The Caretaker is a quiet Southern Gothic that reads like a fable. Set in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, during the Korean War, it’s a story about three young people whose lives are irrevocably altered in the name of parental love.

Jacob Hampton was once Blowing Rock’s golden boy, a beloved son set to inherit the business his parents built. But then he meets Naomi, a teenager in town to work as a seasonal maid, and falls in love. Jacob and Naomi, in outright rebellion against his parents, decide to elope, causing Jacob to be disinherited. When Naomi becomes pregnant and Jacob is conscripted into service and sent overseas, Jacob asks his oldest friend, Blackburn Gant, to watch over Naomi while he’s gone. Blackburn, his face permanently scarred from a childhood bout with polio, is the caretaker of the local cemetery and an outcast himself, so he can relate to how ostracized Naomi feels. But then tragedy strikes, and the lives of Jacob, Naomi, and Blackburn are forever changed.

The Caretaker is a gentle story, simply told, emotional without being overly sentimental. Every word feels deliberate. While there is tension in the narrative, it feels meditative rather than propulsive. It’s a book about the complex nature of parental love, exploring the ways that love can morph into a selfish, desperate desire for control when trauma and loss are involved. It’s also about small-town Appalachian life, war, loyalty, male friendship, poverty, and privilege. Ron Rash’s writing is spare and nostalgic, painting an intimate portrait of his characters with a broad brush – revealing the cores of who they are with only a few sentences, or a couple lines of dialogue. This was one of those books that I really enjoyed inhabiting; even in the plot’s most troubling moments, there were glimpses of beauty in the ways the characters connected with and treated each other. And the ending was luminous and perfect.

Recommended for readers of historical fiction and Americana, and for those who just appreciate a simple, lovely, well-told story.

I’ve had Ron Rash books on my iPad for years and haven’t found the time to read them. I think I’ve been missing out, because I really enjoyed his latest!

I love a story in which the characters make decisions that have the reader asking, “How on Earth is this going to end? How are they getting out of THAT decision? What would I do if someone treated me that way?” That tension really picks up in the latter part of this slim book, but even the beginning is so well done with the characterization. I loved Blackburn. I loved the love story.

I’m not sure if all of Rash’s books are economical with language – nothing showy or wowy, just solid and engaging - or if this book, because of its slim nature, is different? But either way, I cared for the characters and really appreciated the nature descriptions as well.

This is a story of the dangers of love and loss and lies.

Lovely novel about personal integrity and the power of love by one of my favorite authors. I thought it was an unusually hopeful take for Rash, who tends to write bleaker stories. I’d call this “Ron Rash-lite.”

Very engrossing and hard to put down. As with any Ron Rash book, I highly recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for an ARC of this novel.

A beautiful outing from Appalachia’s best fiction writer. This is Rash at his best proving he can always do something new with each book he puts out. He never misses and we are lucky to have him.

Ron Rash sure can write! While I appreciated the balance of page-turning plot and in-depth character analysis, I struggled to get through the (very brief) war sections and the word choices Rash made in describing the young Vietnamese soldiers. While perhaps appropriate for the novel, this was a barrier to my enjoyment of the book as a whole.

North Carolina ~ family ~ Korean War ~ honor ~ cemetery ~ polio ~ friendship ~ parental problems ~ societal pressures ~ love

Beautiful writing, well-researched characters, and wonderfully detailed. I highly recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy. All opinions are mine.

Jacob, recently conscripted into the Korean War, has to leave his young, pregnant wife, Naomi, in the care of his best friend and cemetery caretaker, Blackburn. Jacob’s family believe Naomi is an unsuitable wife for their beloved son and so turn the entire town against her. Blackburn becomes her only source of support in the small North Caroling town. There are many moving plot pieces of this novel and only the reader see the entire story. The feeling of dread and anticipation as all the characters find out the reveals are what propels this plot forward. Unfortunately, the ending feels more rushed than it could be. That is what keeps this book from earning five stars from me. Otherwise, this book is beautifully written with an intricate plot and compelling characters. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

Can't believe I forgot to come back and review this book! Read this before it came out and then got to go to a Ron Rash event the weekend it came out - bought a hardback and had it signed that very weekend. I am ALWAYS a fan of Ron Rash and will purchase anything he writes. He's an amazing author of southern literature and his writing is beautiful.

