First published 2025
Marcus has stayed away from his family for years, but now he's back in rural Ohio where poverty runs as deep as old grudges. His uncle needs help draining a pond on the family land, and Marcus agrees to the work. The property holds generations of his family's history, most of it better left buried. As the water level drops, Marcus starts to understand why certain stories were never told around the dinner table. The land reveals what his relatives tried to hide, and Marcus must face the truth about the people who raised him. He thought distance would protect him from his family's damage, but some wounds follow you no matter how far you run. In this place where his ancestors struggled and suffered, Marcus learns that escaping your past and understanding it are two very different things.
Genres: literary-fiction, mystery, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: dark, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: escaping-the-past, facing-the-truth
Setting: Ohio, Rural Ohio
Period: Contemporary
194 pages · Paperback · Third Estate Books