One Foot in Eden is Ron Rash's first novel, published in 2002 after three poetry collections and two story collections. At this writing in 2018, he has published six more from major New York publishers. But for some of my customers, this is still their favorite. Set in the 1950s in a rural South Carolina mountain community, Amy Holcomb is convinced that her husband, Billy, cannot father the child she so desperately wants, so she secretly allows a neighbor, Holland Winchester to impregnate her. The novel is told in the voices of Amy, her son, Isaac, Billy and the sheriff, Will Alexander, who is important to the story because Holland Winchester is murdered. If that's not enough drama, the local power company is preparing to flood their valley. “One Foot In Eden is a story of wild, almost primitive force and yet it is neatly and ingeniously put together. Ron Rash knows to the core the ways of those who yearn for what is just beyond their grasp. Here is a lasting experience.” ―Fred Chappell.
New York: Picador, a 2004 paperback edition of a 2003 release. 214 pages. Trade paperback.