The Pugilist's Wife

by David Armand

Winner of the 2010 George Garrett Fiction Prize

The Pugilist's Wife  tells the story of Magdalene Tucker, a jilted woman who takes in a drifter during one of Sun, Louisiana's worst recorded droughts. When the townspeople find out about this, they decide to lead a sort of crusade to Magdalene's farm in order to put an end to Magdalene's and this man's sins, thinking them the sole cause of the town's plight. But no one can predict that this convergence upon Magdalene's land will turn violent, resulting in a brutal and bloody climax, where chance and coincidence take a back seat to love, honor, revenge, and pride.

Genres: Southern Gothic

183 pages, Paperback

First published November 28, 2011

About the author

David Armand was born and raised in Louisiana. He has worked as a drywall hanger, a draftsman, and as a press operator in a flag printing factory. From 2017-2019, he served as Writer-in-Residence at Southeastern Louisiana University, where he currently holds the Leola R. Purcell Endowed Professorship in English. In 2010, he won the George Garrett Fiction Prize for his first novel, The Pugilist's Wife, which was published by Texas Review Press. He has since published three more novels, four collections of poetry, and three memoirs. Armand is also the 2022 recipient of the Louisiana Writer Award, which is presented annually by the Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana, which recognizes outstanding contributions to Louisiana’s literary and intellectual life exemplified by a contemporary Louisiana writer’s body of work. Armand's next novel, Walk the Night, is forthcoming from Texas Review Press.

Reviews

[Marti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite my dislike for the lack of punctuation and much wasted space on the pages, this story and the characters sucked me in.

" . . . hopeful still and looking ahead. Always ahead."

[Gerry Beane · Rating 5 out of 5]

David writes as someone much older - someone who has seen a lot of life well beyond his years. His understanding and descriptions of rural southern evangelical fundamentalism add to the realism of the storyline - which is very compelling. Writing in a southern dialect is a risky approach that can come across as stilted and affected but that David handles with a realistic aplomb down to the detail of leaving apostrophes out of contracted words in the written speech, which only adds to the authenticity.

His method of revealing a complex sequence of events through the use of contemporaneous narrative intermixed with flash forwards (through Vermena, a member of the small congregation that plays a pivotal role in the plot development) is challenging but maintains the slow build of anticipation and an expected, yet undefined, dread in the reader. His plot development is very creative as he skillfully builds to the climax and a very satisfying denouement - one that caught this reader by complete surprise!

Just as in the best musical compositions, the spaces between notes (silences) are strategically as important as the notes themselves. David has deftly used the parts of the plot that aren’t specifically expressed but left up to the reader to “fill in the blanks” to maximum advantage.

I am very much looking forward to future works from this sophisticated craftsman. I highly recommend this book.

[Leah Eskine · Rating 5 out of 5]

While most writers are warned against using dialect in storytelling and told they can be accused of "dumbing down" the characters, David Armand puts dialect to very good use creating a sense of dread and even dignity in some characters.
But it is this author's overall writing style that drew me in from the first paragraph. Armand's description early on sets the stage for this powerful read. Southern summers are memorable and are brought to life in the beginning of this novel trough use of metaphor and simile - heat is like a "damp wool blanket," leaves are a "sharp yellow brown," all images which help to create the feelings of "death, dryness and loss of hope" in the second paragraph. All description setting the stage for this compelling story.
His characters are given the space they need to support this effort. Magdalene's early descriptive hints of sexual abuse left this reader with chilling anticipation of what will follow. As remarkable as she is as character, it is Verbena , the church goer who acts as the Stage Manager, and directs us to several scene. For a Southerner, there is some dark humor in Verbena's religious references. the only comic relief occurs when Magdalene's sort of husband hops into the converted car on the interstate to get home. You had to be there.
This novel is a page turner for me, and I appreciate the author's making it a shorter read, proving his skill at unquestionable craft. The use of blood as symbol and Magdalene's emergence as the strong southern woman who stands up to her husband and to town mores as they were, merge to make this a great read and well deserving of five stars and more.

[Janette · Rating 5 out of 5]

David's debut novel offers the reader an engrossing look into a small southern town that draws you in and won't allow you to let go until the last page is read. His prose are eloquently written with such rich values, you find yourself able to feel, smell, and even taste the true grit in every description. He delivers characters that are written with an honesty that rings true to life. Faulkner readers will find David's work a refreshing edition to the southern novels they love. I inhaled this book in one sitting and was so excited that I had his second novel, Harlow, ready at hand to read next. Having grown up in small southern towns I found the entirety of this work to be such a perfect depiction of that world.

[Diana Jacobsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Armand has a way of storytelling. I was pulled in from the first page. Even though I tried to put this book down I just could not seem to close the book till I was finished. There is murder, small town gossip, love and betrayal, pride and revenge which all makes for a great story. What more could you ask for in a small town Lousiana setting.