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Of Ashes and Dust
He has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes. - Job 30:19 (NKJV)
Jim Robbins is a dead man, and he knows it. He's fought Yankee and Pawnee, fought for the love of two very different women, fought for his very survival. Now, as the scenes of his life flash before him, his greatest struggle is about to begin.
Wounded in a railroad explosion, Jim reviews those moments that shaped him. From the inequities of the Antebellum South, to the horrors of the American Civil War, to the juggernaut of westward expansion, he played his part in the events that forged a nation--and not always for the better.
In his debut novel, Marc Graham explores what it is that defines a life. Is there meaning and purpose, or is it all just a series of accidents? Is a man simply the victim of circumstance, or maker of his own destiny? Perhaps most important, do his choices and actions survive him, or is his life but a stirring of ashes and dust?
Jim Robbins is a dead man, and he knows it. He's fought Yankee and Pawnee, fought for the love of two very different women, fought for his very survival. Now, as the scenes of his life flash before him, his greatest struggle is about to begin.
Wounded in a railroad explosion, Jim reviews those moments that shaped him. From the inequities of the Antebellum South, to the horrors of the American Civil War, to the juggernaut of westward expansion, he played his part in the events that forged a nation--and not always for the better.
In his debut novel, Marc Graham explores what it is that defines a life. Is there meaning and purpose, or is it all just a series of accidents? Is a man simply the victim of circumstance, or maker of his own destiny? Perhaps most important, do his choices and actions survive him, or is his life but a stirring of ashes and dust?
- GenresFiction
337 pages, Hardcover
Published March 22, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 13, 2017
Marc Graham's debut novel, OF ASHES AND DUST, is a masterful story of a man's reflection on his life as he lies on the edge of death. He effortlessly weaves history with fiction in this epic journey through time, and touches on all aspects of the human condition. Love, war, death, racism... this book has it all. Though it was a little slow to start, the story quickly picked up as we follow Jim "Jade" Robbins through his life from childhood to death. He's instantly a likable, relatable character you want to root for. I highly recommend this book for those wanting to journey through the civil war era and beyond.
July 7, 2017
This novel starts of with a bang – literally. Jim Robbins, the hero of the tale gets blown up while helping to lay new railroad in Australia. As he lays dying he looks back on his life – the good, the bad and yes, the ugly. He goes all the way back to his childhood on the family farm where his father worked for the rich neighbor until he was severely injured, through the Civil War, westward expansion and more.
Jim was a young man who due to his upbringing should have finished his life much as it started – poor and uneducated but he was given an opportunity to better himself and he took advantage of whatever he could. He loved to read and he learned a valuable trade that would carry him forward the rest of his life.
This book touches on so many themes from slavery – including the treatment of slaves and runaway slaves – class differences, Masonry, immigrant policies, Indian policies and more. It’s a lot of controversy to cover in one man’s life and yet it does somehow all work. Jim is a fascinating character and a complex one. He does seem to suffer from more than his fair share of tragedy and I, being a hopeful soul was a touch distressed by this. But life is not always about the happy ending. This was a thought provoking, page turner of a book.
4.5
Jim was a young man who due to his upbringing should have finished his life much as it started – poor and uneducated but he was given an opportunity to better himself and he took advantage of whatever he could. He loved to read and he learned a valuable trade that would carry him forward the rest of his life.
This book touches on so many themes from slavery – including the treatment of slaves and runaway slaves – class differences, Masonry, immigrant policies, Indian policies and more. It’s a lot of controversy to cover in one man’s life and yet it does somehow all work. Jim is a fascinating character and a complex one. He does seem to suffer from more than his fair share of tragedy and I, being a hopeful soul was a touch distressed by this. But life is not always about the happy ending. This was a thought provoking, page turner of a book.
4.5
May 27, 2017
This book was a fascinating work of historical fiction. I truly enjoyed how smoothly the story flowed and how attached I became to the main character Jim Robbins. The tail is easy to get sucked into as you follow his life from a boy, to a man. The story is full of adventure, war, love, and loss.
