Neverhome

July 28, 2014
Following Kind One, Hunt returns to the 19th century to transform a footnote in history—the women who fought disguised as men in the Civil War—into a haunting meditation on the complexity of human character, the power of secrets, and the contradictions of the American experience. Saying that “he was made out of wool and I was made out of wire,” Constance Thompson leaves her husband Bartholomew to work their Indiana farm and enlists in the Union Army as Ash Thompson. Her strength, fortitude, and marksmanship serve her disguise well, and soldiering seems to offer some of the change she has craved. But the carnage inevitably takes its toll. Captured by bounty hunters, Constance must use both cunning and violence to escape. After an injury separates her from her unit, the nurse with whom she’s sheltered betrays her to the military authorities, and she is put in a madhouse. Though she finds her way back home, the war’s brutality has changed both her and the farm so much that familiar grounds offers no peace, only pain. Hunt’s characterization of Constance transcends simplistic distinctions between male and female, good and bad. The language of her narration is triumphant as well: sometimes blunt, sometimes visionary, and always fascinating.

Laird Hunt's lyrical prose delivers the story of Constance "Ash" Thompson, a woman who takes her husband's place and fights in the Civil War. Narrator Mary Stuart Masterson offers a finely crafted portrait. She makes it clear that where Ash is intrepid, Bartholomew, her husband, is fearful. She makes it seem natural that Ash should go to war, leaving Bartholomew to tend the farm. Disguised as a man, Ash carries off the masquerade, enduring atrocities and horrors until she's betrayed. Masterson's performance grows even more intense when, because it is believed that no sane woman would cross-dress, Ash is institutionalized, humiliated, and tortured. Hunt's impeccable research provides insight into society's historically restrictive gender attitudes, and Masterson's performance keeps the energy high and the characters believable. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine