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Jackson Ellis’s first book cover is shown.
LUDLOW— Vermont writer and Okemo Valley native Jackson Ellis has released his first novel, “Lords of St. Thomas.” Ellis won the 2017 Howard Frank Mosher First Book Prize for this story, which is set in Nevada during the Depression. It is published by Vermont independent publishers, Green Writers Press.
In the 1930s, during construction of the Hoover Dam, the U.S. government began buying out the residents of St. Thomas, Nevada. Yet the hardheaded Henry Lord, believing the waters of the newly created Lake Mead would never reach his home, refused to sell or vacate his property. It was a mistake that would cost him dearly.
“Lords of St. Thomas” details the tragedies and conflicts endured by a family fighting a futile battle, and their hectic and terrifying escape from the flood waters that finally surge across the threshold of their front door. Surprisingly, it also shows that, sometimes, you can go home again.
Acclaimed Vermont author, the late Howard Frank Mosher, described the book this way: “A dramatic story of the beleaguered Lord family, forced off their land by the creation of Lake Mead. At the heart of the book are the patriarch, Henry Lord, who refuses to leave his doomed home and town, and his young grandson and namesake. The novel is both a terrific coming-of-age story and an exact and haunting evocation of a bygone time and place. What’s more, it’s a great read. I loved every page.”
Ludlow’s indie bookstore The Book Nook has signed copies for sale. Watch for a book reading with Jackson Ellis at The Book Nook, Friday, July 6 at the Ludlow Town Hall Auditorium.
