Sallowsfield: A Novel

By Cliff Hudder

Literary Fiction / Humor / Saga / Texas / Yorkshire

Publisher: Texas Review Press

Pages: 390

Publication Date: October 21, 2024

Synopsis

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.

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Review

This was quite a unique book for me to read. It falls into several categories, including literary fiction, and that usually isn’t one that I read. However, this story is peppered with humorous quips, intriguing characters, and a journey for Wyatt as he tries to find his origins.

I was intrigued by the women Wyatt was involved with over the years and how they were relegated to a letter. In fact, they were the letters X, Y, and Z. Was that on purpose? Was it tied to their names? Or was it because they were the end of the alphabet, and that held a different meaning?

Wyatt also had his own quirks. Given his actions, I wondered if he might be on the spectrum because of the awkwardness that leaped off the page. He lived an interesting life, and it amused him to no end how everyone assumed he was a doctor just because he claimed to be a university professor.

His journey to Sallowsfield introduces various characters who add richness to the tale. I enjoyed reading their side stories during their interactions with Wyatt. It helped round out the story and provide interest in this town—a town that the tour books say to avoid. But like most small towns, it is the residents who bring character to the town.

This is a book meant to be read slowly, not rushed through. There are so many details to absorb that it cannot be done quickly. Savor the novel and fall in love with the quirky yet lovable characters.

We give this book 4 paws up.

About the Author

Cliff Hudder received an MFA in fiction writing from the University of Houston in 1995 and a PhD in American Literature from Texas A&M in 2017. He has been an archaeological laborer, a film and video editor, photographer, air compressor mechanic, electrical lineman, and educator. His fiction has appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review, The Kenyon Review, The Missouri Review and other journals and his work has received the Barthelme and Michener Awards, the Peden Prize, and the Short Story Award from the Texas Institute of Letters. His novella, Splinterville, won the 2007 Texas Review Fiction Award, and his novel, Pretty Enough for You, was named a Top Ten Texas Favorite by Lone Star Literary Life in 2015. In 2017 Cliff was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters.

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