Ashes to Ashes

Small-town Minnesota teenager Basil “The Brute” Thorson—a shy, reluctant wrestling star and “special” tracked into special education classes—vows to make his family whole again in the wake of multiple tragedies, during a year in which his community is roiled by strange religious and mythological events. Another perceptive and empathetic novel from the author of Indie Next and All Iowa Reads selection Little Wolves, blending myth, history, and religion with a nuanced look at contemporary rural life, perfect for fans of Marilynne Robinson, Richard Russo, and Paul Harding. In the prairie town of Andwhen, Minnesota, members of a small congregation don’t know if they’ve been blessed or cursed when the ashes administered during an Ash Wednesday service won’t wash off. This event leads Basil, a “gentle giant” of a teen, to make a secret vow to save his family through prayer and fasting. His family is in a difficult place, stricken by a recent farming accident and his mother’s decade-long confinement to a state mental hospital. Basil keeps his struggles secret from his two friends, Lukas and Morgan (they self-identify as “a gay, a goth, and a giant”). When the trio discovers what may be the centuries-old remains of a Viking explorer in a local meadow, the find brings its own complications, as folk history clashes with the agendas of online racists. Meanwhile, Basil’s unrelenting commitment to fasting unravels his sense of reality, putting himself and his family in danger. Ashes to Ashes moves between characters and perspectives, exploring the stories we tell about family, community, and our larger histories, blending elements of Norse saga with a fine-grained examination of rural Midwestern life at the start of the pandemic. A feat of narrative daring and luminous empathy, this is Thomas Maltman at his most inventive and compassionate.