A deeply moving family story unfolding in richly evocative prose during the final decades of the American century, ASHLAND is a book of metamorphoses --- of the dance between permanence and transformation.

The story takes place in Ashland, New Hampshire, a former mill town in the lakes region, and is told in six voices. Among them are Carolyn, a 20-year-old writer at a turning point in her life; Gordon, who arrives in Ashland in the twilight of his years; Andy, a local boy; Geoff, Carolyn's writing teacher at Plymouth State; and Edith, Gordon's wife, who is inadvertently Carolyn's spiritual guide and friend. Then there is Jennie, Carolyn's aunt, who seems to offer her a model for how to live. But things aren't always what they seem, and Carolyn must discover her own rules and make her own way.

ASHLAND is a debut novel of great intensity, beautifully told in the voices of many vivid characters and, through them, in the voice of Ashland itself.