Ashes to Ashes - by Thomas Maltman (Paperback)

About the Book

"In the prairie town of Andwhen, Minnesota, members of a small congregation don't know if they've been blessed or cursed when the ashes administered during an Ash Wednesday service won't wash off. This event leads Basil, a "gentle giant" of a teen, to make a secret vow to save his family through prayer and fasting. His family is in a difficult place, stricken by a recent farming accident and his mother's decade-long confinement to a state mental hospital. Basil keeps his struggles secret from his two friends, Lukas and Morgan (they self-identify as "a gay, a goth, and a giant"). When the trio discovers what may be the centuries-old remains of a Viking explorer in a local meadow, the find brings its own complications, as folk history clashes with the agendas of online racists. Meanwhile, Basil's unrelenting commitment to fasting unravels his sense of reality, putting himself and his family in danger. Ashes to Ashes moves between characters and perspectives, exploring the stories we tell about family, community, and our larger histories, blending elements of Norse saga with a fine-grained examination of rural Midwestern life at the start of the pandemic. A feat of narrative daring and luminous empathy, this is Thomas Maltman at his most inventive and compassionate"--

Book Synopsis

Small-town Minnesota teenager Basil "The Brute" Thorson--a shy, reluctant wrestling star and "special" tracked into special education classes--vows to make his family whole again in the wake of multiple tragedies, during a year in which his community is roiled by strange religious and mythological events.

Another perceptive and empathetic novel from the author of Indie Next and All Iowa Reads selection Little Wolves, blending myth, history, and religion with a nuanced look at contemporary rural life, perfect for fans of Marilynne Robinson, Richard Russo, and Paul Harding.

When the ashes from an Ash Wednesday service in the prairie town of Andwhen, Minnesota, refuse to wash off, members of a small congregation are left wondering whether they've been blessed or cursed. For sixteen-year-old Basil--a shy wrestling star reeling from a farming accident and his mother's institutionalization--the ashes become a sign. He embarks on a secret ritual of fasting and prayer, seeking meaning in his unraveling world.

Meanwhile, Basil and his friends come upon what may be the centuries-old remains of a Viking explorer in a local meadow, a find that brings its own complications, as folk history clashes with the agendas of online racists. As Basil's relentless fasting warps his grip on reality, the danger he poses to himself and his family escalates.

Blending the fragments of a Norse saga with a finely observed portrait of rural Midwestern life at the start of the pandemic, Thomas Maltman delivers a novel of narrative daring and profound empathy--his most inventive and compassionate work yet.

Review Quotes

Praise for Ashes to Ashes

Finalist for the Minnesota Book Award for Best Novel

"Thomas Maltman blends contemporary teen life with a Norse saga in this inventive novel, one of the best of this literary season."
--St. Paul Pioneer Press

"Thomas Maltman's poignant Ashes to Ashes is far and away the best novel I've read this year. Compassionate and lyrically written, it's a story about mysteries, those of the past and the present, as well as the eternal mysteries of the human heart. I fell in love with this book from the very first page. I guarantee you will too."
--William Kent Krueger, author of This Tender Land

"Ashes to Ashes unfolds in a rural small town, but there is nothing insular or quaint in this story of outsiders--a grieving daughter, a misunderstood son, and a stunted boy-giant, all inspired by the spirit of a centuries-old explorer to discover and claim their own lives. Thomas Maltman has written a wise and deeply empathetic novel. As contemporary as an Instagram post and yet resonant with history, this is the best book I have read all year."
--Lin Enger, author of American Gospel

"Ashes to Ashes is an original, daring, and sensitive novel that spans centuries of time in its search for community, family, and safety. This is a novel for every outsider battling the urge to leave their safe life behind in favor of unknown horizons, and for every intrepid explorer who does. Maltman's book is part small-town bildungsroman and part rollicking Viking epic, but it is absolutely a page-turner and a delight."
--Nickolas Butler, author of Shotgun Lovesongs and A Forty Year Kiss

"Maltman's voice has a concrete elegance, as he dramatically binds vivid characters from medieval Norse exploration and modern rural Minnesota. It's fine writing, approaching genius. No, not approaching. Thomas Maltman has arrived at genius. Or it's something larger than that. He hears the universal voices of pain and love. If there's beauty in humanity, Maltman has found it."
--Tim McCarthy, Boswell Book Company (Milwaukee, WI)

"The story of a small town that reads like an epic. I don't know what impressed me most--the superbly crafted prose, the deeply felt characters, or the mythological and religious quest of the reading experience. I'm in awe."
--Benjamin Percy, author of The Ninth Metal and Red Moon

Praise for Thomas Maltman

"Powerful. . . Maltman combines mythology and small-town claustrophobia to show how the roots of the violence [are] planted."
--The Christian Science Monitor

"Here's one I'll recommend--Tom Maltman's written an ambitious mythic thriller that hums with energy and portent."
--Leif Enger, author of Peace Like a River

"Satisfying on so many levels . . . Heartbreakingly real. This unpretentious tale of life in rural Minnesota is writing at its finest."
--William Kent Krueger, New York Times bestseller and winner of the Edgar Award

"Part allegory, part mystery and pure poetry, layered with Norse mythology and Anglo Saxon narratives, Maltman's second novel is dark, redemptive and very beautiful."
--Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"As rich in myth and metaphors as Cormac McCarthy's The Road."
--Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

"Magical story, magical writing."
--Saint Paul Pioneer Press

"A powerful mix of tragedy, myth, psychological thriller, and discovery told in a style so engaging that the reader might easily get caught up in the beauty of the words if the story itself were not so stunning."
--Library Journal, Starred Review

About the Author

Thomas Maltman is the author of the novels The Night Birds, Little Wolves, and The Land. He has won an Alex Award, a Spur Award, and the Friends of American Writers Literary Award, and his work has been an Indie Next and All Iowa Reads selection. He has an MFA from Minnesota State University, Mankato; teaches at Normandale Community College; and lives in the Twin Cities area.