The book is well written and although comprehensive with many characters, plot twists, and location changes, the story is easy to follow and ties up all loose-ends nicely by the final chapter.
The entertainment value I received from this novel was excellent! I can't wait to read more from this author, although this book will be hard to top.
The book is well written and although comprehensive with many characters, plot twists, and location changes, the story is easy to follow and ties up all loose-ends nicely by the final chapter.
The entertainment value I received from this novel was excellent! I can't wait to read more from this author, although this book will be hard to top.
July 31, 2018
This novel pulled me in from page one and didn’t let me go until I read through it nonstop. Jim Robbins was a sharecropper’s son in love with the master’s daughter. Life has a way of changing one’s story. He was educated by the master’s family. He was a blacksmith, a surveyor, a gunner during the civil war, and a builder of railroads. Freemasonry was woven through his life. Life didn’t go as he planned, but it was full. Life is what we make it in spite of loss and disappointments. Excellent book.
July 31, 2017
Would have rather cleaned my bathroom than finish the book. I did finish but it is definitely not my taste in books.
March 31, 2017
Of Ashes and Dust is the debut novel of up and coming (in my humble opinion) author Marc Graham.
"So this is what it is to die."
James Robbins is a man surviving. And dying. And doing both simultaneously as he treks the sojourn of his life. Of Ashes and Dust follows one man's quest to be become every man. Spanning the mid to late 1800s with a predominant layover in the Civil War era, James (also called JD, Jimmy, and Jade depending on the company he keeps) starts his life as the son of a sharecropper making friends with the slaves and falling in love with the girl he wasn't supposed to have. His story flashes in fragments before him as he relives what was, what is, and what could have been. He learned to smoke a pipe, he learned to lie; he saved lives and he took lives - and he learned to love. We begin with him at the end to have a front row view of the sordid conflicts he's faced from fighting the Yankees to the Indians to his own brethren. His life manifests as an integral cog in the expansion of the American West from Arkansas to California, and as he relives the choices he's made - he wasn't always on the right side. Wounded in a railroad explosion that begins his calculated flashback, Jimmy Robbins seeks the purpose of this life - and may he find it.
Marc Graham has crafted a beautiful debut historical fiction novel. His settings are richly drawn evoking an ambitious to desire to be where the novel takes you with all the senses afoot, "The birds cawed at me and I squawked at them, still running, until I reached the woods at the far side of the field." His characters are fleshed out with detail and alive with design, "Where he was beefy and powerfully built, she was gaunt with a sharp, angular face etched with worry lines that her tightly pulled-back hair and severe bun did little to smooth." The conflict, particularly in battle scenes of the Civil War, reminded me of palpable imagery from The Red Badge of Courage where bloodshed and loss gripped the reader both heart and soul. The love scenes were tender and tasteful, and apropos - something lacking in so much of today's fiction.
I particularly enjoyed the protagonist's point of view (James Robbins). He was a man on a mission and you were with him. When he failed, I failed; when he won, I won. The novel flowed in such a way that turning pages didn't feel much like turning pages and more like a film reel unfolding before me. Of Ashes and Dust gives the gift of hope - that one man can change the face of the world in which he lives, that a life does truly matter. I finished the novel in less than 48 hours - I couldn't put it down. I had to know how James Robbins ended where he began. I needed to see the life he lived. And what a life it was.
I happily give this debut novel ☕☕☕☕ and look forward to more work from Graham. He is an author to watch - mark my words.
For more about him, his debut novel, and his whiskey aficionado ideas, visit his website at http://www.marc-graham.com/
You can find his novel for purchase in both hardback and Kindle format on Amazon.com.
Note: I received an ARC digital copy of this novel in exchange for a candid and honest review.
"So this is what it is to die."
