August 29: Rode by Thomas Fox Averill

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Inspiration can come when one least expects it. Thomas Fox Averill, a professor of English and Writer-in-residence at Washburn University, was at the Winfield Bluegrass Festival when he was captivated by Jimmie Driftwood’s ballad, “Tennessee Stud.” After extensive research on the origins of the song, followed by a trek through Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, Mexico, and back again, Averill wrote a novel inspired by the song and the time in which it was written, “along about eighteen and twenty-five.”

In authentic language, Averill crafts a mesmerizing tale of an outlaw, his heroic horse, and the woman he holds dear in his heart. Robert Johnson begins as a thoughtful and simple man, whose only intention in life is to simply raise horses. This life is interrupted when he is the suspect in a murder he did not commit. On the run, drifting across the rugged country, Johnson encounters people—good and bad—who could star in novels of their own: Gamblers, villains, horse thieves and evangelist bootleggers. Johnson’s loneliness finally forces him to return to his native Tennessee and the love of his life.

Both an odyssey and a love story, Rode will clutch at your heart, like the ballad of the Tennessee stud took hold of Thomas Fox Averill’s. And it will transport you to the days when a man really could be saved by his horse.

Thomas Fox Averill at Watermark (Link)

Thomas Fox Averill’s website (Link)