Bloodline

Freshly unemployed in Kentucky, Winston Alcorn hauls his wife and two young sons deep into Tennessee, not in pursuit of a job, but of his rightful historic destiny.

Thus begins a generational saga of mendacious transformations: Winston first becomes the owner of the mill where he intentionally cut off his own hand; then "Wins-a-ton," a showboat auctioneer enshrouded by Confederate myth, endless bluster, and greedy megalomania that soon turns his bloodline into a noose. One son follows in his footsteps and the other battles his shambolic legacy in hopes of a decent life as their father continues to rampage-and their long-suffering mother lies in wait.

Meanwhile, Miss Becka, the aging mill owner deposed by Winston, buries her father and finds herself the last in her bloodline. She now works at the post office and tends bar, disgusted by the ongoing spectacle of her brutish antagonist-who's gradually parlayed his carnival-barker persona into that of a Dixie-first politician promising to make this tattered corner of the South great again. Miss Becka basks in the remains of her countryside's riverine beauty and plots for an altogether different future while counseling a young woman who becomes entangled with both of the Alcorn sons. And at long last, the women defiled by Winston begin clawing back what he stole away.

Mesmerizing and darkly comic, Bloodline is an exploration of masculinity run amuck, of femininity's strength and resolve, of the burdens of heritage and history. This novel is Lee Clay Johnson working at the height of his lyrical powers-a bravura performance.