SALLOWSFIELD

by Cliff Hudder

Literary Fiction / Humor / Saga / Texas / Yorkshire

Publisher: Texas Review Press

Pages: 390

Publication Date: October 21, 2024

SYNOPSIS

Wyatt W. Sallow, MBA—poet, business ethics professor, and coach of the 8th ranked collegiate chess team in East Texas—travels to the heart of northern England to trace his family origins in mundane Sallowsfield, only to find his supposed ancestry a mirage. He does have a real past, however: one that stalks him across the green hillsides in echoes of his catastrophic marriage, the lingering shadow of a lost child, and—there, in person, inexplicably emerging from the town’s faux-Victorian train station—“X,” the enigmatic object of his unrequited passion and a figure as perplexing as an algebraic variable.

On his eight-day tour/pilgrimage/mock epic journey, Wyatt pursues the specter of his lost love and crosses paths with the citizens of this down-at-its-heels market town as they struggle to grasp the all-consuming obsessions, ghosts, and X-factors that confound their days.

Thought-provoking yet dryly humorous, Sallowsfield weaves diverse elements into a story both light-hearted and philosophical, exploring along the way universal human touchstones of obsession, ruined love, and the inexplicable mysteries that shape our lives.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cliff Hudder received an MFA in fiction writing from the University of Houston in 1995 and a PhD in American Literature from Texas A&M in 2017. He has been an archaeological laborer, a film and video editor, photographer, air compressor mechanic, electrical lineman, and educator. His fiction has appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review, The Kenyon Review, The Missouri Review and other journals and his work has received the Barthelme and Michener Awards, the Peden Prize, and the Short Story Award from the Texas Institute of Letters. His novella, Splinterville, won the 2007 Texas Review Fiction Award, and his novel, Pretty Enough for You, was named a Top Ten Texas Favorite by Lone Star Literary Life in 2015. In 2017 Cliff was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters.

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REVIEW

A departure from my usual choice in fiction, Sallowsfield turned out to be an utterly absorbing read. With its non-linear timeline, numerous locations, multitude of characters, and multiple points of view, this book demanded my attention like no other I’ve read recently. It was hilarious in parts, affecting in others, engaging all throughout.

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I didn’t know what to make of Wyatt Sallow at the start. He was socially awkward, physically clumsy, and appeared quite hapless. But as his story unfolded, I found him sympathetic in the end. He was unintentionally funny, especially in his interactions with his taxi driver Hussein. The scenes with his son Wyn showed his loving heart. And there were flashes of intellect and competence particularly displayed in the chess game with the Professor. What eventually reached me was his earnest search for a reason to claim the town with his name as his very own.

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I have the utmost admiration for the author in managing to flesh out the countless characters in this book by providing them with distinctly fascinating back stories. Also, in accomplishing such a complicated timeline that meandered all over the place only to come full circle in a logical way. He brought Sallowsfield to life. So much so that I searched online if it’s a place that actually exists in England. To have the talent required to accomplish those things deserves kudos.

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The most significant cavil I had was in the overuse of infidelity in the story and the majority of those committing such transgression being women. This is a personal bias I can’t overlook despite my overall enjoyment of the book.

I highly recommend dedicating several days to properly relish this book.