Jewelweed: A Novel - Hardcover

David Rhodes grew up near Des Moines where he attended a Quaker School. He dropped out of Beloit College in the 60's and eventually graduated from Marlboro College in Vermont. After receiving an MFA in Writing from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop in 1971, he published three novels in rapid succession to acclaim: The Last Fair Deal Going Down (Atlantic/Little, Brown, 1972), The Easter House (Harper & Row, 1974), and Rock Island Line (Harper & Row, 1975). A motorcycle accident in 1976 left him paralyzed from the chest down. He continued writing, but did not publish again until 2008 when his novel, Driftless, was published. It received a Milkweed National Fiction prize, was read on Wisconsin Public Radio, and was chosen as an All Iowa Reads selection. Milkweed has reissued all of his previous books. He currently lives with his wife, Edna, in Wisconsin.

Praise from booksellers for Jewelweed

“A damn fine novel—one of the best kinds—where ordinary people living ordinary lives are drawn by the deft and lyrical touch of the author in such an achingly rich way, one quietly marvels.” — Sheryl Cotleur, Copperfield’s Books, Sebastopol, California

“Rhodes describes the natural world and his characters’ inner lives with equal passion, creating an ensemble as natural to its landscape as the trees. Jewelweed is a remarkable piece of storytelling, soul-felt and deeply moving.” — Mark Laframboise, Politics & Prose Bookstore, Washington, DC

“David Rhodes takes seemingly mundane events, and makes them magic. The everyday is made spectacular through his telling.” — Jack Hannert, Brilliant Books, Traverse City, Michigan

“From philosophical prison inmates to childhood-haunted truckers, Rhodes’s mélange of characters feels so real, you’d swear you lived among them.” — Emily Crowe, The Odyssey Bookshop, South Hadley, Massachusetts

“With Jewelweed, David Rhodes has once more produced a moving, deeply thoughtful novel, of poor people doing difficult things, often against their best interests. He is the same writer, maybe better, as the author of Driftless.” — Paul Ingram, Prairie Lights Books, Iowa City, Iowa

Praise from booksellers for Jewelweed

“A damn fine novel—one of the best kinds—where ordinary people living ordinary lives are drawn by the deft and lyrical touch of the author in such an achingly rich way, one quietly marvels.&; — Sheryl Cotleur, Copperfield&;s Books, Sebastopol, California

“Rhodes describes the natural world and his characters&; inner lives with equal passion, creating an ensemble as natural to its landscape as the trees. Jewelweed is a remarkable piece of storytelling, soul-felt and deeply moving.&; — Mark Laframboise, Politics & Prose Bookstore, Washington, DC

“David Rhodes takes seemingly mundane events, and makes them magic. The everyday is made spectacular through his telling.&; — Jack Hannert, Brilliant Books, Traverse City, Michigan

“From philosophical prison inmates to childhood-haunted truckers, Rhodes&;s mélange of characters feels so real, you&;d swear you lived among them.&; — Emily Crowe, The Odyssey Bookshop, South Hadley, Massachusetts

“With Jewelweed, David Rhodes has once more produced a moving, deeply thoughtful novel, of poor people doing difficult things, often against their best interests. He is the same writer, maybe better, as the author of Driftless.&; — Paul Ingram, Prairie Lights Books, Iowa City, Iowa

When David Rhodes burst onto the American literary scene in the seventies, he was hailed as a “brilliant visionary&; (John Gardner), and compared to Sherwood Anderson. With Driftless, “the best work of fiction to come out of the Midwest in many years&; (Alan Cheuse), Rhodes brought Words, Wisconsin, to life in a way that resonated with readers across America. Now, with Jewelweed, this beloved author returns to the Driftless Region, and introduces a cast of characters who all find themselves struggling to find a new sense of belonging in the present moment—sometimes with the help of peach preserves or mashed potato pie.

After serving time for a conviction, Blake Bookchester returns home, enthralled by the philosophy of Spinoza and yearning for the woman he loves. Having agitated for his release, Reverend Winifred Helm slowly comes to understand that she is no longer fulfilled by the ministry. Winnie&;s precocious son, August, and his best friend, Ivan, befriend a hermit and roam the woods in search of the elusive Wild Boy. And Danielle Workhouse, Ivan&;s single mother and Blake&;s former lover, struggles to do right by her son. These and other inhabitants of Words—all flawed, deeply human, and ultimately universal—approach the future with a combination of hope and trepidation, increasingly mindful of the importance of community to their individual lives.

Rich with a sense of empathy and wonder, Jewelweed offers a vision in which the ordinary becomes mythical, and the seemingly mundane is transformed into revelatory beauty.

As a young man, David Rhodes worked in fields, hospitals, and factories across Iowa. After receiving an MFA from the Iowa Writers&; Workshop, he published three acclaimed novels: The Last Fair Deal Going Down (1972), The Easter House (1974), and Rock Island Line (1975). In 1976, a motorcycle accident left him partially paralyzed. In 2008, Rhodes returned to the literary scene with Driftless, a novel that was hailed as “the best work of fiction to come out of the Midwest in many years&; (Alan Cheuse). Following the publication of Driftless, Rhodes was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2010, to support the writing of Jewelweed. He lives with his wife, Edna, in Wisconsin.