Maren Walker told herself she wouldn’t need to sell pills for long, that it was only means to an end. But that end seems to be stretching as far away as the other side of Blackdamp County, Kentucky. There’s always another bill for Granny’s doctor, another problem with the car, another reason she’s getting nowhere. She dreams of walking through her little door to leave it all behind. The doors have appeared to the people in her mountain town for as long as anyone can remember, though no one knows where they lead. All anyone knows is that if you go, you’ll never come back. Maren’s mother left through her door when Maren was nine, and her shadow has followed Maren ever since. When she faces the possibility of escaping her struggles for good, Maren must choose just what kind of future she wants to build.
From critically acclaimed author Ashley Blooms, Where I Can’t Follow explores the forces that hold people in place, and how they adapt, survive, and struggle to love a place that doesn’t always love them back.
* * * NOTE: TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR THE NOVEL CAN BE FOUND HERE. * * *
Praise For WHERE I CAN’T FOLLOW
“Where I Can’t Follow is a powerful and unflinching look into emotion, place and its people, and what binds you even when not fully belonging. Ashley Blooms has written
a haunting testament to the survival of self and family in a struggling,
desperate Appalachian community.”
— Kim Michele Richardson, bestselling author of
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
“Where I Can’t Follow is haunting and hopeful, a hard story full of shocking warmth and unexpected beauty. The little doors of Blackdamp are the kind of make-believe that feels true, a magic so vivid it feels more like a memory than a work of fiction.”
— Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of
The Once and Future Witches
“If you have experienced the abundance of beauty and bad options that come from growing up on the short end of this country’s economic stick, read Ashley Blooms’ new novel Where I Can’t Follow and feel seen. If you didn’t grow up that way, read it and see that hard world described with poetry and deep potency. Blooms continues to astonish.”
— Robert Gipe,
author of Trampoline, Weedeater, and Pop
“With wisdom beyond her years, Blooms illuminates human frailty and elevates the humble journey. Her mountain tale of hardship comes wrapped in delicious language.
I highlighted favorites phrases so I could re-read them and be stunned all over again. Her original voice is captivating and unique and delivers an ethereal story about trust triumphing over self-doubt. Congratulations, Ashley Blooms, on propelling
our imagination toward a new dimension.”
— Leah Weiss, bestselling author of
If The Creek Don’t Rise and All The Little Hopes
“Ashley Blooms novels have this in common with the tallest of trees: they are deftly rooted in the land of their origin, and yet their crowns, dappled with starlight, define a much broader world. In Where I Can’t Follow, the twined themes of magical escape and what it means to be left behind build a brilliant stage on which Blooms’ luminous cast of characters is transformed. A captivating novel that is at once personal and universal.”
— Fran Wilde, double-Nebula award winning author of
Riverland and Updraft