009

By 

Jeanne Murray - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fence My Father Built (Paperback)

I had never heard of this author before I read the book. Now I am looking forward to more from the same author. I received this book as a reward for filling out a survey from the publisher. My husband read it first. I noticed that he was reading whenever he had a spare moment. - Good sign. Then it was my turn.

I enjoyed the book because it has a good story along with a search for God that is very realistic. Muri did find God, along with finding more about her heritage.