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The road

The road

Pulitzer 2007

by John Ehle

1967Convict laborRailroadsDesign and constructionFictionMountain life
0.0
Open Library
Open Library

About this book

Originally published in 1967, The Road is epic historical fiction at its best. At the novel's center is Weatherby Wright, a railroad builder who launches an ambitious plan to link the highlands of western North Carolina with the East. As a native of the region, Wright knows what his railway will mean to the impoverished settlers. But to accomplish his grand undertaking he must conquer Sow Mountain, "a massive monolith of earth, rock, vegetation and water, an elaborate series of ridges which built on one another to the top.". Wright's struggle to construct the railroad - which requires tall trestles crossing deep ravines and seven tunnels blasted through shale and granite - proves to be much more than an engineering challenge. There is opposition from a child evangelist, who preaches that the railroad is the work of the devil, and there is a serious lack of funds, which forces Wright to use convict labor. How Wright confronts these challenges and how the mountain people respond to the changes the railroad brings to their lives make for powerfully compelling reading.

Themes & subjects

Convict laborRailroadsDesign and constructionFictionMountain lifeFiction, historical, general
First published 1967

Setting

Southern Appalachian RegionNorth Carolina

About the author

John Ehle

1925

Author

John Ehle

First published

1967

Pages

401

Read time

≈ 10h

Editions

2

Language

English

Publisher

Harper & Row

ISBN

1572330163

Where to buy

TR
Amazon Bookshop

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