The Cove: A Novel

"Set during World War One, The Cove is a novel that speaks intimately to today's politics. Beautifully written, tough, raw, uncompromising, entirely new. Ron Rash is a writer's writer who writes for others."
--Colum McCann
"Ron Rash is a writer of both the darkly beautiful and the sadly true; The Cove solidifies his reputation as one of our very finest novelists."
--Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls
Here is a magnificent tale that captures the wondrous beauty of nature and love--and the darkness of superstition and fear--from one of America's most exciting contemporary novelists. With The Cove, Ron Rash, author of the acclaimed New York Times bestseller Serena, returns to the Appalachian milieu he has previously so memorably evoked. A two-time O. Henry Prize winner for his short fiction--and recipient of the 2010 Frank O'Connor International Story Award and the 2010 SIBA Book Award for his story collection Burning Bright--Rash can expect more honors for The Cove, a novel that brilliantly explores often dangerous notions of patriotism during wartime. This story of a love affair doomed in the rising turmoil of WWI resonates powerfully in today's world.
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews

That was bleak.
I can deal with bleak when it is well written (check), descriptive (check), and emotionally stirring (no check). It was the absence of that last one that ruined this for me.
This was a very slow moving book with very little "action," which was a-ok by me. It passed like a lazy summer day. You know the image of someone slowly trailing their finger through the water without a care in the world? THAT is how it felt to me. When that climax happened, it was like BAM! So I should have felt something, right? I didn't. Nothing. Not a bit. No anger. No sniffles. No gasps. No empathy. No sympathy. I'm a pretty emotional gal, so this was surprising.
3 "Eh...I've Read Worse but Also Better" Stars
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.