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Witches on the Road Tonight [Hardcover]

Sheri Holman
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)

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Book Description

March 1, 2011
As a child growing up in Depression-era rural Virginia, Eddie Alley’s quiet life is rooted in the rumors of his mother’s witchcraft. But when he's visited by a writer and glamorous photographer researching American folklore for the WPA, the spell of his mother’s unorthodox life is violently disrupted, and Eddie is inspired to pursue a future beyond the confines of his dead-end town.

He leaves for New York and becomes a television horror-movie presenter beloved for his kitschy comedy. Though expert at softening terror for his young fans, Eddie cannot escape the guilty secrets of his own childhood. When he opens his family’s door to a homeless teenager working as an intern at the TV station, the boy’s presence not only awakens something in Eddie, but also in his twelve-year-old daughter, Wallis, who has begun to feel a strange kinship to her notorious grandmother. As the ghost stories of one generation infiltrate the next, Wallis and Eddie grapple with the sins of the past to repair their misguided attempts at loyalty and redemption.

In Witches on the Road Tonight, bestselling author Sheri Holman teases out the dark compulsions and desperate longings that blur the line between love and betrayal.

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Witches on the Road Tonight + The Dress Lodger (New York Times Notable Books)
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Holman (The Dress Lodger) investigates a dynasty of fear, mysticism, guilt, and love, beginning in Depression-era Appalachia through to contemporary Manhattan, in her uneven but heartbreaking latest. In 1940, Eddie Alley is a shy boy living in rural Virginia with his mother, Cora, who is dogged by rumors of witchcraft. A visit from a writer and photographer from the WPA opens Eddie's eyes to the possibilities outside his tiny town, starting him on the path to becoming Captain Casket, a cartoonish TV horror movie presenter. But beneath Captain Casket's makeup and kitsch lurk secrets and tortures waiting to burst out. Holman dodges back and forth over a 70-year period, checking in on Eddie, Cora, Eddie's daughter Wallis, and homeless teenager Jasper, whom Eddie takes in and acts as a reluctant lynchpin for a tortuous familial would-be love triangle. Though the story flags in the middle section, it does recover in time to map out the devastating consequences of sin and circumstance that were forged in the hills of Appalachia and tumbled down through the generations. (Mar.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In the time it took to dash from a cornfield playground, Eddie Alley�s world turned upside down. A car, rare in the mountain hollows of 1940s Virginia, clipped Eddie as he ran from his taunting friends. Its driver, a slick New York writer accompanied by his glamorous girlfriend, shepherds Eddie to his mountain cabin to await his mother�s return. It would have been better for all concerned, though, if Eddie had been left by the side of the road, because his mother is known for her sorcery. Too late, the writer falls under her spell, but not before mesmerizing Eddie with the novelty of his hand-cranked movie projector and rare footage of a silent horror movie. Thirty years later, as a two-bit celebrity host of a campy, late-night TV creep show, Eddie is forced to reconcile the dark events of his past when a young boy comes into his care. Vibrantly atmospheric, Holman�s stealthily ambiguous novel of suspense glitters with the force of sins and indiscretions unbounded by time. --Carol Haggas

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press; 1 edition (March 1, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0802119433
  • ISBN-13: 978-0802119438
  • Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #826,688 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

The book soon plateaus, and one is left waiting for the story to begin. quelledomage  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement
The characters were not at all likeable. Knerrd  |  2 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 27 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful and Intense March 2, 2011
By DS
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Sheri Holman has long been one of my favorite writers and her new novel does not disappoint. It is atmospheric, powerful, engaging, and astute. The various storylines are utterly enthralling and her original, measured handling of the supernatural elements in the novel entered my dreams. Line by line, Holman is one of the most captivating and powerful writers of her generation. By far, this is one of my favorite novels of the year.
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Spellbound February 26, 2011
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
There will be a moment, early on in Sheri Holman's Witches on the Road Tonight, when some little part of your conscious mind may push forward to ask, 'Am I reading about these spells and magic, or am I the object of them?' You have two choices when this moment comes. You may lay the book aside and find something less captivating, less atmospheric, and less powerful in its storytelling. Or you may choose to be in Holman's thrall until the final, heartbreaking page and beyond.

It is a rare writer who can pull us effortlessly across time and character and geography with the conjuring power that Holman demonstrates here. From a dogtrot cabin in Appalachia on the eve of the second world war to 1980s suburbs still scented with a rural perfume to post-Apocalyptic corners of contemporary New York, there is no false note. This is a dark family epic in which fear must be mastered and never quite can be.

Holman is an enchantress, whose knack for detail and narrative power will transport you. Witches on the Road Tonight is disturbing and enthralling and worth the deep and diligent reading that its careful conjuring on the page invites.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars layered human mystery March 25, 2011
Format:Hardcover
Holman has created a haunting exploration of love and deprivation, imagination and nature, all shown in a myriad of forms.
Her witches do not take center stage; instead they lurk. I wondered about all sorts of powers that humans may imagine they have; religion makes an occasional appearance.

Questions such as where we choose to live, how we die, what we hide from ourselves, and the evidence of gratitude bubble up in the intertwined stories, tightly woven and exquisitely written. I think Holman's use of succinct words and striking metaphors, along with compelling characters and vivid sense of place, keep the story alive and moving. Like Dress Lodger, Witches will remain in my memory. Sheri Holman has honed her storytelling skills!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars The Witches on the Road Tonight
A really fun read. Held together in detail. Thought about it a lot after finishing it. My daughter read it and liked it also. Recommend.
Published 3 months ago by Trudy L. Elliott
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written, caused a few nightmares.
More than any of Holman's other pieces, this one is entrenched in literary history, especially folk tales. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Harald Anderson
3.0 out of 5 stars Not quite what I expected, but interesting and well-written...
Sheri Holman's Witches on the Road Tonight is an interesting and well-written book about the ties of family and heritage, and how the past affects our future. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Larry Hoffer
5.0 out of 5 stars Boo!
The first book I read by Ms. Holman, "The Dress Lodger," was set in plague-and-poverty riddled 1827 England. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Tom Bruce
2.0 out of 5 stars Sorry, Sheri
Considering The Dress Lodger is on my list of all-time best books, I was very excited to read this one. Unfortunately, I didn't like it. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Knerrd
3.0 out of 5 stars An involving story, beautifully written, that never pays off.
First, let me say I am a fan of Sheri Holman. I have met her, and she is a very nice woman. Her "Dress Lodger" is one of my all-time favorites. Read more
Published 19 months ago by 1gudriter
5.0 out of 5 stars What a find!
I can't really take credit for "finding" this book because a friend recommended it to me. This was one of those perfect opportunities to devour a book some one else already... Read more
Published 23 months ago by G.Price
5.0 out of 5 stars A magical read
This novel hits home on so many levels. It's beautifully written, with insights that made me smile and shiver at the same time. Read more
Published 24 months ago by R. S. Canon
4.0 out of 5 stars The house at Panther Gap
The oddly titled Witches on the Road Tonight opens with an accident. Tucker Hayes is working on a WPA project, collecting information for travelers in the Appalachian Mountains,... Read more
Published 24 months ago by Linda Pagliuco
2.0 out of 5 stars Umm, Ms Holman...
Witches on the Road Tonight is a bit of a puzzle. Well written, it begins with intriguing characters and the promise of a fascinating storyline. Read more
Published 24 months ago by quelledomage
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