Neverhome

Ash is not the name she was born with, and the woman using it has walked away from a farm and a husband who expects her to be there. Instead she dresses as a Union soldier and joins the Civil War in the South. The novel follows Ash Thompson through its brutal campaigns, where violence, panic and grief shape her. Along the way, people come to see her as a heroic figure, a legend passed around by soldiers, a lunatic, and a betrayer of the Northern cause.

Laird Hunt's book brings attention to the women who took up arms rather than remain at home. It also asks a question that drives the story forward: why did Ash leave while her husband stayed, and why can she not simply go back? The narrative tracks the hardships she must survive to try to return to him.

Written in richly textured prose, the novel traces a rebellious young heroine as she moves through a turbulent period of American history on her way back to the life she abandoned.