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In the House of Wilderness: A Novel
Rain is a young woman under the influence of a charismatic drifter named Wolf and his other “wife,” Winter. Through months of wandering homeless through the cities, small towns, and landscape of Appalachia, the trio have grown into a kind of desperate family, a family driven by exploitation and abuse. A family that Rain must escape.
When she meets Stratton Bryant, a widower living alone in an old east Tennessee farmhouse, Rain is given the chance to see a bigger world and find herself a place within it. But Wolf will not let her part easily. When he demands loyalty and obedience, the only way out is through an episode of violence that will leave everyone involved permanently damaged.
A harrowing story of choice and sacrifice, In the House of Wilderness is a novel about the modern South and how we fight through hardship and grief to find a way home.
264 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 10, 2018
7 people are currently reading
229 people want to read
About the author
Charles Dodd White
13 books232 followersCharles Dodd White is the author of six books. He has received the Appalachian Book of the Year Award and the Chaffin Award for his fiction. His next novel, THE WORLD ITSELF, is forthcoming in 2027 from Regal House. He lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he teaches English at Pellissippi State Community College.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
August 5, 2021
This is the first book I've read by this author, and Charles Dodd White has my full attention. He's a composer of words instead of musical notes, an artist painting pictures with a pen rather than a brush, you get the picture. I've never come across these, for instance. "Rhetorical smiles", "the varnish of habit".
Other reviews have noted similarities to Cormac McCarthy, but to me, White's writing is not nearly as dark as McCarthy's usual fare. He told a story I enjoyed, stocked with characters I believed. For those of you who would like a slice of Southern noir, but not wanting to venture too deeply into bleak and gritty territory, this might be one for you to try.
Thank you to Diane Barnes, whose review steered me to this author. I already have another of his books coming my way. Happy to have this author on my radar.
Other reviews have noted similarities to Cormac McCarthy, but to me, White's writing is not nearly as dark as McCarthy's usual fare. He told a story I enjoyed, stocked with characters I believed. For those of you who would like a slice of Southern noir, but not wanting to venture too deeply into bleak and gritty territory, this might be one for you to try.
Thank you to Diane Barnes, whose review steered me to this author. I already have another of his books coming my way. Happy to have this author on my radar.
July 11, 2021
I don't live in Tennessee, but I've visited (does that count?) That didn't keep me from appreciating some of the details scattered through here. The conversation about the merits of George Dickel vs Kentucky bourbon. The canoe trip down the river where Deliverance was filmed. The nod to Suttree, the nod, or maybe grimace, to Eustace Conway and his Turtle Island commune outside of Boone, although the names were changed. (My husband watches Mountain Men). But those are just details that prove White knows his area and his people.
The real artistry here is a textured plot and the characters that make it function. I found it both riveting enough to read without pausing, but needing to pause and digest what was happening and why, and the beautiful prose that tied it all together.
And thank you forever Mr. White, for not letting the relationship between Rain and Stratton turn into what a lot of authors would not have been able to resist. I wasn't sure how the novel would end, but considered it perfect when I got there.
The real artistry here is a textured plot and the characters that make it function. I found it both riveting enough to read without pausing, but needing to pause and digest what was happening and why, and the beautiful prose that tied it all together.
And thank you forever Mr. White, for not letting the relationship between Rain and Stratton turn into what a lot of authors would not have been able to resist. I wasn't sure how the novel would end, but considered it perfect when I got there.
May 7, 2019
I didn’t read the blurb before starting the book. I read chapter 1 and wondered where will this go. After reading chapter 2, I told my husband “I think chapter 2 may be one of the best chapters I’ve ever read in a book.” After that I knew this book would be amazing and would not let me down. The plot and characters were developed perfectly. Highly recommend after receiving 5 perfect stars. Go ahead and order your copy from Amazon or check with Ohio University Press. You’ll want your own copy of this one. In the meantime, I learned a new term “Appalachian Gothic”.
