The Song of the Blue Bottle Tree

Genevieve Charbonneau, a young snake-handler who talks to the dead, uses an assumed name and travels with a Vietnam vet she meets in a graveyard. In 1967, she returns to her grandmother's Arkansas farmhouse for the first time in a decade, intending only a brief visit to pay respects to buried family members. Her years of wandering have taken her throughout the South—escaping a mental hospital in Alabama, working for a Louisiana circus, and dancing in Texas. The chance meeting with the haunted veteran reconnects her with family remnants she believed long gone. Their union becomes a catalyst for transformation: an abused woman and her daughters find courage to resist, a ghost discovers release, and a predatory figure becomes vulnerable. Genevieve faces a choice between her desire for meaningful connection after years as an outsider and her impulse to flee. Set on land where the author's family roots extend back two centuries, the novel explores letting go, the power of names, and familial bonds. It addresses found family, folk magic, trauma's lasting effects, human connection, and nature's beauty. The story is described as both harrowing and triumphant, otherworldly and beautiful, unflinching and wry.