The Caretaker

A Novel

By: Ron Rash

Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin

ONE OF THE NEW YORKER'S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • Told against the backdrop of the Korean War as a small Appalachian town sends its sons to battle, The Caretaker by award-winning author Ron Rash ("One of the great American authors at work today"—The New York Times) is a breathtaking love story and a searing examination of the acts we seek to justify in the name of duty, family, honor, and love.

It’s 1951 in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Blackburn Gant, his life irrevocably altered by a childhood case of polio, seems condemned to spend his life among the dead as the sole caretaker of a hilltop cemetery. It suits his withdrawn personality, and the inexplicable occurrences that happen from time to time rattle him less than interaction with the living. But when his best and only friend, the kind but impulsive Jacob Hampton, is conscripted to serve overseas, Blackburn is charged with caring for Jacob’s wife, Naomi, as well.

Sixteen-year-old Naomi Clarke is an outcast in Blowing Rock, an outsider, poor and uneducated, who works as a seasonal maid in the town’s most elegant hotel. When Naomi eloped with Jacob a few months after her arrival, the marriage scandalized the community, most of all his wealthy parents who disinherited him. Shunned by the townsfolk for their differences and equally fearful that Jacob may never come home, Blackburn and Naomi grow closer and closer until a shattering development derails numerous lives.

A tender examination of male friendship and rivalry as well as a riveting, compelling novel of familial devotion, The Caretaker brilliantly depicts the human capacity for delusion and destruction all too often justified as acts of love.

©2023 Ron Rash (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“With each Ron Rash story, you expect flawed people trying desperately to survive against the odds, and a rich sense of place, and images that linger, and beautiful language that you catch yourself reading over and over. What you don’t always expect is a wicked plot. The Caretaker delivers all of the above in a story that becomes a race to the finish.” —John Grisham

“With pulsing drama from the outset, The Caretaker can be hard to put down from one chapter to the next. Rash’s touch depicting the early 1950s in Appalachia also makes turning pages a pleasure. [The Caretaker] is crafted with the closely observed descriptions of Appalachian life that have marked [Rash’s] career. . . Rash has conjured a kind of rough-hewn Americana with his prose. He may be regionally focused in his fiction, but his works tap deep veins of human nature and national strife.” —The Associated Press

“Potent and rewarding. . . Rash expertly and seamlessly ratchets up the suspense and melodrama. . . The lyrically nuanced prose faithfully evokes the Appalachian landscape, and Rash again showcases an ability to dig beneath the surface of his characters to expose their base desires and intentions. This is exactly the kind of humanitarian storytelling that fans have come to expect and savor from him.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

A most engaging tale, with rich characters you genuinely care about

This story caught the time and circumstance of Korean veterans and those who waited, back Stateside. The descriptions of people and places are deep and compelling.

Well crafted storytelling

From the start, this story grabbed my attention. The characters were true to the timeline and well developed. I hope there is a sequel!

The main reason to listen to audible

Some books take a while to settle into. But The Caretaker grabs you and you are completely immersed in the story. Ron Rash is such a talented writer. I’m am so sad to finish this book. I’ll be dwelling on it for days. Then I’ll listen again, make sure I didn’t miss a single word.

best heart breaker

A book about different relationships between parents and children, friends, lovers, and families. some positive and of course those that are heartbreaking. A husband drafted into the Korean war leaving a pregnant wife behind. The book kept my interest, even when I really disliked some of the characters. I found the book very predictable.

Grew-up in Middle Tennessee

The description of the area and the rural grocery store were Wonderfully Accurate!!! Going against a parent's wishes such as marrying the "wrong person" was often met with claims of disinheriting.

Great novel!

Another great book by Ron Rash. True to live characters and life situations. Small town America at its best and worst. Don’t miss this one. I hope we don’t have the wait another 10 years for the next novel. Worth the wait for sure.

The depth of the characters

I thought of so many possible endings and kept changing my mind about what would happen. Couldn’t put it down. Great read!

Great Knowledge of Area

Well written and performed. Believable. Well developed characters.Nice writing style. Engaging. Simple yet well rounded.

Shakespeare turned sideways

Ron Rash is so surprising. Since Saints at the River, no author has achieved his lyricism, and power of description. There will NOT be a sequel!!?? OR, A MOVIE.

Bravo, again.

The Choices We Make

Excellent story of people making difficult choices in a mid-twentieth century rural town. The storytelling quickly pulled me in. Readers who enjoy the novels of Wendell Berry or William Kent Krueger might enjoy this one as well.