March 10, 2026
After joining a Southern Literature group here many years ago, I’ve come across so many Southern authors that I had never encountered – Charles Dodd White was one of them. I had known of his books for a while, but could not find his work anywhere close by. During a trip to Knoxville, I ran across his ‘How Fire Runs’ and thought it would be a good chance to check him out. As you see from my review (How Fire Runs), I enjoyed what I read and ‘In the House of Wilderness’ is no different. Pain, Appalachia, and the ins and outs of everyday life are on center stage. Primary characters are drawn out, yet you’re not exactly sure how their paths will clash, while secondary characters are given as much emotion and development as the primary ones; you feel like you know them, feel them, and are there to experience what you’re reading.
Towards the end of the book, there is a sentence that mentions the phrase “A Year Without Months”, which foreshadows a non-fiction collection of 14 essays of the same name published 4 years later. I mention this because if you read the words describing the book, you’ll find a man that has lived through trauma that many of us will never have to face. Dodd White writes about what he knows and does it well. If you’re a fan of Larry Brown, Michael Farris Smith and/or David Joy, I’d give him a chance. The prose is top notch and should be recognized for what it is.
Towards the end of the book, there is a sentence that mentions the phrase “A Year Without Months”, which foreshadows a non-fiction collection of 14 essays of the same name published 4 years later. I mention this because if you read the words describing the book, you’ll find a man that has lived through trauma that many of us will never have to face. Dodd White writes about what he knows and does it well. If you’re a fan of Larry Brown, Michael Farris Smith and/or David Joy, I’d give him a chance. The prose is top notch and should be recognized for what it is.
October 9, 2021
In the House of Wilderness (2018) opens this way:
The trio called themselves Wolf, Winter, and Rain, names they had given themselves when they met, fell in love, and declared their marriage to each other. After winter ended and the weather warmed they headed for the wilderness; “[w]hen the women asked where they were going, Wolf said that they were finding the paradise that was intended….” And he promised that “they would find the secret heart of contentment.”
At the beginning of Chapter 2, we meet the other important character in the story, one who is introduced this way: “Stratton Bryant met the man who meant to rid him of the house.”
He is a forty-something teacher at a nearby community college, who lost his wife, a well-known and talented photographer, in an accident a year ago. He is still struggling to come to terms with his loss and has turned more and more to alcohol in an effort to drown his sorrows, but it isn’t working.
“The man who meant to rid him of the house” is a local realtor. Stratton has just completed another semester at the college and in an attempt to change course has decided to sell his home.
The house “had been their realized hope, finding a place in the woods, with all the folded land around them, the Smoky Mountains at their backs.” Now the hope was unrealized and he had decided that it was time to move on to ----- well, he didn’t know to what or where.
The realtor advised him to maybe do some painting to spruce up the house a bit, which Stratton was capable of doing. But he had another problem for which he possessed no talent. His neglected flower garden was a disaster and he did not know how to bring it back to life. As fate would have it, circumstances contrived to help him with his problem in the person of Rain, the nineteen-year old member of the wilderness trio.
She had taken to the road to escape a troubled and unhappy home life, but had become weary of that as well. She made a getaway from the other two on a day that Wolf pulled a gun on her. He had not been happy to see her go.
She walked into Stratton’s life and ended up telling him that she could give him a hand with getting the house ready for sale, especially she could do something about that flower garden. Something made Stratton agree to the proposition, maybe because both were at a turning point without knowing which way to turn -- and she moved in. He concocted the story that Rain was a visiting niece but his best friend didn’t buy that story, and perhaps others didn’t either, but to Stratton and Rain it didn’t much matter. They needed a sense of belonging; they needed each other.
That sets the stage; and there is much more to come.
Charles Dodd White packs a lot of story into novels of two hundred or so pages. That doesn’t mean, however, that he is a minimalist. Far from it, for his lyrical and descriptive prose is one of the trademarks of his writing. His novels are also character driven to the point that we feel that we are personally acquainted with the people who populate the fictional world that he creates.
