Franklins work, hell at the breech, a novel based somewhat on events franklin heard about growing up in alabama, was published in may of 2003. In 1897, an aspiring politician is mysteriously murdered in the rural area of alabama known as mitcham beat. His outraged friends mostly poor cotton farmers form a secret society, hellatthebreech, to punish the townspeople they believe responsible. He teaches in the university of mississippis mfa program. He is the husband of poet beth ann fennelly and his next published novel is cowritten with her, entitled the tilted world. In 1897, an aspiring politician is mysteriously murdered in the. Buy hell at the breech by tom franklin online at alibris. He was educated at the university of south alabama and the university of arkansas. Jul 31, 2003 author tom franklin was raised in rural southwest alabama clarke county, a dozen miles from the setting of his new novel, hell at the breech.
Hell at the breech in 1897, an aspiring politician is mysteriously murdered in the rural area of alabama known as mitcham beat. Author tom franklin keeps a firm grip on his characters. Dec 12, 2008 listen to hell at the breech audiobook by tom franklin. Laura miller article praises hell at the breech, tom franklin novel set in alabama in 1890s, but says it seem inauthentic in matter of race. Hell at the breech book by tom franklin 3 available. Hell at the breech, the anticipated first novel by awardwinning author tom franklin, combines adventure, mystery, southern saga and tragedy, delivering a disturbing meditation on murder and its repercussions through time. He forms the hell at the breech gang, made up of criminals and struggling white tenant farmers who but for their guns are. A couple of months ago, i was browsing through an independent bookstore in mendocino, california and happened upon hell at the breech by tom franklin, which was published in 2003 and yet was still stocked on the shelves as a new title. Crooked letter is a winner of the cwa gold dagger award. In this book he puts his story telling skills into a full southern novel which takes place in a small town in alabama over a hundred years ago. Tom franklin, mississippi writer from oxford and author of. Tom franklin was born and raised in dickinson, alabama. His previous works include poachers, hell at the breech, and smonk. In a spare but powerful style akin to cormac mccarthy or jeffrey lent in lost nation and written in a regional dialect, hell at the breech tells.
He held various jobs as a struggling writer living in south alabama, including working as a heavyequipment operator in a grit factory, a construction inspector in a chemical plant and a clerk in a hospital morgue. Hell at the breech, a remarkable first novel by tom franklin, represents a nearly perfect synthesis. Mar 12, 2004 hell at the breech by tom franklin 368pp, flamingo. With hell at the breech, franklin lives up to the promise of.
Hell at the breech shares the same reddirt geography, but the interior is more rugged. Tom franklin is the author of poachers, hell at the breech, and smonk. Clean, unpretentious language laid down in masterly fashion propels franklins stories. Pdf hell at the breech by tom franklin download pdf free ebook. This immensely accomplished novel by the author of the edgar awardwinning short story collection poachers is based on a reallife feud in the 1890s that. So many lives are lost, so many homes burned, so many farms destroyed, but nothing is won. Winner of an edgar award and a 2001 guggenheim fellowship, he teaches at the university of mississippi and lives in oxford, mississippi, with his wife, the poet beth ann fennelly, and their children. He is author of the novels hell at the breech, smonk, and crooked letter. If you took cormac mccarthys bloody masterpiece, blood meridian, moved it from the southern border lands to alabama and gave it a soul, it would come out looking a lot like tom franklin s hell in the breech, a grisly but beautifully poignant tale of an obscure slice of american history, the mitcham beat war at the close of the 19th century. The hellatthebreech gang operated out of a remote pocket of rural alabama during the 1890s. Tom franklin author of crooked letter, crooked letter. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Winner of a 2001 guggenheim fellowship, he teaches in the university of mississippis. Winner of a 2001 guggenheim fellowship, he teaches in the university of mississippis mfa program and lives in oxford, mississippi, with his wife, the poet beth ann fennelly, and their children, claire and thomas.
Thomas gerald franklin is an american crime fiction writer. Smonk 2006, like hell at the breech, is set in alabama and like the previous title is a good example of regional fiction. Tom franklin books list of books by author tom franklin. It also addresses how, in times of societal stress, violent, even evil, men rise to the surface like gas in a fetid pond. Hell at the breech by tom franklin books the guardian.
