Bedrock Faith: A Novel

by Eric Charles May Narrated by Kenneth Toles

Overview

An ex-convict returns to his Chicago community a changed man-but maybe not for the better-in this “vivid, suspenseful, funny, and compassionate novel” (Booklist).
One of Booklist's Top 10 First Novels of the Year
One of Roxane Gay's Top 10 Books of the Year
After fourteen years in prison, Gerald “Stew Pot” Reeves, age thirty-one, returns home to live with his mom in Parkland, a black middle-class neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. The residents are in a tailspin, dreading the arrival of the man they remember as a frightening delinquent. The anxiety only grows when Stew Pot announces that he experienced a religious awakening in prison.
Most folks are skeptical, with one notable exception: Mrs. Motley, a widowed retired librarian and the Reeves' next-door neighbor, who loans Stew Pot a Bible, which is seen by him and many in the community as a friendly gesture. With uncompromising fervor (and with a new pit bull named John the Baptist), Stew Pot soon appoints himself the moral judge of Parkland-and starts wreaking havoc on people's lives. Before long, tension and suspicion reign, and this close-knit community must reckon with questions of faith, fear, and forgiveness . . .
“[A] novel of epiphanies, tragedies, and transformations . . . perfect for book clubs.” -Booklist, starred review
“May slowly builds suspense as he persuasively unfolds the narrative in this work that reads like an Agatha Christie mystery.” -Library Journal
“A wonderful urban novel full of vitality and pathos and grit.” -Dennis Lehane

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

10/21/2013
May’s expansive first novel reveals the complicated emotional economy that holds together a neighborhood in crisis. When Gerald “Stew Pot” Reeves returns home after spending most of his adult life in prison for assault, his old neighbors are dismayed: in the quiet Chicago suburb of Parkland, Stew Pot was an unrepentant troublemaker who even burned down sweet Mrs. Motley’s garage next door. Then Stew Pot shows up at Mrs. Motley’s door asking for a Bible, and she urges the neighborhood association to give him a second shot. But Stew Pot’s newfound contrition comes at a price: as he joins community life again, he begins to judge his neighbors for their bad behavior, interrupting them on dates and authoring a newsletter called “The Burning Bush” that warns them of sin. Feeling bullied in their own homes, residents of Parkland decide to strike back. May’s vivid descriptions of the rhythms of life in the suburb, whose tight-knit middle-class families are unwilling to face a problem that can’t be solved by law, contrast with the largely unexplained motives of Stew Pot, who swings from harmless pest to violent menace. Yet, portrayed from a variety of perspectives that reveal vibrant lives in ordinary houses, Parkland is just as captivating when its most troubled son is not in the picture, as decades-old grudges and feuds come to light. (Mar.)

From the Publisher

"May slowly builds suspense as he persuasively unfolds the narrative in this work that reads like an Agatha Christie mystery. The characters, even those whose names are never mentioned, are versatile and relatable, and May’s descriptions embody a tapestry of words."
--Library Journal

"May 'persuasively unfolds the narrative,' and critics are buzzing."
--Library Journal, naming Bedrock Faith a "Best Debut" for Spring

"A perceptive and entrancing meditation on friendship and family, love and forgiveness."
--Kirkus Reviews

"May paints a memorable portrait of a community confronting itself....Recommended for fans of authors such as Valerie Wilson Wesley and would be an excellent candidate for book clubs."
--Chicago Public Library (staff pick)

"The depth and the magnetism and the humor of Eric Charles May's truly unforgettable characters makes this a neighborhood well worth visiting."
--New York Journal of Books

"Bedrock Faith is a strong, engaging novel--full of warmth and charm and honesty."
--Bookforum

"Bedrock Faith is an entertaining and heartfelt novel, and it provides an important look at a side of Chicago that is under-represented in today's literary fiction."
--Chicago Center for Literature and Photography

"Bedrock Faith isn't a short read, but it's a rich one, and the characters are engaging."
--Ebony Mag

"Bedrock Faith, [May's] debut, came out in March from Akashic Books...and judging from reviews calling May 'a gem of a writer' and comparing him to James Baldwin, he did a masterful job."
--Newcity, Lit 50 2014: Who Really Books In Chicago

"The story is hilarious...and Eric's performance brought it more to life than it already was."
--Chicago Literati, Review of July CCLaP showcase featuring Eric Charles May

"Fast-paced...suspenseful and meditative in equal measure."
--Chicago Reader

"Mrs. Motley is a creation the likes of whom many authors only dream of achieving...It is a gifted author who can show us such three-dimensional characters and make them come to life."
--KGB Bar Lit Magazine

"A compelling look at a tight-knit community battling a threat from within."
--Chicago Social Magazine

