Gravesend Light A Novel

Award-winning author David Payne masterfully plumbs the depths of family in a novel that combines a moving drama, a high-seas adventure, & a deeply affecting love story. Gravesend Light is the story of Joe Madden, an anthropologist who has returned to his family's summer home on Little Roanoke on North Carolina's Outer Banks. Little Roanoke, with its traditions dating back to the time of Sir Walter Raleigh, is an isolated enclave threatened by the encroachment of modern civilization--& the subject of Joe's study. Here, he meets two people who will alter the course of his future: Ray Barstow, a fisherman & ex-con who, aboard the Father's Price, teaches him more than just the ropes of one of the world's most dangerous professions; & Day Shaughnessy, a Yale-educated Ob-Gyn & ardent feminist whose views on reproductive rights come into conflict with the deeply religious people of Little Roanoke. The events of the story culminate in a savage storm at sea that the crew of the Father's Price--including Joe Madden--may not survive. The Los Angeles Times praised Payne's Early from the Dance for "some of the strongest, most demanding writing to be found in American fiction today." Gravesend Light assures this gifted author's place as one of the most important chroniclers of the contemporary Southern experience. "Payne knows the hopes, fears, & habits of his characters ... he writes of a people & a place from deep in his heart."--The New York Times Book Review.Payne, David is the author of 'Gravesend Light A Novel' with ISBN 9780452282629 and ISBN 0452282624.