It Will End with Us: A Novel

by Sam Savage

A slim but powerful poetic novel that tells the expansive story of a Southern woman’s memories of her mother and a vanishing world. It Will End With Us is Sam Savage’s latest deep dive into the mind and voice of a character, and his most personal work yet. With the raw materials of language and remembrance, Eve builds a memorial to the mother who raised her, emotionally abandoned her, and shaped her in her own image. Eve’s memories summon a childhood in rural South Carolina, a decaying house on impoverished soil, and an insular society succumbing to the influences of a wider world. “A wonderful, absorbing novel” (Atlantic Monthly) sculpted out of an “aphoristic scattering of memories—one- and two-sentence stand-alones that spill isolated down the page like little gems . . . showing us how memory works and how we make sense of our lives, drip by drip and sensation by sensation” (Library Journal). It Will End With Us is a portrait of a place full of hummingbirds and wild irises, but also of frustration and grief. It is the story of a family tragedy, provoked by a mother’s stifled ambitions, and seized by the wide-open gaze of a child. Rarely has a novel so brief taken on so much, so powerfully. “Reading the novel can feel like admiring dewdrops on a spider’s web, each paragraph and sentence glittering exquisitely. . . . Savage’s is a book of the heart as much as the head. Which is itself an accomplishment of no small to recognize the arbitrary, degraded thing that is memory, and allow it its loveliness for all of that.” —The New York Times Sunday Book Review “To call the book a novel, however, fails to acknowledge the poetry in its form.” —Carolina Quarterly “A novel written in a most unusual a series of brief paragraphs which sometimes read like diary entries, other times like descriptions from a book of recollections. The mosaic effect is enhanced by the author’s skillful use of language, his vivid, poetically-charged prose style.” —Lively Arts

Genres: Fiction, Southern

170 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 20, 2014

About the author

Sam Savage was an American novelist and poet. He was a native of South Carolina living in Madison, Wisconsin. He received his bachelor and doctoral degree from Yale University where he taught briefly, and also worked as a bicycle mechanic, carpenter, commercial fisherman, and letterpress printer.

Reviews

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

For some reason I am drawn to tiny books with black and white covers when I find them on the new books shelf, and this one came home with me for the same reason.

This is a long string of memories, of a fictional character in South Carolina. She is supposed to be a young girl but I never felt it as a girl, so every time her name came up or she mentioned dresses I'd be surprised again. It felt much more like the memories of the author himself. Definitely string of consciousness, some reflection on changing views of family and race, and having a mother with emotional problems.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do not start here if you you're new to the author - try Glass instead ... unless you're a huge fan of stream-of-consciousness as a genre, in which case this is your book! What I'm trying to get across is that there's no plot as such, only comments (her thoughts) on the main character's current life, alternating with flashback snippets, and I use the term specifically as there are A LOT of one-sentence paragraphs. In the end, much is left to be inferred, in case you're often frustrated in not being told explicitly what happened. That was okay for me as I find eccentric, quirky characters a big plus.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5. Southern Gothic made real. Sad without being sad. Funny how memory does that.

[Janette Mcmahon · Rating 4 out of 5]

What memories are truly ours, how many have we actually made ours simply by listening to others or our minds making the memories for us? A short, but intense novel written in first person with short spurts of "memories" in a seemingly random way, mimicking the way we remember.

[dc · Rating 3 out of 5]

short. elegant. poetic.

[Stephanie Sanders-Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so, so good. I need some time to process this one - but a longer review is coming (hopefully).

[Stephanie Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning!

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

So lyrical and beautiful, but never really leads anywhere. Would love this as a short story!

[Billy Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wonderful little book. Savage captures the imperfection of childhood memory while chasing the double-edged sword of creative pursuit in the process. A good read.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This rating maybe unfair. This is not my type of book. Almost stopped reading after a couple of pages. I stayed with it and it had me thinking what I'd write to describe events in my childhood.

[ange bltr · Rating 5 out of 5]

jjjjjjjjjjjjjj

[Kafizola · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure what to think. Disjointed writing.

[Robb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poignant. Reminds me something Harper Lee would put out. Would like to read another one from him.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I reached the line "I have no idea what the last sentence I wrote means" (p.20), I wondered if the main character, Eve, knew the meaning of anything she wrote. I told myself that I can be an author if I wrote in this style, full of random memories, some connected some not, flashing back and forth between the past and present. I was disappointed that the book did not describe South Carolina in particular, as I spent some years growing up there. The interchangeable use of the word "negro" and "colored" made me cringe, only because these are terms were used in the past, why was the author still using them in the present to recall the memories of her past? It shows some lingering ignorance, perhaps this is what was particular to South Carolina jk lol There was no plot or character development. I did like the choice of the title for the reason that Eve and her brothers did not have children and their life and memories die with them. I believe this is a good thing because her life was boring.

[Once-a-librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stream of consciousness style is not usually my choice for a novel as I prefer a well constructed plot. In spite of lacking a definite plot, though, the narrator's memories flow and describe people in a place and time as if it were a family portrait. I had previously read Sam Savage's "life as a dog" book so I was familiar with his style and appreciate the way his characters come to life and reveal their truths. Last time it was about an old man and his daughter; this time, an old woman and her mother - - along with the rest of the immediate family and the various significant neighbors whose lives intersect and are observed.

[Karen Ashmore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Supposedly about a girl growing up in SC. No plot just random ramblings that you could piece together to form a story - somewhat about a daughter and her mother driven mad by her domesticity and lack of artistic success, a worn out story especially in the South where gender roles are more rigid. Not crazy about this style of writing. Not much particular to SC -- could have taken place just about anywhere. (I'm from SC and would have added a lot more to make it distinct to SC).

[Barb Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the end of her life Eve takes stock of her scattered memories. Real and imagined memories of her childhood,her growing up home in South Carolina, and her parents and siblings bring her full circle as she randomly writes them in her composition notebook. This well written book would not be for everyone.... a little on the sad side of soul searching .

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Think of late-period David Markson--spare, epigrammic prose, but with an identified narrator, end-of-life musings and disintegration. In this novel, Eve Taggert looks back on her life and the mother who devoted her life to literature but apparently without any talent, who was emotionally destroyed by the realization that ambition and drive are not always enough.

[Jeff Bursey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoughts to come later, but definitely worth reading.

And here is a fuller review that's now online:

http://numerocinqmagazine.com/2014/11...

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review is here.

"The world seems to me such a poor and barren place, I can't imagine what a soul would find to live on here." p. 141

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

A stream-of-consciousness novel in which a Southern woman reflects on her upbringing with a mother who suffered emotional problems. Savage's writing is always strong and this is a quick read, but I felt it came up a bit short in the payoff, just stopping rather than satisfying.

[Terrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unusual format, but most enjoyable.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

a story in bits and pieces, best enjoyed in small bites. his subtlety and quiet details become a low drone if read too quickly. But, all together a lovely book

[Bruce Hollett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great read by Sam Savage. Stream of consciousness memories of mother falling from a daughter's mind.

[LC · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stream of consciousness. Not detailed.

[Tina Panik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poignant and succinct.