A Spanish gravedigger with the power to hear the dead struggles to keep his family together in this debut novel.In a small, whitewashed village, indistinguishable from any other in Andalusia, Juan Rodrigo is a gravedigger. The job was handed down to him by his father, as was the ability to hear the voices of the dead and to tell their stories to the living. Though the details and revelations of these accounts aren't always well received, Juan is a respected member of the community who encourages people to understand and to forgive. But his own tolerance is tested when his young daughter, just on the brink of adulthood, falls in love with a Romani boy Juan doesn't approve of. Incorporating aspects of magic realism, Peter Grandbois' distinctive voice and style lures readers to an enchanting place where spirits and people coexist harmoniously."Readers who revel in magic realism will embrace this poignant debut about a poor but honest Spaniard with a gift for...

ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Award WinnerFinalist for Foreword's 2011 Book of the Year Award in Literary Fiction"[Nahoonkara]...incorporates elements of historical fiction with experimental fiction, but nothing that pulls the reader out of the fictional dream."—Robin Martin,Gently Read Literature"Departing from traditional narrative form, Grandbois moves masterfully between first, second, and third persons to invite readers into a textual visualization of how individual choices affect the well-being of the community." —Review of Contemporary Fiction"Peter Grandbois is a splendid writer I intend to follow very closely."—Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize Winning author of A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain"Vividly drawn, exquisitely crafted, Nahoonkara bespeaks not just the promise of its author, but also his undeniable power."—Laird Hunt, author of...