First published 2017
Bo Konar works the soil of his family's Pennsylvania farm in the Endless Mountains, carrying the weight of three generations of war. His grandfather Jozef Vinich survived World War I trenches as an Austro-Hungarian soldier before building a new life in America. His father Bexhet fought in World War II but returned home disgraced after desertion, only to die in a hunting accident. Now in 1972, Bo's younger brother Sam has been reported missing in action in Vietnam. Bo remains on the land with his mother Hannah, tending the farm through the seasons from Easter to Christmas Eve. He grieves the men his family has lost while holding onto hope that Sam might return. The quiet rhythms of planting and harvest anchor Bo as he navigates between old European traditions and American ways, between memory and expectation, between loss and the possibility of reunion.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, grief
Setting: Pennsylvania, Endless Mountains, America, Vietnam
Period: 1972, World War I, World War II, Vietnam War
272 pages · Hardcover · Scribner
Content warnings: death, war