by Annie Proulx
First published 1993
Loyal Blood stands over his dead lover, knowing his life on the family farm has ended forever. The eldest son of New England farmers, he must now abandon everything as the Blood family faces the harsh realities of the twentieth century. While Loyal begins a solitary journey across America, his relatives back home watch their agricultural way of life crumble around them. Each family member battles isolation and economic pressure in their own way. Loyal wanders from place to place, seeking connection but finding only temporary refuge. His crime has condemned him to perpetual movement, always searching for belonging he can never claim. The Bloods represent countless rural families whose traditional existence cannot survive modern America's demands. Their story captures the loneliness that haunts those caught between an vanishing past and an uncertain future.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, 20th-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: America, New England
Period: 20th Century
340 pages · Paperback · Flamingo