Sallowsfield: A Novel

by Cliff Hudder, Brandy Beucler (Illustrator)

Overview

Wyatt W. Sallow, MBA—poet, business ethics professor, and coach of the 8th ranked collegiate chess team in East Texas—travels to the heart of northern England to trace his family origins in mundane Sallowsfield, only to find his supposed ancestry a mirage. He does have a real past, however: one that stalks him across the green hillsides in echoes of his catastrophic marriage, the lingering shadow of a lost child, and—there, in person, inexplicably emerging from the town’s faux-Victorian train station—“X,” the enigmatic object of his unrequited passion and a figure as perplexing as an algebraic variable. On his eight-day tour/pilgrimage/mock epic journey, Wyatt pursues the specter of his lost love and crosses paths with the citizens of this down-at-its-heels market town as they struggle to grasp the all-consuming obsessions, ghosts, and X-factors that confound their days. Thought-provoking yet dryly humorous, Sallowsfield weaves diverse elements into a story both light-hearted and philosophical, exploring along the way universal human touchstones of obsession, ruined love and the inexplicable mysteries that shape our lives.

Part of The Sabine Series in Literature

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781680033571
Publisher:	TRP: The University Press of SHSU
Publication date:	10/21/2024
Series:	The Sabine Series in Literature , #7
Edition description:	1
Pages:	390
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

CLIFF HUDDER earned an MFA in fiction writing from the University of Houston and a Ph.D. in American Literature from Texas A&M. He has been an archaeological laborer, film editor, photographer, electrical lineman, and educator. In addition to his published articles and short stories, his novella, Splinterville, won the 2007 Texas Review Fiction Award, and his novel, Pretty Enough for You, was named a Top-10 Texas favorite for 2015 by Lone Star Literary Life. Hudder teaches at Lone Star College-Montgomery in Conroe, Texas, and was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters in 2017.

Editorial Reviews

From the Pantheon of Picaresques stumbles Wyatt Sallow on his Pilgrimage to Sallowsfield. His Quest—for X, Y, and Z—is the Quest of the Great Wanderers—Todd Andrews in The Floating Opera, Binx Bolling in The Vieux Carré, and Leopold Bloom in ‘The Lotus Eaters.’ And as we accompany him on his sallow search, we both recognize and discover ourselves.”
—Glenn Blake, author of Drowned Moon, Return Fire, and The Old and the Lost

Glenn Blake

Sallowsfield turned out to be an utterly absorbing read. With its non-linear timeline, numerous locations, multitude of characters, and multiple points of view, this book demanded my attention like no other I’ve read recently. It was hilarious in parts, affecting in others, engaging all throughout. . . . I highly recommend dedicating several days to properly relish this book.”
—Carpe Diem Chronicles

Carpe Diem Chronicles - Maida Malby

"Cliff Hudder is clearly a master at misdirection, intrigue, and characterization. By the end of this unique literary fiction, you might wonder if the protagonist has actually developed in the predictable arc, or if Wyatt continues to sink ever deeper into the quagmire of his questionable identity and maybe even sanity. . . . Wyatt is a thoroughly compelling chap, and his adventure just might prompt you to settle into some self-reflection and ponder your own motivation to seek answers to unanswerable questions."
—Reading by Moonlight
 

Reading by Moonlight - Ruthie Jones

Sallowsfield by Cliff Hudder was definitely unlike any book I’ve read before. The timeline is most definitely not linear and with the plenitude of characters, it was definitely a story that engrossed this reader. Mix that with a variety of locations that this story takes place in, and you, as the reader, will definitely find your attention demanded by this tale. . . . Anyone interested in reading Sallowsfield should prepare to get engrossed in the tale and with the attention that this work demands. It will definitely pay off in the end, but it is important to set aside the time needed to really enjoy this book - it is not superficial in any way. It is definitely an adventure in the plainest and most complex ways - mishap after mishap, but the meaning of life along the way.”
—Book Fidelity

Book Fidelity

From the moment Cliff Hudder’s characters enter his novel, you have the sense that the author is not so much writing about them as introducing them to you; that they are real citizens wandering around the town of Sallowsfield and living their real lives. He portrays them with insight, a deep awareness of their desires and struggles, and a benign tolerance for their inevitable failings. By the time you finish this book, you’ll know these people like your own relatives. Or maybe even better.”
—Elizabeth Crook, author of The Which Way Tree, The Night Journal, Monday, Monday and The Madstone

Elizabeth Crook

"engaging and funny . . . a brilliant read that I would recommend to other readers."
—Emma Ashley

emmas_books_and_more - Emma Ashley

"The characterisation was excellent and the case of characters was interesting . . . I really recommend [Sallowsfield] to you all."
—Tartan Teapots & Books Croft

Tartan Teapots & Books Croft

Wyatt is a fascinating and rather hapless main character in this well-written new literary novel. Reading his story was a delight and thought-provoking. It was funny in places, but also sad as the distressing events of his past are slowly revealed throughout. Life is never just one thing, and this truth is illustrated so well in Sallowsfield. . . . Sallowsfield is deserving of all the accolades it has already received, and I add mine to the list. If you like a literary novel that explores various aspects of human nature and presents it all with a character who will make you laugh and perhaps shed a tear, don’t pass up this terrific book.”
—It's Not All Gravy

It's Not All Gravy - Maryann Miller

With hints of Lodge’s Campus Trilogy, Joyce’s Ulysses, and even Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, Sallowsfield deftly and repeatedly defies expectations. Hudder arranges a meta chessboard and moves his characters with the sure hand of a master storyteller. You’re going to fall as hard as I did for his imperfect hero and the misshapen figures he meets in the wonderfully drawn, bizarre world of Sallowsfield.”
—David Samuel Levinson, author of Antonia Lively Breaks the Silence, and Tell Me How This Ends Well

David Samuel Levinson

Wyatt Sallow travels to the town of Sallowsfield in the United Kingdom in search of himself, modest fame, family history, and possible and imagined loves. Cliff Hudder has created a funny, hapless, befuddled, and creepy character in a sprawling novel that will surprise and entertain you about what we seek at middle‑age, what confuses us, and what consumes us as we try to turn a ‘will to lose’ into a quiet victory.”
—Sergio Troncoso, author of Nobody’s Pilgrims, A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant’s Son, and From This Wicked Patch of Dust

Sergio Troncoso