Blackburn Gant is a man who keeps his promise. It seems as if hardly anyone kept promises to him throughout his life, but he has wrapped himself around the commitments he makes as a standard and measure of his purpose. Prior to leaving for his tour of duty in Korea, his best friend Jacob Hampton asked Blackburn to watch over his new wife, Naomi, and the affirming promise went deep. She definitely needed protection as she was from the other side of the tracks, and Jacob was from people who had fought hard against their marriage. In fact, Jacob and Naomi had eloped to make it so. Jacob trusted Blackburn - a man who'd fought many battles (not of his own making) and had found a way through.

From there an abundance of supporting characters who change the lives of these three people in ways a reader can barely believe, but who will continue reading on because they know the most terrible things done to people (and sympathetic characters) are most often done by the very ones who are closest to them.

Don't believe everything you are told, even from the ones who love you most. Questions that niggle in the back of your head need to be investigated. Never forget that!

The adrenaline on this read kicks in pretty hard about 75% in, so plan on reading in place once you get there! This is definitely one of my top 10 of 2023!

*A sincere thank you to Ron Rash, Doubleday Books, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and independently review.* #TheCaretaker #NetGalley

Reading this book felt like watching a classic movie. Lovely from beginning to end with a strong sense of place and time.

A lovely story on family and what we owe each other, with a great setting and characters and evocative writing

Historical Novels Review, November 2023:

In a small 1950s North Carolina town, gossip, secrets, and judgment affect the lives of its residents. Three characters stand out and rise above: Blackburn, Jacob, and Naomi.

Blackburn Gant is the caretaker of Blowing Rock’s cemetery. Given the responsibility at the age of sixteen, he is always respectful and reverential, and takes his responsibility for caring for the dead seriously. Jacob Hampton is Blackburn’s best friend and the only son of a prominent family in town. He falls in love with Naomi, a poor maid working at the hotel. When Jacob elopes with Naomi, his overprotective, controlling parents are outraged and move to disinherit him. As Jacob leaves to fight in Korea, he asks his parents to watch over a pregnant Naomi, but they refuse. Blackburn happily accepts that responsibility. When Jacob is injured in Korea, thoughts of returning home to his wife and baby sustain him.

It is Blackburn, disfigured from childhood polio, and Naomi, a poor and uneducated outsider, who are the victims of the town’s cruelty. Even though Jacob is their golden boy who deserves a marriage of his social class, he too falls victim. In a stunning turn, Jacob’s parents manipulate the words of a telegram from Korea to serve their own ends; and the chain of lies that results is devastating. Different types of love shape the characters – parental love, overbearing and selfish; unselfish brotherly love; and romantic love. The friendship between Blackburn and Jacob is tested when Blackburn must set aside his own desire for the sake of honor and friendship, showing the strength of his selfless character. Rash is incomparable in his expressive and evocative writing, and his ability to breathe life into these unforgettable characters. The tension of how the evil wrought by Jacob’s parents can be made right propels this emotional, sensitive, thought-provoking love story.

Janice Ottersberg

The Caretaker was a tender and moving novel about friendship. It is set during the Korean War in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Two outcasts learn how to rely on each other when no one in the community seems to care about them.

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

Ron Rash is a brilliant writer, but his books leave me drained. I remember being a bit shell-shocked after finishing Serena, but that couldn’t deter me from reading his new novel, The Caretaker.

Set in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, during the Korean War, the caretaker at the center of the novel is Blackburn, a young man disfigured by polio, who was given the position of caretaker at the local cemetery. He performs his work with diligence and grace. And he cares for more than just the cemetery.

