Strange Birds In The Tree Of Heaven

by McElmurray, Karen Salyer

• ISBN13: 9780820326672
• ISBN10: 0820326674
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-09-04
• Publisher: Univ of Georgia Pr

Summary

This haunting debut novel invites us to explore the boundaries between beliefs, desires, obsessions, and madness. Karen Salyer McElmurray's story is set in Mining Hollow, Kentucky, where we meet Ruth Blue Wallen; her husband, Earl; and their son, Andrew. Ruth longs to know God, the only escape she can find in a world that has shown her spiritual, emotional, and sensual defeat. Earl yearns for the music-making of his past, now lost as he makes a living as a coal miner. Andrew desires the affection of a boyhood friend, an expression of love considered sinful in rural Kentucky. And with the divinely inspired yet tormenting help of his mother, in a world of deeply and tragically conflicting desires, Andrew must choose to live or die--he must choose an uncertain love or nothing at all.

Author Biography

Karen Salyer McElmurray is the author of two novels, Strange Birds in the Tree of Heaven (Georgia) and Motel of the Stars. She is also the author of the memoir Surrendered Child. She is Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Georgia College and State University, where she is Nonfiction Editor for Arts and Letters. She also teaches in the low-residency program at Murray State University.

Table of Contents

PART I
Andrew: August 16, 1983	3	(23)
Ruth: August 16, 1983	26	(2)
Ruth: 1926--1936	28	(32)
Earl: Before the Fact	60	(4)
Ruth: 1941	64	(20)
Earl: 1941	84	(8)
Ruth: August 16, 1983	92	(1)
Ruth: 1948	93	(5)
Earl: 1946--1948	98	(29)
Ruth: 1948	127	(3)
Earl: 1948	130	(14)
Ruth: Summer, 1948	144	(3)
Earl: Summer, 1948	147	(6)
Ruth: August 16, 1983	153	(2)
Ruth: 1948--1953	155	(12)
Earl: Spring, 1949	167	(3)
Ruth: Autumn, 1952--1953	170	(13)
PART II
Ruth: August 16, 1983	183	(2)
Andrew: 1962	185	(13)
Earl: 1962	198	(12)
Ruth: August 16, 1983	210	(2)
Ruth: 1963-1966	212	(11)
Earl: Summer, 1969	223	(6)
Andrew: Summer, 1969	229	(5)
Ruth: August 16, 1983	234	(3)
Ruth: 1969--1976	237	(8)
Earl: 1969--1976	245	(6)
Ruth: August 16, 1983	251	(2)
Andrew: Summer, 1980	253	(8)
Ruth: August 16, 1983	261	(7)
Andrew: August 16, 1983	268	(3)
Ruth: August 16, 1983	271	(7)
Andrew: August 16, 1983	278	(2)
Earl: August 16, 1983	280	(5)
Ruth	285	(2)
Andrew	287