Furthermore, he knows how to hook the reader by generating immediate interest that makes it difficult to set his books aside. But after the opening, he then slows the pace in order to develop his characters and to begin the process of layering a slow-burn plot that explodes at the end, with the Appalachian wilderness as a backdrop and playing a supporting role.
In the House of Wilderness is such a book.
These three had survived by charity and deceit for the better part of the winter. Two women and one man, all young and adrift in the turns of the American South. They’d left the wilderness preserve the autumn before, hitchhiked down into Charlotte, and stood around bus stations telling fictions of abandonment to any kindly face. Taking the dollars with self-abasement, saying God’s blessings and crushing the money into their rucksacks until they collected enough for food and weed and the means to find a new place to hold them.
The trio called themselves Wolf, Winter, and Rain, names they had given themselves when they met, fell in love, and declared their marriage to each other. After winter ended and the weather warmed they headed for the wilderness; “[w]hen the women asked where they were going, Wolf said that they were finding the paradise that was intended….” And he promised that “they would find the secret heart of contentment.”
At the beginning of Chapter 2, we meet the other important character in the story, one who is introduced this way: “Stratton Bryant met the man who meant to rid him of the house.”
He is a forty-something teacher at a nearby community college, who lost his wife, a well-known and talented photographer, in an accident a year ago. He is still struggling to come to terms with his loss and has turned more and more to alcohol in an effort to drown his sorrows, but it isn’t working.
“The man who meant to rid him of the house” is a local realtor. Stratton has just completed another semester at the college and in an attempt to change course has decided to sell his home.
The house “had been their realized hope, finding a place in the woods, with all the folded land around them, the Smoky Mountains at their backs.” Now the hope was unrealized and he had decided that it was time to move on to ----- well, he didn’t know to what or where.
The realtor advised him to maybe do some painting to spruce up the house a bit, which Stratton was capable of doing. But he had another problem for which he possessed no talent. His neglected flower garden was a disaster and he did not know how to bring it back to life. As fate would have it, circumstances contrived to help him with his problem in the person of Rain, the nineteen-year old member of the wilderness trio.
She had taken to the road to escape a troubled and unhappy home life, but had become weary of that as well. She made a getaway from the other two on a day that Wolf pulled a gun on her. He had not been happy to see her go.
She walked into Stratton’s life and ended up telling him that she could give him a hand with getting the house ready for sale, especially she could do something about that flower garden. Something made Stratton agree to the proposition, maybe because both were at a turning point without knowing which way to turn -- and she moved in. He concocted the story that Rain was a visiting niece but his best friend didn’t buy that story, and perhaps others didn’t either, but to Stratton and Rain it didn’t much matter. They needed a sense of belonging; they needed each other.
That sets the stage; and there is much more to come.
Charles Dodd White packs a lot of story into novels of two hundred or so pages. That doesn’t mean, however, that he is a minimalist. Far from it, for his lyrical and descriptive prose is one of the trademarks of his writing. His novels are also character driven to the point that we feel that we are personally acquainted with the people who populate the fictional world that he creates.
Furthermore, he knows how to hook the reader by generating immediate interest that makes it difficult to set his books aside. But after the opening, he then slows the pace in order to develop his characters and to begin the process of layering a slow-burn plot that explodes at the end, with the Appalachian wilderness as a backdrop and playing a supporting role.
In the House of Wilderness is such a book.
May 26, 2022
3.75★
October 13, 2018
Charles Dodd White is a writer who should be on everyone's radar. If his poignant prose doesn't hook you, his dark and tortured characters will.
A master at weaving worlds in which the hurt become the hunted, Charles spares no punches in his latest novel about the charismatic and dangerous drifter Wolf; Rain, an impresisonable young woman who falls under Wolf's spell; and Stratton, a widower and the man to whom Rain runs to when she desires to escape Wolf's clutches. With every stroke of his pen, Charles throws fresh light on Appalachian Literature, outlining the new South in all its gritty glory.
A master at weaving worlds in which the hurt become the hunted, Charles spares no punches in his latest novel about the charismatic and dangerous drifter Wolf; Rain, an impresisonable young woman who falls under Wolf's spell; and Stratton, a widower and the man to whom Rain runs to when she desires to escape Wolf's clutches. With every stroke of his pen, Charles throws fresh light on Appalachian Literature, outlining the new South in all its gritty glory.
December 18, 2017
I thought it was awesome.
Read
November 12, 2019I needed a break from the Victorians, so what better than to take a quick trip to Appalachia. I saw this here on Goodreads with a 4.57 rating and a lot of gushing. It's a quick read, plot-driven, and not really what I came to expect from the reviews of it that I read. Fans of Daniel Woodrell will love this book. The problem is that I'm not really a fan of Daniel Woodrell.
There are three main characters: a good guy (Stratton); a bad guy (Wolf); and the obligatory young, abused female (Rain) who completes the triangle of story. There will be extreme violence, we know that, even before the author, in Chekhovian fashion, introduces a stolen handgun in the early pages. It is no surprise then when it re-surfaces, along with other weapons.
It's cinematic, and not in a good way. There is a climatic shoot-out scene where the good guy and the bad guy hide behind cars and manage to hit each other without immediate effect. You know, shot in the leg, shot in the shoulder. And, when the one guy finally takes the fatal shot, he manages to crawl to an abandoned house where, spitting blood, he is able to give a climatic speech. If you watch two hours of television any night of the week, and are good with a remote control, you can see this same ending about a half dozen times, is my guess.
At one point the author explicitly channels McCarthy's Suttree, and maybe that's the style he hoped he was crafting. But that didn't happen here.
The author has his fans and this style of book will, and should, have its audience. I can't say that I'm a member.
There are three main characters: a good guy (Stratton); a bad guy (Wolf); and the obligatory young, abused female (Rain) who completes the triangle of story. There will be extreme violence, we know that, even before the author, in Chekhovian fashion, introduces a stolen handgun in the early pages. It is no surprise then when it re-surfaces, along with other weapons.
It's cinematic, and not in a good way. There is a climatic shoot-out scene where the good guy and the bad guy hide behind cars and manage to hit each other without immediate effect. You know, shot in the leg, shot in the shoulder. And, when the one guy finally takes the fatal shot, he manages to crawl to an abandoned house where, spitting blood, he is able to give a climatic speech. If you watch two hours of television any night of the week, and are good with a remote control, you can see this same ending about a half dozen times, is my guess.
At one point the author explicitly channels McCarthy's Suttree, and maybe that's the style he hoped he was crafting. But that didn't happen here.
The author has his fans and this style of book will, and should, have its audience. I can't say that I'm a member.
November 27, 2020
In full disclosure, I traded bourbon for an advance copy of this book. That said, my review would be no different had the more traditional currency exchanged.
Charles Dodd White has a window into my brain somehow with a shit-ton-load of references to present day places and things I'm weirdly familiar with.....the road from Hampton, TN to Roan Mountain, Sturgill Simpson and Jason Isbell lyrics, Knoxville to Newport, author references (Taylor's dog short in Garden and Gun gets me every time, and I am NOT a dog guy), Van Winkle, February Robins in the yard bringing joyful reflection......dang, I could have been a contributor. Hell at one point I was reading it thinking.....this is Charles' modern day take on Suttree only to be smacked with the call out a few pages later.
OK, enough of that, let's dissect the book.
The word "ode" generally conjures up a reference to me of something timeless and old-world. This text is somehow still an "ode", but more to one of the present day. Kinda how Cormac can hit the same notes with dystopian America that he did in old country Mexico.
Unlike A Shelter of Others in that it's not as weighty from the jump. It gets there, perhaps more so, but it builds through less instantly immersive characters. I've gotta believe that Stratton is written from the author's own perspective (another Suttree parallel).......perhaps the rationale behind the slower burn.....but be of no fear. By the time you arrive in part III, the author's true talent of wrapping this into such a masterful stab into the marrow of life comes full circle.
I am hesitant to reveal much more- just buy the damn thing- it will impact you, but a few of my favorite samples were:
"she had told him once that one of her art professors had claimed the reason people read tragic books and sought meaning in art was that it provided a kind of inoculation against the pain we experience in life. She, however, had disagreed. She had answered the professor that such a use of art was unethical. She believed the purpose behind such work was to make people more sensitive to their own suffering, to have respect for it. Otherwise, everything was in service to human will, and anyone who knew the world knew that was impossible"
"he could actually feel a significant part of him erode between one day and the next, as if he were something washed so thin that he verged on dissolving"
Other quotes would spoil too much from the plot, but in a total author fan way, I will simply say this book ends perfectly......cheers to you sir.
Charles Dodd White has a window into my brain somehow with a shit-ton-load of references to present day places and things I'm weirdly familiar with.....the road from Hampton, TN to Roan Mountain, Sturgill Simpson and Jason Isbell lyrics, Knoxville to Newport, author references (Taylor's dog short in Garden and Gun gets me every time, and I am NOT a dog guy), Van Winkle, February Robins in the yard bringing joyful reflection......dang, I could have been a contributor. Hell at one point I was reading it thinking.....this is Charles' modern day take on Suttree only to be smacked with the call out a few pages later.
OK, enough of that, let's dissect the book.
The word "ode" generally conjures up a reference to me of something timeless and old-world. This text is somehow still an "ode", but more to one of the present day. Kinda how Cormac can hit the same notes with dystopian America that he did in old country Mexico.
Unlike A Shelter of Others in that it's not as weighty from the jump. It gets there, perhaps more so, but it builds through less instantly immersive characters. I've gotta believe that Stratton is written from the author's own perspective (another Suttree parallel).......perhaps the rationale behind the slower burn.....but be of no fear. By the time you arrive in part III, the author's true talent of wrapping this into such a masterful stab into the marrow of life comes full circle.
I am hesitant to reveal much more- just buy the damn thing- it will impact you, but a few of my favorite samples were:
"she had told him once that one of her art professors had claimed the reason people read tragic books and sought meaning in art was that it provided a kind of inoculation against the pain we experience in life. She, however, had disagreed. She had answered the professor that such a use of art was unethical. She believed the purpose behind such work was to make people more sensitive to their own suffering, to have respect for it. Otherwise, everything was in service to human will, and anyone who knew the world knew that was impossible"
"he could actually feel a significant part of him erode between one day and the next, as if he were something washed so thin that he verged on dissolving"
Other quotes would spoil too much from the plot, but in a total author fan way, I will simply say this book ends perfectly......cheers to you sir.
September 11, 2018
This is a brutal and beautiful book, filled with characters who jump off the page and stay with you for a while. From the setup to the inevitable payoff, this is just a strong skillful piece of work. I was particularly taken with Liza, who is only there via Stratton's memory and her photos. You won't forget the trio of hippies either, or the violence that comes when they enter Stratton's world. It's just a fine job. I hope the novel find all the readers in the world.
November 20, 2020
A heart wrenching, southern noir by one of my favorite authors. Life doesn't come easy, and no one can tell that tale better than Charles Dodd White.
April 15, 2019
This is the first book I have read by this East Tennessee author, but I’m looking forward to more. So far his other novels seem to only be available as ebooks. I have requested that our library get all of them.
November 6, 2018
I didn't want Charles Dodd White's novel "In the House of Wilderness" to end. I was pulled in from the very beginning by the believable characters and plot. I felt like their story was happening to me along with them, felt the emotional intensity of their haunting relationships and situations. The book is full of reverence and longing, written with lyrical and spare prose—beautiful sentences and images that made reading it a pleasure.
September 20, 2023
Charles Dodd White never disappoints—his writing is gritty and poetic and lovely. Loved the way this book came together at the end—it wrapped up nicely.
September 23, 2018
One of the best books I’ve read this year, and in a long time at that...