Blackburn’s only friend is Jacob Hampton, the son of the well-to-do owners of the town store. Jacob is one of the few people able to look past Blackburn’s physical appearance. When Jacob is drafted, he leaves his pregnant wife, Naomi, in Blackburn’s care. This is necessary because Jacob’s parents disowned him when he married Naomi. She came from a poor farming family, was poorly educated, and they married far too young. Jacob’s parents had picked out a more respectable young woman for him and were furious when he and Naomi eloped.

When an ugly incident in town drives Naomi out of Blowing Rock, back to her father’s farm, Blackburn isn’t able to keep as close a watch on her.

Things go even farther downhill when Jacob is injured in Korea. Jacob’s parents decide to turn his injury to their advantage in order to drive the young couple apart – forever.

This novel is gorgeously written and gripping. Once again, I turned pages with a knot in my stomach, appalled at the self-centered evil of some people and the cowardly self-preservation of others. At times, even the good guys were so weak that I wanted to scream. Right and wrong became almost irrelevant. Yet through it all, Blackburn’s strength and steady moral compass held fast. Until his temptation comes. What is right and what is wrong? I don’t even know anymore. I have to trust that the caretaker knows.

Highly recommended.

I have always loved Ron Rash's novels and The Caretaker did not disappoint. A rich southern family, a returning war vet, a son who marries "beneath" him and Blackburn Gant who may be one of my afavorite characters of all time. a great novel with a Hamlet undertones, Rash looks at what we will do to "save" our family and how some actions can cause a rift of unimaginable depths.

Wonderful new Southern novel! Readers will love Jacob and his close friend, the caretaker, and will probably send some hate toward Jacob's parents for their selfish actions. Small town life can be hard but all actions have consequences, even the best meaning of those.

Rash fills in each character's backstory and psychological motivations so that readers, too, understand why they act this way. In the Hamptons' case, the early loss of two daughters made Jacob their precious only child. They want what they think is best for him – taking over the store and marrying Veronica Weaver of the local hardware dynasty – and see his new postwar life as a second chance to engineer that. As the title indicates, this drama plays out under the watchful eyes of Blackburn, who became Jacob's "blood brother" when they were boys and has been his best friend ever since. There is a peaceful, relaxed pace to the narrative as it drifts back in time to show Jacob and Naomi's courtship and short months of marriage in their own cottage. However, Rash also creates underlying suspense as to whether the Hamptons' lies will be exposed. (Full review at BookBrowse.)

Ron Rash has again written an eye opening piece of Southern literature. A coming of age novel. Struggles for working families, country and the consequences for controlling others and lies told.

No one writes about small town Appalachia like Ron Rash does. The Caretaker is a story of scorn, deception, pain, and family loss. Blackburn, the Caretaker in the book, is a character I can't stop thinking about. I still think Serena is Rash's masterpiece, but The Caretaker is a close second.

Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for this ARC.

Ron Rash’s latest work of fiction, The Caretaker, is a character-driven tale of love and loss. The story follows Jacob, his wife Naomi, and his best friend Blackburn (the titular caretaker). Jacob has been conscripted into the army during the Korean War, leaving behind a pregnant Naomi, who is shunned by his parents. Jacob asks his best friend Blackburn to take care of her while he’s gone.

Blackburn does his best for Naomi, to protect her from Jacob’s parents, and to shield her from the judgmental community. But after an accident, she returns to her father’s house in another state. Soon Jacob’s parents see an opportunity to be rid of her—and get their son back. Blackburn proves key in the aftermath, driven both by his desire to create a happy life for himself and by his loyalty to his friends.

This book has beautiful description, complex characters, and an intriguing plot. I was swept up in the world of 1951 Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Rash immerses the reader in the beauty of a cemetery, the pain of loving and losing, and the redemptive power of love.

I absolutely loved this book and highly recommend it!