Tom franklin books list of books by author tom franklin thriftbooks. Read hell at the breech a novel by tom franklin available from rakuten kobo. Hell at the breech has 3 available editions to buy at half price books marketplace. His outraged friends who were largely poor cotton farmers form a secret society, hellatthebreech, to punish the townspeople they believe responsible. Stream and download audiobooks to your computer, tablet or mobile phone. A powerful and resonant novel from tom franklin critically acclaimed author of smonk and hell at the breech crooked letter, crooked letter tells the riveting story of two boyhood friends, torn apart by circumstance, who are brought together again by a terrible crime in a small mississippi town. When a local man living with the poor farmers on the outskirts of coffeeville is murdered, the common folks gather to form a group they will call hell at the breech, a group that will have as a mission to take revenge on the greedy and rich townfolks.
Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Hell at the breech book by tom franklin thriftbooks. But surely the best, and most lasting, novels integrate both elements. Hell in the breach is the name of a gang of rural farms that declare war on citizens of a small alabama town. In hell at the breech, franklin explores what happens to good, weak, wronged and evil men when they kill. Author tom franklin has created a small masterpiece that should not go unoticed.
Texas destiny texas trilogy book 1 pdf book download online. In 1897, in the rural southwestern area of alabama known as mitcham beat, an aspiring politician is mysteriously murdered. Tom franklin continues to teach as associate professor of fiction writing in the university of mississippis mfa program. Jun 12, 2003 hell at the breech by tom franklin based on a reallife gang conflict in 1890s alabama, a riveting story of freedom fighting, extralegal violence and secret alliances. Hell at the breech is a standalone title by tom franklin. Nightriders seize control of a dark corner of alabama in a historybased first novel.
Hell at the breech ebook by tom franklin rakuten kobo. Franklin recreates the time and place of 1987 alabama, the people, the cotton. Mack burke is a 15yearold, apprenticed to tooch under mysterious circumstances to work at his country store. Hell at the breech explores what what can possibly happen when the veneer of law and order is replaced by suspicion and mistrust of others. Tooch bledsoe is a country machiavelli, a gifted manipulator of men who leads the hellatthebreech gang. Tom franklin is probably best known for his book of short stories called poachers.
In addition, franklins first book is collection of short stories, poachers. Franklins novel is given extra dimension by wonderful characters. Hell at the breech, by tom franklin blogging for a good book. Franklin set his stall with 1998s poachers, an acclaimed collection of stories about the contemporary south. Hell at the breech by tom franklin 2004, paperback for sale. Seeking retribution, his outraged friends mostly poor cotton farmers form a secret society, hell at the breech, to punish the townspeople they believe are responsible. Poachers, 1999 reconstruction of impoverished tenant farmers taking the law, or lack thereof, into their own hands at the end of the 19th century.
His first book was a highly regarded short story collection, poachers. These cotton pickers and labourers have very little left to hang. Book overview in 1897, an aspiring politician is mysteriously murdered in the rural area of alabama known as mitcham beat. When a local man living with the poor farmers on the outskirts of coffeeville is murdered, the common folks gather to form a group they will call hellatthebreech, a group that will have as a mission to take revenge on the greedy and rich townfolks. Hell at the breech by tom franklin 2003, paperback for sale. Hell at the breech, the anticipated first novel by awardwinning author tom franklin, combines adventure, mystery, southern saga and tragedy, delivering a. In 1897, an aspiring politician is mysteriously murdered in the rural area of alabama known as. Dec 16, 2003 in 1897, an aspiring politician is mysteriously murdered in the rural area of alabama known as mitcham beat. Feb 11, 2015 hell at the breech, by tom franklin february 11, 2015 by neil tom franklin is a logical heir to william faulkner, or more recently, cormac mccarthy, powerful writers who explore the violent world of the american south through characterdriven historical fiction. Franklin won an edgar award for poachers, the title story of his acclaimed 1999 collection.