“A grave for two”. By Ron Rash. Translated from the American by Isabelle Reinharez. Gallimard. 300 pages. €20.
In Blowing Rock, North Carolina, the sawmill and grocery store, combined with generous acres, ensured the prosperity of the Hampton family. The only surviving child after two sisters who were cut off at a young age, Jacob is destined to succeed as soon as he marries the one who has been promised to him since high school. However, the destiny his parents dream of is reversed when Jacob secretly marries Naomi, his fresh, simple, barely literate lover. As a child, he had already disappointed Cora, his mother, who tolerated his fraternal friendship with Blackburn Gant, a kid weakened by polio, who became the gravedigger of Blowing Rock. But this affront to maternal authority carries little weight compared to the misalliance established with Naomi, a penniless woman from Tennessee. Barely married, immediately disinherited, mobilized Jacob leaves for the Korean War, the gripping opening chapter of which describes hell. He will emerge injured and traumatized, unaware that in his absence, a devious plot has been hatched in the country.
The story of revenge
At the darkest of a revenge story that keeps the reader on alert, Ron Rash distills suspended moments. The movement of a rocking chair suddenly deserted on the porch of a house or in the night, the comminatory order coming from the imperious signal of a light bulb, display as much power as the scenes of confrontation. Among the tormented beings with chiseled characters, another presence, not the least important, stands out. That of nature.
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Like a seal placed on the work of Ron Rash, the story of Jacob and the unforgettable Blackburn bears the imprint of the landscapes of North Carolina. As a great admirer of Jean Giono (whom he cites in the incipit), the novelist and poet from Appalachia has this sensual reading of a familiar territory so present in each of his books. The coppery smells of summer, the wisps of mist, the fleeting presence of ghosts betrayed by imperceptible signs, contribute as much to the celebration of the beauties of the Blue Ridge Mountains as to the testimonies of the past.
In the fullness of his talent, the author of “Serena”, “Un pied au paradis”, “Le chant de la Tamassee” (we would like to salute all his books), still captivates, so much of the finesse of his portraits is born from human characters, so human, including their failings. To the most detestable, starting with the merciless Cora blinded by her heritage, he grants a chance of redemption. “A day will come when we will be forgiven,” says Jacob’s mother, convinced that life’s debts to her deserve reparation.
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She will not necessarily be the beneficiary of one of these moments of grace that the Appalachian writer preserves in the darkest of a novel where revenge creeps into the graves. To find out, you just have to let yourself be guided by the power of Ron Rash, subtle demiurge and impeccable stylist.
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