Down the Steep

by A.D. Nauman

"An engaging novel and a beautiful coming-of-age story." ~Rebecca Makkai, author of Pulitzer-finalist The Great Believers

The year is 1963 in small-town Virginia. Willa McCoy is a strong-minded teenager who longs to follow in the footsteps of her father, an important member of the KKK. Willa believes the Klan is daring and brave—like the father she idolizes. She wants only to rise in his esteem; he wants only to keep everyone in their place. When Willa is sent to babysit for the new minister's wife, Ruth Swanson, she finds herself at Ruth's kitchen table with Langston Jones, a smart young Black man. At first they despise each other, but they have one thing in they both love Ruth. When Langston reveals a secret he's discovered--that Willa's father is having an affair--the once-loyal daughter plots to destroy her father's reputation, unwittingly setting into motion a series of events that leads to her family's demise.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

326 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 10, 2023

About the author

A.D. Nauman is a literary author and educator in Chicago whose second novel, Down the Steep, will be released in October 2023. Her short fiction has appeared in Chicago Quarterly Review, Willow Springs, TriQuarterly, Roanoke Review, and many other journals. Nauman’s work has been recognized in Best American Short Stories and the Pushcart Prize anthology, produced by Stories on Stage, broadcast on NPR, and granted an Illinois Arts Council Literary Award. Her first novel, Scorch, was recently re-released in an ebook StoryBundle. Now a Midwesterner, Nauman grew up mostly in Tidewater, Virginia.

Visit her at adnauman.com. Order DOWN THE STEEP at https://regal-house-publishing.mybigc...

Reviews

[Alena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I purchased this book after meeting the author at my local bookstore. I was impressed by her and intrigued by this take on overcoming a racist upbringing told from the perspective of a young female protagonist. I was eager to start it but then life interrupted and a third of the way I put it down and didn't pick it back up for two months. Ultimately, I'm very glad I went back to it. On. the second try, I grew engrossed in Willa's story and the dangerous story she was telling. In the end, I couldn't put it down.
One thing bothered me throughout though and that was Willa's voice. Most of the time she narrated in the voice of the 12-yeart-old character she is, but then, there would be moments of sophisticated hindsight knowledge - as if the adults Willa was actually telling the story. I think that was intentional but the dissonance in voice was really distracting to me and prevented me from granting the 4th star.

[Garnett Kilberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book! I was short on time, so I planned to read only the first chapter and come back to it later but I could not put it down. Such a compelling story, with amazing details and characters. Right from when the mother was ironing "the hood" in the opening to the shocking and powerful ending, I was mesmerized. And I loved learning what happened to Willa (and Billy) later. It could be the new TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD from a startling different perspective.

[Sara Shacter · Rating 5 out of 5]

With twists and turns that kept me reading when I should have been asleep, this novel held me in its grip. But it wasn't just the plot that kept me awake. It was also the questions the book engendered -- questions about the world, our country, and the nature of humanity. I found myself thinking long and hard about my own history and how it affects my understanding of other people. Highly recommend this book!

[Midge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Small-town Virginia in 1963 is artfully and realistically rendered, as are the characters as they move through it. The novel holds up the town, turning it this way and that in order to explore each facet of these specific characters, at this specific time, in this specific place, as they make choices informed and misinformed by it. This has the effect of inviting the reader to think about all the other people in all the other towns and the choices they were - and still are - making.

This is serious and difficult subject matter handled with grace, as it is told by Willa, a 14 year old youngest child and daughter, whose attempts at agency result in escalating disasters. This makes the plot engrossing, building to an emotionally powerful and intellectually satisfying ending. I literally felt my heart racing at some points, and had to run for the Kleenex at the end. This is just a really great book.

[Mike O'Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel has a ton of things going for it. The premise (13-year-old daughter of a KKK leader in 1963 Virginia starts to see things for what they really are) is wholly original, the writing is sharp, the time and place are vivid, and the characters all have depth and distinctiveness. But the quality that makes it really stand out in my mind is the propulsive storytelling. Relatively early on, the story grabbed me by the arm and pulled and didn't stop pulling. I can’t say this about many books, but I genuinely looked forward all day to picking it up, and I hated putting it down.

I should add that I’m looking forward to my eighth-grader reading it. There’s nothing in the novel that would keep it from being a great (and appropriate) read for a YA audience too.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Down the Steep by A. D. Nauman is a remarkable story of Willa, a 13-year-old girl, growing up in Southern Virginia in the 60s to a community determined to keep their schools segregated and civil rights for whites only. She idealizes her father and his friends who are proud members of the Klan. Her thinking starts to broaden when she is introduced to a black boy and they become friends. Trying to walk both lines is nearly impossible and tragedy results. This novel has so much heart and wisdom about overcoming racism and the cost of losing family.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Someone recommended this for a book club and it was one of the best I’ve read this year. It’s very dense at times and gave me significant anxiety as I kept waiting for the worst but overall a really great depiction of the south at this time period and how issues of gender and race intersect in our society!

[Lindseybwhims · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was tremendously powerful and very well written story about a struggling family involved in the klan (🤢) and the strong female character who is able to escape the grasp of her family's ideas and try to undo them.

[Adam Shafer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sharply observed and alight with fury, A.D. Nauman’s novel scrutinizes the devastation of hate and the scarcity of courage. Her characters will break your heart more times than you can count.

[Kim Swartz · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 and 1/2 stars

[Joann · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tough read but well worth it.

[Lucy Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raw and emotional, but so smart, this one really gives an insight into how it feels to be young and just beginning to understand how ugly the world can be. Willa felt very personal on every level.

[Dorothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely amazing and engaging read. To say it was gorgeous, lyrical, and heartbreaking would be an understatement. The characters of Willa, Ruth, billy, daisy … will stick with me for a long time. The prose is beautiful. The story pulls you in. It's extraordinary!

[Megan McCarthy-Biank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Down the Steep hooked me early on. Nauman remarkably channels the mind of an impressionable adolescent during this crucial time period in the United States. Through Willa’s internal critical thinking and how she questions the adults in her life, she simultaneously challenges and affirms readers’ existing familiarity and beliefs about what the Deep South was like just a decade after Emmett Till became a nationally recognized name. How would the daughter of a Klan member respond to forced interaction with a black boy? Let alone one who had hopes and dreams of his own, and could recognize how to play his role and code-switch so intuitively? And since the author presents the story as Willa herself recounting her experiences, readers still anticipate the confirmation that everything went horribly wrong, despite Willa’s change of heart and diligence to do right.

Read the entire book review on the Cantina Book Club website: https://cantinabookclub.com/review/do...

Listen to the interview with A. D. Nauman on the Cantina Book Club podcast: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-vnr5e-1...

[Constance B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this book down. The authenticity of the setting drew me in. The characters’ development touched me deeply. And the plot kept building and building like a runaway train.

A full, memorable tale of vivid characters who are trapped, fooled, traumatized and ultimately redeemed. A.D. Nauman has done a beautiful job with very serious subjects. The racism and sexism of that time and place are so well conveyed and so sadly accurate. Yet in all that, there are flashes of welcome humor. These characters will continue to live in my mind.

Kudos, A.D!!