Torn

by Richard Snodgrass

At the beginning of World War I, John Lincoln Lyle, the son of a prominent family in his hometown of Furnass, PA, fell from a troop ship in New York Harbor; though it was thought he drowned, he actually survived but suffered hideous injuries to his face when struck by a ship’s propeller. As a result he must wear a mask in public, both for the protection of his wounds and to spare others the sight of his grotesque injuries. Now, twenty years later, he has returned unannounced to his hometown. His reasons are unclear though he makes inquiries about his twin sister, Mary Lydia, who was pregnant at the time he left, and his older stepbrother Gus, who inherited the family business, the Keystone Steam Works. Along the way, John Lincoln befriends Anna, the woman who owns the restaurant in the hotel where he is staying. When a young engineer, Daniel, who was embezzling the Steam Works, is found dead in an alley, suspicion falls both on Gus and on his son, Mal, each one who has motive and opportunity. The resolution sees the end of a proud family as well as a new beginning for John Lincoln.

244 pages, Hardcover

Published September 17, 2025

About the author

Richard Snodgrass is the critically acclaimed author of the “Books of Furnass” Series, an eleven-volume set of novels that explores the hopes, disappointments, relationships, and betrayals that make up life in a fictional Western Pennsylvania mill town and its surrounding farmlands from the time of the French and Indian War to modern day. The eleventh book in the series, Torn, will be released on September 17, 2025.

Snodgrass is also the author of There’s Something in the Back Yard, published in 1989 by Viking, and praised by Jack Stephens of the Washington Post Book World who wrote, “Observe this mysterious book and be changed.” Other works by Snodgrass include: An Uncommon Field: The Flight 93 Temporary Memorial, published in September of 2011 by Carnegie Mellon University Press, and Kitchen Things: An Album of Vintage Utensils and Farm Kitchen Recipes, published in 2013 by Skyhorse and named one of the year’s “best books to get you thinking about food” by the Associated Press.

Snodgrass’s short stories and essays have appeared in the New England Review/Bread Loaf Quarterly, South Dakota Review, California Review, Pittsburgh Quarterly, and elsewhere. He is also a master photographer who has been artist-in-residence at LightWorks (University of Syracuse) and at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, New Mexico. He is the recipient of a fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

Richard Snodgrass lives in Pittsburgh, PA, with his wife Marty and two indomitable female tuxedo cats, raised from feral kittens, named Frankie and Becca.

Reviews

[Mandy Annah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Torn” by Richard Snodgrass is a deeply moving exploration of identity, guilt, and renewal. Set against the backdrop of a small Pennsylvania town still echoing with old wounds, the novel blends mystery, family drama, and psychological depth with remarkable grace.

John Lincoln Lyle is an unforgettable character…his physical scars mirror the emotional fractures within his family, and Snodgrass writes him with quiet power and empathy. The prose is cinematic yet intimate, every scene charged with atmosphere and moral tension.

This isn’t just a story about what’s been lost… it’s about the fragile beauty of what can still be reclaimed. Torn lingers long after the final page.