Cloudmaker
Mar 2021 · Grove Press
5.0star
1 review
Ebook
387
Pages
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About this ebook
A teenager in Depression-era Montana with finds danger and adventure with a gangster’s watch in this coming-of-age tale.
From the nationally bestselling author of Painted Horses, Malcolm Brooks returns with a soaring, spirited novel set during the summer of Amelia Earhart’s final flight—a tale of American ingenuity and optimism set against the backdrop of a deepening Great Depression . . .
The summer of 1937 will be a turning point for fourteen-year-old Houston “Huck” Finn. When he and a friend find a dead body in a local creek, a rare Lindbergh flight watch on its wrist, it seems like a sign. Huck is building his own airplane, a fact he has concealed from his mother. That summer also marks the arrival of his cousin Annelise, sent to live with the family under mysterious circumstances. As it turns out, she has had flying lessons—another sign. As Huck’s airplane takes shape, so does his burgeoning understanding of the world, including the battle over worldliness vs. godliness that has split Annelise from her family, and, in a quieter way, divides Huck’s family too. And meanwhile, there’s the matter of the watch, which it turns out the dead man’s cohort of bank robbers would very much like back.
In Brooks’ trademark “lush, breathtaking prose” (San Francisco Chronicle on Painted Horses) and with a winking nod to the Sam Clemens who inspired its hero’s nickname, Cloudmaker is a boisterous, heartfelt novel that brings to life the idealism, inventiveness, traditionalism, and deep contradictions of the American spirit.
Praise for Cloudmaker
“A sweeping yet personal coming-of-age story. . . . Evocative . . . in pitch-perfect dialect that will immerse readers firmly in Brooks’s beloved American West.” —Shelf Awareness
“With a nod to Ivan Doig’s straightforward folksy style, this impressive second novel . . . tells an earnest, heartfelt family story with laugh-out-loud humor, deep-seated family conflicts, and distressing coming-of-age crises. Enthusiastically recommended.” —Library Review (starred review)
“Tender friendships and passionate pursuits combine in Cloudmaker—a rich, evocative, soaring novel rooted in particulars and populated with characters so nuanced and real you can’t help but admire and miss them long after you’ve turned the last page.” —Erin Lindsay McCabe, author of USA Today bestseller I Shall Be Near To You
“Epic in scope, beautifully crafted in its prose, and always—always—adoring of its cast of unforgettable characters, Cloudmaker is a stunner of a novel. A book that absolutely soars.” —Nickolas Butler, author of Shotgun Lovesongs and Little Faith
From the nationally bestselling author of Painted Horses, Malcolm Brooks returns with a soaring, spirited novel set during the summer of Amelia Earhart’s final flight—a tale of American ingenuity and optimism set against the backdrop of a deepening Great Depression . . .
The summer of 1937 will be a turning point for fourteen-year-old Houston “Huck” Finn. When he and a friend find a dead body in a local creek, a rare Lindbergh flight watch on its wrist, it seems like a sign. Huck is building his own airplane, a fact he has concealed from his mother. That summer also marks the arrival of his cousin Annelise, sent to live with the family under mysterious circumstances. As it turns out, she has had flying lessons—another sign. As Huck’s airplane takes shape, so does his burgeoning understanding of the world, including the battle over worldliness vs. godliness that has split Annelise from her family, and, in a quieter way, divides Huck’s family too. And meanwhile, there’s the matter of the watch, which it turns out the dead man’s cohort of bank robbers would very much like back.
In Brooks’ trademark “lush, breathtaking prose” (San Francisco Chronicle on Painted Horses) and with a winking nod to the Sam Clemens who inspired its hero’s nickname, Cloudmaker is a boisterous, heartfelt novel that brings to life the idealism, inventiveness, traditionalism, and deep contradictions of the American spirit.
Praise for Cloudmaker
“A sweeping yet personal coming-of-age story. . . . Evocative . . . in pitch-perfect dialect that will immerse readers firmly in Brooks’s beloved American West.” —Shelf Awareness
“With a nod to Ivan Doig’s straightforward folksy style, this impressive second novel . . . tells an earnest, heartfelt family story with laugh-out-loud humor, deep-seated family conflicts, and distressing coming-of-age crises. Enthusiastically recommended.” —Library Review (starred review)
“Tender friendships and passionate pursuits combine in Cloudmaker—a rich, evocative, soaring novel rooted in particulars and populated with characters so nuanced and real you can’t help but admire and miss them long after you’ve turned the last page.” —Erin Lindsay McCabe, author of USA Today bestseller I Shall Be Near To You
“Epic in scope, beautifully crafted in its prose, and always—always—adoring of its cast of unforgettable characters, Cloudmaker is a stunner of a novel. A book that absolutely soars.” —Nickolas Butler, author of Shotgun Lovesongs and Little Faith
Ratings and reviews
5.0
1 review
brf1948
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March 9, 2021
I received an electronic ARC of this wonderful novel from Netgalley, Malcolm Brooks, and Grove Press. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. Malcolm Brooks writes a compelling story with rounded, wholesome characters and brings us to the troubled times in the mid-1930s with touches of both reality and hope. Houston Finn - labeled 'Huck' by his schoolmates - has an excellent mechanical mind and a love for the whole concept of flying that has shaped his life in small-town Montana. Before his Junior year in high school, he built - and flew - a glider from plans available by mail - the 1932 Flying and Glider Manual. The glider flew only long enough to break out windows in the local drug store, but Houston was able to figure out the problems inherent in the design, and aim higher - to a plane. The family owns a small ranch, but his father also has a mechanical repair shop in downtown Billings, and Houston stayed in town during the week for school. His mother stayed at the ranch except for church. Houstons plans are kept secret from everyone but his father, Roy, because of his mother's frailty and a running feud Houston seems to have with the son of the local law. Enter his cousin Annelise, exiled to her Aunt Gloria's care to finish her senior year after a real clash of spirit with her own mother, and already with the knowledge and experience of airplane piloting, though she is not yet licensed. What could go wrong? This is an excellent novel, well versed in 1930s lore from politics to Amelia Earhart's last flight to church revival tents and the growth of the Mormon church. This is a story that will warm your heart and keep you up late. Brooks is an author I will follow.
About the author
Malcolm Brooks was raised in the rural foothills of the California Sierras. A carpenter by trade, he has lived in Montana for most of two decades. His writing has appeared in Gray’s Sporting Journal, Outside, Sports Afield, and Montana Quarterly, among others.
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