The good folks at Birch Brook Press have agreed to sponsor a series of book giveaways for OWC. Poetry being my thing, I requested a few poetry titles and was granted a beautiful stack of letterpress edition poetry books, which I will review and give away in the next few weeks. As a bonus, they also sent a novel by Peter Skinner, The Bells of Moses Henry, which I have the pleasure of reviewing for you today.
The Bells of Moses Henry is a modern day naturalist’s tale that is a study of the people and landscape of The Old Dominion State (Virginia) in the 1950s. As I type the date I have to scan through the novel, because it is so timeless it is difficult to pin down a date. Skinner does not flinch from exploring racism, prostitution and spiritualism/magic as he carries us through the fertile landscape of Virginia, the island Tangier and the swamps of the Outer Banks of North Carolina with a Hobo named Stick and a teenage fugitive named Willie Graves.
The story of Willie Graves begins in a Charlottesville whorehouse where his mother works and manages business. Upon questioning his mother about what she did for money and finding out his momma was a whore, Willie’s crisis begins. He is seen running from a fire where his abusive father is later found burned to death. On the run, in the forest he encounters a bear and then falls into a river and is saved from drowning by recently bereaved widower, Stick Watson. After saving the boy, Stick drops him with a local witch (Sister Mo), who brings Willie back from the shadow of death.
Among Willie’s myriad of tutors and parental figures prior to his flight from justice is a 100 year old African American man named Moses Henry who rings the bells at the University of Virginia, having kept time and celebrated weddings and funerals this way for over fifty years. Moses can tell the future by the shapes of the clouds, and has a special friendship with Willie’s mother, Sadie Graves.
“Even for a man of God, he understood that Charlottesville loved its whorehouse as much as it loved its churches and that you couldn’t have one without the other.”
Moses Henry keeps the pace of the story, ringing the bells, bells, bells, bells throughout Willie’s journey.
Willie follows stick to Fredericksburg to an apple orchard where Stick has come to harvest apples. The farmer agrees to hire Willie as well, and from here Stick unwillingly plays the role of father-figure, guiding Willie from danger and keeping him from the law.
Back home, Willie’s drug addicted mother is failing, turning more and more to her addiction to drown her fears and sorrow. Moses Henry continues to visit her to inquire about the boy.
Three years go by, with several close-calls and they have retreated to a swamp in the outer banks of North Carolina when Willie learns that Moses Henry has passed away at the age of 102. He decides to risk being caught and finally comes home to pay his respects. Here, trauma unfolds that leads Willie back to his home.
This story is deeply poetic and reminiscent of some of the great classics. Namely Poe’s The Bells, and Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. The journey Skinner takes us on brings us in contact with the natural world and how we fit into it. The clouds, insect behavior, the way the moss is growing on trees all say something about where we fit in and what we can expect. This novel is a one of a kind experience.
If you would like to get your hands on a free copy of Peter Skinner’s novel, be the first person to leave a comment with the date Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello was built in the comment section. Good luck!
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