Bedrock Faith

(Paperback)

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Description

After 14 years in prison, Gerald 'Stew Pot' Reeves, returns home to live with his mum in Parkland, a black neighbourhood on Chicago's South Side. A frightening delinquent before being put away, his return sends Parkland residents into a religiously-infused tailspin, which only increases when Stew Pot announces that he experienced a religious awakening in prison. With uncompromising fervour, Stew Pot appoints himself the moral judge of Parkland. Through unforgettable characters, Bedrock Faith provides a reflection on God, the living and dead and finding unconditional love.

Reviews

May slowly builds suspense as he persuasively unfolds the narrative in this work that reads like an Agatha Christie mystery. The characters, even those whose names are never mentioned, are versatile and relatable, and May's descriptions embody a tapestry of words.
--Library Journal

May 'persuasively unfolds the narrative, ' and critics are buzzing.
--Library Journal, naming Bedrock Faith a Best Debut for Spring

A perceptive and entrancing meditation on friendship and family, love and forgiveness.
--Kirkus Reviews

May paints a memorable portrait of a community confronting itself....Recommended for fans of authors such as Valerie Wilson Wesley and would be an excellent candidate for book clubs.
--Chicago Public Library (staff pick)

The depth and the magnetism and the humor of Eric Charles May's truly unforgettable characters makes this a neighborhood well worth visiting.
--New York Journal of Books

Bedrock Faith is a strong, engaging novel--full of warmth and charm and honesty.
--Bookforum

Bedrock Faith is an entertaining and heartfelt novel, and it provides an important look at a side of Chicago that is under-represented in today's literary fiction.
--Chicago Center for Literature and Photography

Bedrock Faith isn't a short read, but it's a rich one, and the characters are engaging.
--Ebony Mag

Bedrock Faith, [May's] debut, came out in March from Akashic Books...and judging from reviews calling May 'a gem of a writer' and comparing him to James Baldwin, he did a masterful job.
--Newcity, Lit 50 2014: Who Really Books In Chicago

The story is hilarious...and Eric's performance brought it more to life than it already was.
--Chicago Literati, Review of July CCLaP showcase featuring Eric Charles May

Fast-paced...suspenseful and meditative in equal measure.
--Chicago Reader

Mrs. Motley is a creation the likes of whom many authors only dream of achieving...It is a gifted author who can show us such three-dimensional characters and make them come to life.
--KGB Bar Lit Magazine

A compelling look at a tight-knit community battling a threat from within.
--Chicago Social Magazine

Eric Charles May and James Baldwin share more than skin color and writing passion. They are masters of the complicated operas that unfold in a particular place, of the complexities and frailties of mankind. Bedrock Faith is May's first novel, and since approaching Baldwin is no idle feat, one only hopes he'll write more.
--Newcity

Once I got started, I could not put [Bedrock Faith] down. I couldn't wait to see what was coming next, which of the neighbors would get their comeuppance and who would emerge as the final victor, Stew Pot or the people of Parkland.
--Read for Pleasure

Eric Charles May is a gem of a writer.
--I've Read This

Eric Charles May's first novel is delightful to read. There are a host of characters, each given the opportunity to tell their story, and there is plenty of action. Readers are welcomed into Parkland from the first page.
--Reeling and Writhing and Fainting in Coils

A wonderful urban novel full of vitality and pathos and grit. I dug the ever-living hell out of it.
--Dennis Lehane, author of Live By Night

Vividly told...It will make you shake your head, smile, laugh, wondering how are they going to work this out, as you're moved along from one situation and one set of characters to the next.
--John Schultz, author of The Tongues of Men

In Bedrock Faith, Eric Charles May has created a world inhabited by unforgettable, believable characters--the fervid Stew Pot Reeves, the patient Mrs. Motley--who will linger in your heart long after you've finished their story. A bittersweet, timeless book.
--Valerie Wilson Wesley, author of Dying in the Dark

An impressive debut with unforgettable characters and an epic story line by an author who has appeared on the literary landscape fully formed.
--Colin Channer, author of The Girl with the Golden Shoes

Author Bio

Eric Charles May is an associate professor in the Fiction Writing department at Columbia College Chicago. A Chicago native and former reporter for the Washington Post, his fiction has appeared in the magazines Fish Stories, F, and Criminal Class. In addition to his Post reporting, his nonfiction has appeared in Sport Literate, the Chicago Tribune, and the personal essay anthology Briefly Knocked Unconscious by a Low-Flying Duck. Bedrock Faith is his first novel.