Description
Gravity Hill by Susanne Davis
1st Place Novel, Connecticut Press Club, 2022
(read the press release HERE)
Runner up in the Madville Blue Moon Novel Competition
ISBN: 978-1-956440-06-5 paperback $20.95
ISBN: 978-1-956440-07-2 ebook $9.99
260 pp.
FICTION
September 13, 2022
Gravity Hill is a story about Jordan Hawkins, her family, and a small rural town in Connecticut wrecked by the tragic death of three boys on Gravity Hill. But what first appears to be a tragedy of drunk driving leads back to a mysterious accident that has plagued a small town for years, sending Jordan on a journey to clear her brother’s name. What she discovers—a hidden toxic waste site—sends the whole town on its own bumpy road to self-awareness and healing.
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT GRAVITY HILL:
A remarkable protagonist leads a robust cast in this absorbing tale of self-discovery.—Kirkus Reviews
Susanne Davis’s Gravity Hill delivers the goods: hers is a heartfelt story of loss and renewal, populated with characters who are flawed, feisty, and entirely sympathetic. At the heart of this story is Jordan Hawkins, an irrepressible young woman whose grief over her brother’s death triggers the risky behavior and impetuous decision-making that will send her down roads she had not meant to travel. Davis has a gift for dialogue and vivid description; her details about agricultural life, the family dynamic, and the rules of the road are evocative and precise. It’s both a pleasure and an honor for me to endorse Gravity Hill, a story to which readers will be drawn and by which they’ll be rewarded.
—Wally Lamb, New York Times bestselling author of We are Water and She’s Come Undone
Susanne Davis is an extraordinary writer. She creates characters that you instantly care about, that you worry over, that you live with. She writes about situations and lives that, like John Irving, are not only fiercely entertaining, but they also have a deep moral center about how we should be living our lives, what we should care about, how we can manage our rich and complicated world. A diamond talent.
—Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author
of both Is This Tomorrow and Pictures of You
In Gravity Hill, Susanne Davis has tackled the wide, sweeping themes of love and loss, environmental troubles, feuds, families forced to confront each other’s mistakes, communities coming apart and then coming together, regrets, fathers and sons, and families torn up by old lies and secrets. This story, told with gentle but vivid writing, brings us to painful tears of recognition about the human condition and yet uplifts us with the redemptive quality of hope.
—Maddie Dawson, author of The Stuff That Never Happened
SUSANNE DAVIS is the daughter of a sixth-generation dairy farmer and lives near her dad’s farm where the real Gravity Hill exists. Her dad works every day to keep his farm from developers, just like Jordan’s father. She has an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a short story collection, The Appointed Hour (Cornerstone Press). Individual stories have been published in American Short Fiction, Notre Dame Review, Clackamas Literary Review, and other literary journals. Her work has won awards and recognition, including 2nd place Madville’s Blue Moon Novel Competition and mention as distinguished story in the Best American Short Stories series. She teaches creative writing at the college level and beyond.
kpdavis –
There’s a reason Clay Reynolds liked this novel. It’s beautifully written with a complex family/community story, with heartbreak compounding on heartbreak. You’ll root for Jordan and her family as they struggle through a litany of difficulties many American farmers experience today. Throw in some toxic waste and skeletons in the closet, and you begin to see what Jordan sees as she investigates her brother’s tragic death on Gravity Hill.
kpdavis –
Loved it! 😍
Death. Desire. Mystery. Follow Jordan Hawkins on her journey as she strives to uncover the truth surrounding her brothers tragic death…
SYNOPSIS
Gravity Hill is a story about Jordan Hawkins, her family, and a small rural town in Connecticut wrecked by the tragic death of three boys on Gravity Hill. But what first appears to be a tragedy of drunk driving leads back to a mysterious accident that has plagued a small town for years, sending Jordan on a journey to clear her brother’s name. What she discovers—a hidden toxic waste site—sends the whole town on its own bumpy road to self-awareness and healing.
Upon first inspection, the book Gravity Hill by Susanne Davis could give the impression to some that this is just a tragic tale of loss and grief. Instead, what you will find whilst reading; is a self-aware and almost honest reflection that the journey to acceptance and peace is often messy, unexplainable and can at times bring the hardest, most gruelling decisions that you can ever face.
When I started this book, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The author Susanne Davis has beautifully penned the story from 19-year-old Jordan’s perspective. As the main character is so young, I was waiting to stumble upon childish threads and petty feuds. Instead, the story itself was very mature and adult in nature. It follows Jordan’s path of self-healing as she tries to come to terms with her brothers’ death. This underlying arc of death throughout the book rang painfully true and the emotions were not downplayed or once ignored. I sat and read the entire book in one sitting which; for me at least, shows how deeply the story can consume the reader.
Read about Jordan, her father, Sam, and her mother, Dianne, as they struggle with the death of Clay and how the town turned against them for what initially seemed no more than a devastatingly unfortunate accident where three young boys lost their lives. But follow along with bated breath as Jordan begins to discover more information and uncover the truth surrounding the mysterious fire at the old mill and the hidden toxic waste site. Read as she works gruelling hours at the town’s glass factory, meets the mysterious fellow Win Hatch and eventually tries to see if she can reconnect with her friends as she continues to battle her demons along the path to the truth.
Should there ever be a sequel, I would read it in an instant to see what happens next with Jordan and Win and their potential future, the fate of the farm and well…want to know more? Go read it for yourself before I drop any spoilers.
REVIEWED BY Rebecca Ryan
I’m Beckie, an avid reader, and a creative person. I own my own book business creating sketchbooks and journals by hand – but I love reading too! I wasn’t aware of my dyslexia until I was 19 but it has never stopped me from devouring every book I’ve managed to get my hands on! Review originally appeared on Reedsy Discovery: https://reedsy.com/discovery/book/gravity-hill-susanne-davis#review