James Robbins is a man surviving. And dying. And doing both simultaneously as he treks the sojourn of his life. Of Ashes and Dust follows one man's quest to be become every man. Spanning the mid to late 1800s with a predominant layover in the Civil War era, James (also called JD, Jimmy, and Jade depending on the company he keeps) starts his life as the son of a sharecropper making friends with the slaves and falling in love with the girl he wasn't supposed to have. His story flashes in fragments before him as he relives what was, what is, and what could have been. He learned to smoke a pipe, he learned to lie; he saved lives and he took lives - and he learned to love. We begin with him at the end to have a front row view of the sordid conflicts he's faced from fighting the Yankees to the Indians to his own brethren. His life manifests as an integral cog in the expansion of the American West from Arkansas to California, and as he relives the choices he's made - he wasn't always on the right side. Wounded in a railroad explosion that begins his calculated flashback, Jimmy Robbins seeks the purpose of this life - and may he find it.
Marc Graham has crafted a beautiful debut historical fiction novel. His settings are richly drawn evoking an ambitious to desire to be where the novel takes you with all the senses afoot, "The birds cawed at me and I squawked at them, still running, until I reached the woods at the far side of the field." His characters are fleshed out with detail and alive with design, "Where he was beefy and powerfully built, she was gaunt with a sharp, angular face etched with worry lines that her tightly pulled-back hair and severe bun did little to smooth." The conflict, particularly in battle scenes of the Civil War, reminded me of palpable imagery from The Red Badge of Courage where bloodshed and loss gripped the reader both heart and soul. The love scenes were tender and tasteful, and apropos - something lacking in so much of today's fiction.
I particularly enjoyed the protagonist's point of view (James Robbins). He was a man on a mission and you were with him. When he failed, I failed; when he won, I won. The novel flowed in such a way that turning pages didn't feel much like turning pages and more like a film reel unfolding before me. Of Ashes and Dust gives the gift of hope - that one man can change the face of the world in which he lives, that a life does truly matter. I finished the novel in less than 48 hours - I couldn't put it down. I had to know how James Robbins ended where he began. I needed to see the life he lived. And what a life it was.
I happily give this debut novel ☕☕☕☕ and look forward to more work from Graham. He is an author to watch - mark my words.
For more about him, his debut novel, and his whiskey aficionado ideas, visit his website at http://www.marc-graham.com/
You can find his novel for purchase in both hardback and Kindle format on Amazon.com.
Note: I received an ARC digital copy of this novel in exchange for a candid and honest review.
May 1, 2017
Mark Graham in his debut novel has created a heart-rending, soul searching story of a man reflecting on his life as it ebbs away. Of Ashes and Dust follows James (JD, or Jade) Robbins as the son of a poor sharecropper, comfortable with the Negro slaves in the fields of Arkansas in 1846. Growing into his teen years, he falls hopelessly in love with the daughter of the owner of the land on which his family works, and gives his heart and soul to her until they are split by the Civil War, changing the beautiful, passionate young man into a world weary, combat wounded veteran. The emotionally charged descriptions of the Civil War battles stabs at the heart and cries with the protagonist, until he is mustered out. Graham poignantly paints a deeply ravaged person mourning the loss of his love who could not wait for his return with a depth of feeling I hadn't realized could come from a man. Jim Robbins leaves with his buddy Dave to work the railroad expansion west and eventually finds another love with whom he can share a mutual life philosophy. The author provides rich descriptive detail of the struggle moving west with unerring historical accuracy, the interaction and tragedy of confronting native peoples, and the immigrant Chinese working the railroad; human lives deemed expendable. The characters are fleshed out so well, you ache to have them somehow survive--where is my "happy ever after?" This story grabs you by the collar from the beginning, but inexorably builds upon itself until, while you know what is going to happen, don't know how until the end...and then it's crushing. Sometimes you read a book that stays with you after "the End." This is one of those. I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. It is packed with intense sensibility, love, power, loss, regret, and triumph. Recommended for anyone interested in a book that won't let you go.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews