Editorial Content for Ashland

Having lived in Massachusetts for the better part of two decades and married a man who grew up in New Hampshire, I'm well aware of the complicated identities of those who hail from the Granite State. For much of the rest of the country, New Hampshire is easy to forget about outside of presidential primary years. In New England, the state is often the butt of jokes about its backwardness and lack of culture or (much) coastline.

In his debut novel, ASHLAND, Dan Simon gives this small but proud state the attention it deserves through the eyes of several of its residents.

"With its deliberate thoughtfulness and validation of the importance of noticing beauty, and using words or hands to create things that will endure, ASHLAND is one of those novels that inspires both reflection and empathy."

As the title suggests, the characters all live in the small town of Ashland, which is situated near Portsmouth in the center of the state. It is within range of vacation destinations like the Lakes Region and the White Mountains, so close that for local students, "you can go to your morning class and still get on one of the forty-eight 4,000-footers before lunch and be back in your dorm in time for dinner."

However, most Ashland residents aren't taking advantage of those recreational opportunities. They're just struggling to figure out how to survive. Once a thriving mill town, Ashland (like many similar communities) has struggled both economically and spiritually following the decline of manufacturing in the United States. Young men are enlisting to fight in the Vietnam War largely out of desperation or despair. They are uncertain where else to go or how to make a living at home.

Much of the novel takes place in these post–Vietnam years. Its central character --- an aspiring writer named Carolyn, who was born in 1972 --- relates the events of her childhood and youth. She is raised by her mother, who got pregnant as a teenager, and is close with her mother's younger sister, who had her first child when she was just 14. In addition to these members of Carolyn's family, readers come to know their older neighbors, Gordon and Edith, retirees and artists who met while at a tuberculosis sanitorium, as well as various men who move in and out of their lives.

Ashland feels, in that small-town way, somewhat timeless. Yet part of what Simon explores repeatedly is the contrast between that timeless, unchanging nature and a pace of change so fast that people can't make sense of it, let alone adjust to it. The tension between things that last and things that are all too fleeting is one that Simon returns to again and again. Although some of the themes can feel almost repetitious at times, it's helpful to see them through different characters' lenses. In addition, the writing is so purposeful and beautiful that these ruminations become almost meditative as readers encounter them across various viewpoints and through the several decades of the lives of these characters and their town.

With its deliberate thoughtfulness and validation of the importance of noticing beauty, and using words or hands to create things that will endure, ASHLAND is one of those novels that inspires both reflection and empathy.