The High Divide: A Novel

by Lin Enger

Overview

“The High Divide is a vivid reminder of why we read, and why we want to."*

In 1886, Gretta Pope wakes up one morning to discover that her husband is gone. Ulysses Pope has left his family behind on the far edge of Minnesota’s western prairie, with only a brief note and no explanation for why he left or where he’s heading. It doesn’t take long for Gretta’s young sons, Eli and Danny, to set off after him, leaving Gretta no choice but to search out the boys and their father and bring them all home.

Enger’s breathtaking portrait of the vast plains landscape is matched by the rich expanse of the story’s emotional terrain, in which pivotal historical events coincide with the intimate story of a family’s sacrifice and devotion.

“A deeply moving, gripping novel about one man’s quest for redemption and his family’s determination to learn the truth . . . Layered with meaning, this remarkable novel deserves to be read more than once. The High Divide proves Enger’s chops as a masterful storyteller.” —Ann Weisgarber, author of The Promise

“Blends adventure, two boys coming of age and an exploration of trust in marriage . . . The story captures the splendor of the 19th-century West.” —St. Paul Pioneer Press

“A compelling story of a house divided, of a man’s haunting pursuit of forgiveness, and a family’s search for the husband they thought they knew—but never really did.” —*True West Magazine

“A captivating story . . . Once you start turning the pages,  there’s no setting the book down.” —The Denver Post

“Enger’s novel is told in beautifully exact, liquid language . . .  Highly recommended.”  —Library Journal, starred review

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781616204754
Publisher:	Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Publication date:	05/12/2015
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	296,012
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

LIN ENGER is an Iowa Workshop graduate, the author of the novel Undiscovered Country, and the recipient of a James Michener Award and a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship. His short stories have appeared in Glimmer Train, Ascent, Great River Review, Wolf Head Quarterly, and other journals. He teaches at Minnesota State University Moorhead. His website is www.lin-enger.com.

Editorial Reviews

[A] compelling story of a house divided, of a man’s haunting pursuit of forgiveness, and a family’s search for the husband they thought they knew—but never really did . . . The High Divide is a vivid reminder of why we read, and why we want to.” —True West Magazine

“A captivating story . . . The adventure unfolds in prose at turns rollicking and sanguine; Enger is a master of pacing, and once you start turning the pages, there’s no setting the book down.” —Denver Post

“Patiently told and moving . . . [Enger’s] writing style is precise, restrained, and enlivened by his protagonists . . . Although some would call The High Divide a historical novel, it’s really a fine literary work that steps back in time a bit.  It offers an engaging and affecting story with very real characters.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Masterfully told . . . Enger’s writing is stark and coldly beautiful, befitting his subject matter and allowing the story itself to take pride of place. Enger has captured something uniquely American here, in the loneliness and simultaneous grandeur of the scenery, the restlessness in the hearts of his characters, and the need for redemption that is the key to Ulysses’s mysterious quest.” —The Daily Beast

“Blends adventure, two boys coming of age, and an exploration of trust in marriage. Set in 1886, the story captures the splendor of the 19th-century West.” —St. Paul Pioneer Press

“Based on two historical events, the Hornaday expedition of 1886 and the Washita incident, The High Divide is quietly captivating, growing more exciting as the pages turn.” —Washington Missourian

“[A] masterfully told Western reinvention of Homer’s Odyssey . . . Set against a backdrop of beauty and danger, this is the moving story of a man coming to terms with his past. In its narrative simplicity and emotional directness, it is reminiscent of John Ford’s classic The Searchers.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Moving through the High Divide—'the rough country between the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers'—even as its characters move through important divides, or turning points, of their own, Enger's novel is told in beautifully exact, liquid language that wastes no time, just as one cannot afford to waste time when making a journey such as the Pope family's. Highly recommended.” —Library Journal, starred review

From the Publisher

★ 07/21/2014
In this masterfully told Western reinvention of Homer’s Odyssey from Enger (Undiscovered Country), the year is 1886 when Ulysses Pope disappears from the family farm on Minnesota’s northern plains, leaving his wife, Gretta, and their sons, Eli and Danny, to fend for themselves. Eli and Danny hop a train west, following a meager trail of clues in search of their missing father. Gretta remains at home a while longer before going to see her sister-in-law in St. Louis in her own quest for answers. Gretta and her sons slowly uncover Ulysses’s dark secrets from his time in the Seventh Cavalry under Custer. The brothers head further west, through the Badlands and into the Montana Territory, eventually meeting up with William T. Hornaday, who has mounted an expedition to kill one of the last buffalo and put it on display at the Smithsonian. Eli joins Hornaday’s expedition, bringing him closer to a confrontation with his father and to learning about Ulysses’s troubled past. Set against a backdrop of beauty and danger, this is the moving story of a man coming to terms with his past. In its narrative simplicity and emotional directness, it is reminiscent of John Ford’s classic The Searchers. Agent: P.J. Mark, Janklow & Nesbit. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

