Avalon, Rise

Description:

From the acclaimed author of Stay and Fight comes an uproarious, unabashed novel of an Appalachian town, the diverse locals who make it home, an influx of white nationalists trying to take over, and the ways in which the battle brings out our light.

Ditched on the side of the road, two friends shelter for the night in a barn. When they wake, one comes face-to-face with his destiny--an antique letterpress, the Vandercook No. 4.

Woody and Leroi have been friends their whole lives. But as Leroi falls in with the collective that cooks every Sunday in the park, learning about traveler symbols and how to slice a cucumber, Woody starts to snort the pills he's been selling. He makes his art: beautiful letterpress signs for protests, and business cards commissioned by a woman he knows as Stasia but whom others know to be the leader of a white nationalist movement. Stasia bought the barn with the Vandercook in it; she says Woody can use it anytime. What does she want in return?

Woody and Leroi are just two residents of this Appalachian town. Their lives intersect, often at the library, with a cast of delightfully eccentric individuals. Eloise, the town librarian and lifelong activist. The punks at Food Not Bombs. Sharon, a wry social worker. Emma, a mom trying really hard not to take out her anger on her kids. Amber, the health goddess who runs the Discipline Cafe. Sylvester, an unhoused man with a long history in town. Matt Mistelthwaite, a World War II veteran with his own connections to the Vandercook. When Stasia insists on hosting a European Heritage Rug Braiding workshop at the library, everyone's lives will be upended.

In Avalon, Rise, an ensemble novel genuinely rooted in the collective, Madeline ffitch asks big questions and doesn't look away from the answers.

Brief description: Madeline ffitch is the author of the novel Stay and Fight, a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Award, and a Lambda Literary Prize, as well as the story collection Valparaiso, Round the Horn. She cofounded the punk theater company Missoula Oblongata and was part of the rural direct action collective Appalachia Resist, which took as its commitments environmental and racial justice. Her writing has appeared in Harper's Magazine, The Paris Review, Tin House, Granta, n+1, and elsewhere. She is the recipient of a Creative Capital State of the Art Prize and two O. Henry Prizes and was included in the 2024 Best American Short Stories anthology. She lives with her children in the hills of Appalachian Ohio.

Review Quotes:

"The book is not interested in easy characterizations, though it never asks readers to sympathize with those espousing hate. Instead, ffitch explores why people who wish to do good are so flawed on both a personal and a collective level . . . A blistering, multifaceted novel about collective action, being in community, and fighting for what's right."
--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"A biting yet stirring story . . . Lovable characters abound--fascists not included--in this unflinching yet warm-hearted portrait of ordinary folks coming together to battle white supremacy in their own community. As ffitch movingly shows, people discover their love for each other once they're forced to fight. It's a triumph."
--Publisher's Weekly (starred review)

"Avalon, Rise is a powerful and beautifully written ode to a region that will resonate with readers far and wide; book groups should take note."
--Susan Maguire, Booklist (starred review)

"With intimacy and intricacy, Madeline ffitch brings together the most unlikely individuals and shows they are the most likely fighting force. Avalon, Rise is so realistic that it is familiar, but still a world unto itself. This could be the not so distant past. It could be the near future. It's definitely now."
--Mic Crenshaw, MC, poet, producer, and cultural activist

"Madeline ffitch writes like no one else, and Avalon, Rise is a book like no other. It's a
refreshingly honest look at antifascism and small-town life, and I've been talking about this book to everyone I meet ever since I finished it."
--Margaret Killjoy, author of The Sapling Cage

"This is such a freaking good book--smart, tender, and laugh-out-loud funny. It's a page-turner about people trying to save each other from the claws of white nationalism. Unlike the glib clickbait of today's headlines, Avalon, Rise is a view of anti-fascist resistance from the inside, where things are messy and difficult and beautiful and real. ffitch has written a bracing antidote to cynicism and despair."
--Leni Zumas, author of Wolf Bells

"Anyone who has ever been involved in anti-racist or anti-fascist organizing will find familiar faces in Avalon, Rise, from Food Not Bombs volunteers to Antifa militants. Set in an Appalachian town, the story revolves around a printing press and a disparate group of people who come together to take action against a white supremacist group organizing in their community. Witty and to the point, Avalon, Rise reads like an adventure story filled with political consciousness."
--Gord Hill, author of The Antifa Comic Book