Sheri Holman Books In Order

Novels

  1. A Stolen Tongue (1997)
  2. The Dress Lodger (1998)
  3. Sondok (2002)
  4. The Mammoth Cheese (2003)
  5. The Witches on the Road Tonight (2011)

Novels Book Covers

Sheri Holman Books Overview

A Stolen Tongue

A riveting mystery that recalls the work of Umberto Eco and Barry Unsworth,A Stolen Tongueis the captivating debut novel that launched critically acclaimed author Sheri Holman’s literary career. In 1483, Father Felix Fabri sails from Germany to Mount Sinai on a pilgrimage to venerate the relics of Saint Katherine of Alexandria. But at each of the shrines he visits throughout Greece and Palestine, he finds that the remains of Katherine s body are being stolen piece by piece: her hand, her ear, and then her tongue vanish from their holy resting places. Desperate to discover the thief and save his saint from such appalling desecration, Felix is thrust into a strange mystery that takes him across the desert and plumbs the depths of his soul.

The Dress Lodger

Sunderland during the cholera epidemic of 1832 is bitterly divided between the rich, who believe they have nothing to fear from a disease which afflicts mainly the poor, and the disenfranchised, who fear cholera is part of a plot to exterminate them. Through the streets of the city walks Gustine, a prostitute, followed by the Eye, an old woman paid by her pimp to keep Gustine under constant surveillance. Gustine has joined forces with a surgeon forced out of Edinburgh in the wake of the Burke & Hare body snatching scandal. Henry operates an Anatomy School but has no bodies with which to teach; Gustine, moving among the week and dying, comes across bodies all the time. He believes she can help him advance medical science, and she believes if he becomes a better doctor, he can save the life of her critically ill baby.

Sondok

During the seventh century, the land which is now Korea was fraught with political and religious intrigue. The country was spilt into Three Kingdoms, each fighting for supremacy. Besides this, three religions are in conflict: Shamanism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. In this atmosphere of conflict, we meet 14 year old Sondok, eldest daughter of King Chinp yong, ruler of Silla.

The Mammoth Cheese

With The Mammoth Cheese, Holman delivers a sharp, contemporary story steeped in history that will captivate a new audience while gratifying readers of her acclaimed earlier work, The Dress Lodger. Beautifully crafted and driven by warm, vibrant characters, The Mammoth Cheese follows the residents of rural Three Chimneys, Virginia, on their historic journey to re create the making of the original Thomas Jefferson era, 1,235 pound ‘Mammoth Cheese.’ As the book opens, the town is joyously celebrating the birth of the Frank Eleven eleven babies simultaneously born to Manda and James Frank after fertility treatments and enjoying the thrill of notoriety as reform minded presidential hopeful Adams Brooke visits the newborns. But as autumn progresses and the babies start to die, the community seeks to redeem itself through the making and transporting of a symbolic Mammoth Cheese to Washington, as a gift for the newly elected President Brooke. Sheri Holman seamlessly weaves together the lives of Three Chimneys, delving into her characters’ inescapable family histories as they grapple with religion, divorce, politics, and unrequited love. The Mammoth Cheese is a triumphant exploration of the burdens and joys of rural America and the debts we owe to history, our parents, and ourselves.

The Witches on the Road Tonight

By the best selling author of The Dress Lodger, Sheri Holman’s new and most ambitious novel to date, Witches on the Road Tonight, uncovers the secrets and lies that echo through three generations of one Appalachian family. It is a deeply human, urgent exploration of America s doomed love affair with fear. On the eve of World War II, eight year old Eddie Alley lies in bed watching his first horror movie, hand cranked and flickering on the bare wall of a backwoods cabin. In 2011, Eddie s daughter, Wallis, an anchorwoman for a twenty four hour news channel, lies in bed with a stranger, spinning ghost stories. Between these two nights winds the story of the Alley family Eddie s mother, Cora, an Appalachian mountain witch who slips out of her skin after nightfall; Captain Casket, Eddie s alter ego, a campy 1970s TV horror movie host; and Jasper, the orphaned boy Eddie brings home, who is determined to destroy Eddie s illusions even if it means destroying himself. Deftly moving from the rural, Depression era South to modern New York City, Holman teases out the dark compulsions and desperate longings that can blur the line between love and betrayal. Witches on the Road Tonight is an unflinching story that digs at the roots of myth both familial and societal and beautifully renders our perpetual yearning to make sense of the past in our present.

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