num_pages: 211
description: The Greenleaf Fires is a novel of renunciation and redemption, the story of a manâ€s struggle to cut himself away from his father only to be reunited with him through his son. The setting is rural Maine. For years Alcott Greenleafâ€s father had used the loss of a leg in an ice house accident as a weapon to extort obedience and servitude. As the story opens, Alcott makes one last desperate attempt to escape the psychic burden of his fatherâ€s disability. He paddles quietly down the Sheepscot River, beaching his canoe at regular intervals to set fire to ice houses on the banks, cleansing himself symbolically of what has kept him in thrall.But he is not relieved of his bonds. Others come to depend on him, and it is not until the outbreak of another fire that Greenleaf can finally see that accepting oneâ€s ties to others is part of oneâ€s humanity.The singular flavor of speech, the harshness of life in a demanding landscape, the landscape itself, all become vividly alive to contribute to the authenticity of this powerful story. John Gould has written a novel of rare quality and spirit.
language: English
title: The Greenleaf Fires
titlecomplete: The Greenleaf Fires
ratings_count: 4
publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons