Serena was named a New York Times, Washington Post, Publishers Weekly and Amazon Book of the Year in 2009. It was adapted into a major film starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper.
The year is 1929 and newlyweds George and Serena Pemberton arrive from Boston in the North Carolina mountains to create a timber empire.
Serena is new to the mountains - but she proves herself the equal of any worker, overseeing crews, hunting rattlesnakes, even saving her husband's life in the wilderness. Yet she soon learns that she will never bear a child.
Serena's discovery will set in motion a course of events bound to change the lives of everyone in this remote community. As the Pembertons' intense, passionate marriage starts to unravel, this riveting story of love, passion and revenge moves towards its shocking reckoning.
Ron Rash is a multi-award-winning poet, short story writer and novelist who is a distinguished professor at Western Carolina University. His novel Serena was a New York Times bestseller, and won him comparisons to John Steinbeck and Cormac McCarthy. Rash's most recent short story collection, Burning Bright, won the 2010 Frank O'Connor Short Story Award.
'Serena is a beautiful, whiskey-drinking, pants-wearing, horse-breaking Lady Macbeth without the remorse.' Australian
'Serena is a brilliant and absorbing novel that's hard to put down.' Age
'This novel will set your heart beating and keep you riveted to its final coda. For me, it was a thrilling and wondrous surprise.' Sunday Star Times NZ
'There has never been a heroine quite like this.' The Times
'Dramatic and gripping from its unforgettable opening paragraph.' New York Times
It's too hypnotic to break away from. The final chapter is as flawless and captivating as anything I've read this year.' Washington Post
'A spectacular book...The novel serves up plenty of satisfaction for those readers who seek, above all else, a good story.' Guardian
'Rash's evocative rendering of the blighted landscape and the tough characters who inhabit it recalls both John Steinbeck and Cormac McCarthy.' New Yorker
'Rash has gone beyond any Southern gothic tale to weave a complex and riveting portrait in the tradition of Gabriel Garcia Marquez.' Huffington Post