“The High Divide, a novel about a family in peril, is haunting and tense but leavened by considerable warmth and humanity. Lin Enger writes with durable grace about a man’s quest for redemption and the human capacity for forgiveness.” —Benjamin Percy, author of Red Moon

“The High Divide is a deeply moving, gripping novel about one man’s quest for redemption and his family’s determination to learn the truth. Written with lean, crisp prose, Enger seamlessly blends historical events with the personal, and deftly pulls the reader into America’s Great Plains during the 19th Century. The narrators’ voices are captivating, and I was spellbound by the author’s ability to express the human condition and especially the complicated bonds between fathers and sons. Layered with meaning, this remarkable novel deserves to be read more than once. The High Divide proves Enger’s chops as a masterful storyteller.” —Ann Weisgarber, author of The Promise

“Lin Enger sets out from the conventions of the traditional Western and brings the reader into new emotional territory, that of the soul of an exquisitely drawn, American family. Told with caring patience and precise language, The High Divide is a novel to get lost in.” —James Scott, author of The Kept

Review quotes

Lin Enger’s second tale moves Homer’s ODYSSEY to the High Divide, the wilderness area between the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers, creating an epic that is part historical novel and part Western. Patrick Lawlor narrates with a skilled delivery, letting us come to know Ulysses Pope, his family, and the dark secrets that send him on an odyssey to find redemption, forgiveness, and home. His delivery complements Enger’s beautiful descriptions, which evoke the harsh beauty of a landscape the author obviously knows intimately. He gives voice to the soul-tortured Ulysses; his proud and steadfast wife, Eli; the son who quickly becomes a man; and the sickly Danny, who gains health and strength in the quest to reunite the family. N.E.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2014 - AudioFile

Lin Enger’s second tale moves Homer’s ODYSSEY to the High Divide, the wilderness area between the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers, creating an epic that is part historical novel and part Western. Patrick Lawlor narrates with a skilled delivery, letting us come to know Ulysses Pope, his family, and the dark secrets that send him on an odyssey to find redemption, forgiveness, and home. His delivery complements Enger’s beautiful descriptions, which evoke the harsh beauty of a landscape the author obviously knows intimately. He gives voice to the soul-tortured Ulysses; his proud and steadfast wife, Eli; the son who quickly becomes a man; and the sickly Danny, who gains health and strength in the quest to reunite the family. N.E.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2014 - AudioFile

2014-08-14
Set in 1886, Enger's novel embraces not one but three journeys that involve guilt, expiation and redemption. The first quest is that of Ulysses Pope, who lives with his wife, Gretta, and two sons, Eli and Danny. One day, Ulysses ups and disappears from their home in Sloan's Crossing, Minnesota, leaving no note and no reason to part. For the previous year—in fact, ever since he was baptized—Gretta had noticed some strange behavior in her husband but nothing to make her think he'd leave home. Although Eli is only a teenager, he quickly decides to pursue his father to find out what happened. He tries to sneak away in the dead of night but finds that Danny has followed him; even though his brother is rather sickly, Eli lets him stay on the quest in pursuit of their father. Meanwhile, in a plot development that would reek of soap opera if it weren't so well-handled, moneylender Mead Fogarty is putting pressure on Gretta to acknowledge that her husband has left permanently and that her best opportunity for economic survival resides with him. Eli and Danny finally catch up with their father, who, it turns out, has led something of a secret life: He was in Custer's Indian campaign out West and committed an atrocity against an Indian family. The motive for his journey has been to try to make amends for his crime. The psychology of character deepens as, along the way, he starts to get involved in the third quest of the novel—hunting in Montana with a scientist/taxidermist from the Smithsonian who wants to kill buffalo and have them stuffed so their legacy will not be lost on future generations. Enger writes in an expansive style suitable to his sprawling subject.

Kirkus Reviews