"Eric Charles May and James Baldwin share more than skin color and writing passion. They are masters of the complicated operas that unfold in a particular place, of the complexities and frailties of mankind. Bedrock Faith is May's first novel, and since approaching Baldwin is no idle feat, one only hopes he'll write more."
--Newcity

"Once I got started, I could not put [Bedrock Faith] down. I couldn't wait to see what was coming next, which of the neighbors would get their comeuppance and who would emerge as the final victor, Stew Pot or the people of Parkland."
--Read for Pleasure

"Eric Charles May is a gem of a writer."
--I've Read This

"Eric Charles May's first novel is delightful to read. There are a host of characters, each given the opportunity to tell their story, and there is plenty of action. Readers are welcomed into Parkland from the first page."
--Reeling and Writhing and Fainting in Coils

"A wonderful urban novel full of vitality and pathos and grit. I dug the ever-living hell out of it."
--Dennis Lehane, author of Live By Night

"Vividly told...It will make you shake your head, smile, laugh, wondering how are they going to work this out, as you’re moved along from one situation and one set of characters to the next."
--John Schultz, author of The Tongues of Men

"In Bedrock Faith, Eric Charles May has created a world inhabited by unforgettable, believable characters—the fervid Stew Pot Reeves, the patient Mrs. Motley—who will linger in your heart long after you've finished their story. A bittersweet, timeless book."
--Valerie Wilson Wesley, author of Dying in the Dark

"An impressive debut with unforgettable characters and an epic story line by an author who has appeared on the literary landscape fully formed."
--Colin Channer, author of The Girl with the Golden Shoes

Library Journal

11/15/2013
In this debut novel, May creates a middle-class African American neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, named Parkland, where residents are mainly older and have lived in the community since the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Despite the area's beauty, the neighborhood had once been terrorized by the young Gerald "Stew Pot" Reeves. He burned Mrs. Motley's garage, butchered a neighbor's cat, and terrorized others with his massive pit bull, Hitler. After Stew Pot is arrested for the rape of a white woman, Parkland returns to its quiet routine. When Stew Pot is released from prison at 31, he returns to Parkland and intimidates the people again, only this time as a Bible-thumping moral policeman who outs one neighbor and causes the death of another. VERDICT May slowly builds suspense as he persuasively unfolds the narrative in this work that reads like an Agatha Christie mystery. The characters, even those whose names are never mentioned, are versatile and relatable, and May's descriptions embody a tapestry of words. Like Ronald M. Gauthier's Crescent City Countdown, this story will appeal to readers of thrillers and African American fiction.—Ashanti White, Yelm, WA

Kirkus Reviews

2013-11-03
In this debut, May (Fiction Writing/Columbia College Chicago) walks the streets of Parkland on Chicago's South Side, exploring race, community and religion. May writes of a town settled by African-Americans fleeing Jim Crow's South. 1990s Parkland is a stable, middle-class community, with hardworking families long acquainted, each house known to all; redbrick two-flats, large wooden foursquares. May writes of Mrs. Motley, a retired school librarian and insurance agent's widow, with a son in the Army, stationed at Fort Sill; Mr. Davenport, a teacher and block-club president; Erma Smedley, divorced, beautiful enough that "the men perked up," who is hiding a secret; the Powells and Hicks; and 1960s radical Mrs. Butler, raising grandson Reggie. The familiar tranquility is fractured by Gerald "Stew Pot" Reeves, still young after nearly half a lifetime of imprisonment. Under the prison tutelage of Brother Crown, Stew Pot's seen "The Light," and he's intent on exposing the devil in Parkland. Stew Pot's witnessing soon flames into jeremiads, and as he exposes hidden transgressions, Parkland's perception of him changes "from the weird-but-harmless category to the crazy-dangerous-hot-list." Stew Pot discovers Erma is a "lesbianite." Erma's shamed and flees. Stew Pot drives the Davenports away and then frightens Mrs. Hicks, who later dies after collapsing from heatstroke. May writes with meticulous detail, seemingly tedious in listing clothing, houses, shops and churches, but as the complex saga unfolds, his detailed viewpoint lends credence to the humanity of Parkland's people. Stew Pot's exposure of secrets causes lifelong friendships to implode, and in a misdirected strike at Stew Pot, Mrs. Motley's treasured home is burned. With wounded veteran Mr. McTeer and Alderman Vernon Paiger as suitors, May's Mrs. Motley is a superbly rendered, evolving character and the narrative's heart: intent on dignified kindness and generosity, on propriety and perspective, yet plagued by unintended consequences and forced to ask herself, "what do you say to the pain of someone who felt horribly wronged by your right?" A perceptive and entrancing meditation on friendship and family, love and forgiveness.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173122308
Publisher:	Spotify Audiobooks
Publication date:	02/22/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged

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