Ashland

 

Ashland by Dan Simon
2/17/26; 208 pages
Europa Editions 

Ashland by Dan Simon is a highly recommended literary family drama following the intimate, accepting bonds built between mothers, sisters, and cousins, as well as the story of the small town of Ashland, New Hampshire.

Carolyn, born to an unwed teenager, grows up along side her mother Ellie, her aunt Jennie, who also had children as a teenager, and her cousins in the small declining town of Asland. The inclusive family love and support each other always and through everything over the years. Carolyn, who loves writing, audits writing classes at the local university taught by writing instructor, Geoff. Also told is the story of other characters, including Edith and Gordon, a couple who meet in a 1920s tuberculosis sanatorium. All the stories together tell not only her family's history but also the history of Ashland.

This beautifully written, poetic literary novel tells the desperate story of quiet lives, or perhaps demonstrates Thoreau's "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Carolyn herself finds contentment and peace in the present even while others wistfully recall the past and she writes about her experiences and the people she knows. The novel develops both the individual characters and the setting/place of Ashland.

The narrative unfolds in chapters through several first-person narrators who tell their own stories through their own thoughts. It also jumps around switching narrators and time periods throughout. This can feel a little disconcerting as if it holds the reader at arms length keeping a distance between them and the characters. It does cover a wide variety of experiences they endure over times. The ending ties all the stories together beautifully.

Ashland will be best appreciated by those who enjoy literary fiction told through multiple narrators. Thanks to Europa Editions for providing me with an advance reader's copy. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.