Charles Dodd White has, with Wolf, created one of the greatest charismatic antagonists that I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. Yes, he’s evil, yes, he’s loathsome, yes, he’s the type who casually eats a can of Vienna sausages scavenged from the car of his murder victim, but yet...I couldn’t hate him. At times I still carried hope for some kind of redemption.
A must-read of Appalachian noir. Beautiful and lulling poetic language, strong sense of place, and an affinity for the people who live there. Add to all that a page-turner.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 12, 2018
When reviewers have said a book is gorgeous or beautiful, I've never quite understood. Now I get it. In the House of Wilderness is just such a book, one with such a big heart that taps into the quiet wilds of grief and basic human wanting. It has renewed my faith in literature, in the patience of description and the gentle handling of characters. The love that White has for words, for humanity, and for place pulsates and, at least for this reader, has rejuvenated the spirit. I'm going to put this novel in the front of my bookshelf as totem to the wonders and beauty of writing.
February 15, 2020
The lad sure can write. Lively beginning, slow and comfortable middle, then explosive and ... ooof the ending.
September 25, 2020
A dark, relentless meditation on the meaning of and search for home, set against an Appalachian landscape offering both violence and salvation.
June 2, 2019
This was my fourth CDW book and it didn’t disappoint. It is such a joy to read a well-crafted novel. Every thread leads deeper into the story. There is not a wasted word or scene. When it all comes together at the end, the reader is left devastated yet satisfied. Thank you, Charles. Can’t wait for the next one!
September 16, 2018
Gorgeous, lush, sparse prose. I was instantly captivated and it never let up.
August 19, 2020
A little bit of Larry Brown, a little bit of Michael Farris Smith, and a lot of something altogether his own. Absolutely loved this book by Charles Dodd White.
May 6, 2019
A suspense story that had potential but the writing was sterile and a bit too big for its britches
November 6, 2021
Appalachian writing at its best!
Charles Dodd White is a master in the beauty and nuance of Appalachian writing.
In the House of Wilderness takes us on a journey as we follow two very different people who just happen to cross paths when they need it most. It’s a tale based in realism and encapsulates the ethos and pathos of both the characters and the world around them.
One can’t help but feel a sense of magic or awe when reading In the House of Wilderness. As if it’s not words on a page, but a personal tale passed down orally like the storytellers of yore.
Charles Dodd White is a master in the beauty and nuance of Appalachian writing.
In the House of Wilderness takes us on a journey as we follow two very different people who just happen to cross paths when they need it most. It’s a tale based in realism and encapsulates the ethos and pathos of both the characters and the world around them.
One can’t help but feel a sense of magic or awe when reading In the House of Wilderness. As if it’s not words on a page, but a personal tale passed down orally like the storytellers of yore.
December 11, 2023
I am so split on this book honestly. I found it at a local bookstore and thought it may be interesting, but honestly there is just something about it I could never get into. the story was paced weirdly and honestly I think it could have been written in a more interesting way ( in my opinion the scenes that are actually interesting could have been more detailed). That being said though, the plot is interesting. would I read again? no. would I recommend? also no. 2.4/5 stars.
January 2, 2019
In the House of Wilderness is White's most ambitious work to date, but it succeeds in every way. The language is so beautifully precise. It reads more like poetry. The characters are painstakingly real, ranging across various spectrums of socioeconomic and educational backgrounds, fleshing out a story that feels very true. This is a novel where the author gets it ALL and gets it right.
January 8, 2023
Okay, lemme start by saying this is absolutely not my type of book. My husband wanted me to read it because it was outside of my normal genre. I wasn’t bored with the story, and at times was very invested. Just for me, I like what I read to have a happier feel. If Appalachian fiction is your thing, this is probably a very good example of it. It’s just not my thing.
November 9, 2019
Too slow, then the ending was too fast. Interesting just needed to fix the pace.
December 13, 2019
Some beautiful writing here and a few very intriguing characters. I especially liked the "lone" Wolf.
September 2, 2020
Predictable. A good guy, a bad guy, a romance. Writing was good though.
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