The literary landscape of the rural South is peppered with great storytellers, but few are as endearing as James Aloysius “Buster” Holcombe, Jr., observant narrator of the new novel by best-selling author Ferrol Sams.
Buster Holcombe begins his tale immediately after the Civil War, as the patriarchs of his small Georgia town sow seeds that will sprout for more than a century. Generation after generation, we are introduced to the men and women of “our town” and all their delightful foibles.
As he has demonstrated in seven previous books, including the highly acclaimed Run With the Horsemen, Ferrol Sams is a master at developing rich characters. Calculating politicians, ruthless businessmen, nosey spinsters, manipulating wives, Southern belles, morticians, a burly postmistress, the good doctor, no-nonsense sheriffs and blundering crooks—they're all part of the fabric of “our town.” And Buster Holcombe, the piano playing, poetry loving lawyer who never had time for a wife, loves them all in spite of their shortcomings.
Down Town is the panoramic story of the American South, carefully observed and skillfully recounted by a native son. Through the characters of “our town,” we gain new perspectives on the historical events that have shaped our country since 1865—Reconstruction, the first World War, the Depression, World War II, racial integration, land speculation, and economic boom.
Ferrol Sams’s eye for what is real among the myths, what's humorous among the ruins, and what’s human in us all is unerring.