Four Novels With Arkansas Characters or Settings

A Couple of Farmers, a Porn Addict and a Small Boy

Jul 21, 2009 Marie Brannon

From the hills of the Ozarks to a cotton farm in northeast Arkansas, these books take the reader into various parts of the Natural State.

Some fictional characters found in these Arkansas-based novels are a farmer whose property was turned into a Civil War battlefield, a man addicted to pornography who tries to escape by becoming a hermit and a man who tries to purchase an entire county.

Elkhorn Tavern, by Douglas C. Jones

This historical novel is set on a farm in Arkansas during the Civil War. Ora Hasford and her two teenage children live on the farm and meet some challenges as the war rages through their town and across their own property. First, “scavenging jayhawkers” come and plunder through the town. Then the Battle of Pea Ridge takes place on their farm, with artillery being fired daily. Booklist says “this is not a glamorous, high-flying romance; rather it tends to be a bleak tale of hardship and endurance among fiercely independent people”.

Poseidon Press, 1986 - ISBN 0-6716-1276-X

Saying No to Naked Women, by David R. Yale

The author of this historical novel interviewed senior citizens in Arkansas and used their reminiscences as the basis for characters who are practical, down-home folks. One such character is the hero, Jack Derritt, who built his own shack in the Ozarks. He discovers that he is a very angry man and that he has lots of demons to confront, especially pornography. New York Times reviewer Robert Bly says the novel is “well-written, rich in detail, emotionally charged, with characters that come to life on the page”.

Healthy Relationship Press, 2008 – 0-9791-7665-4

Come Winter, by Douglas C. Jones

Roman is the hero of this story, an unusual man who befriends Indians and blacks in the Ozark hills. He’s hooked on alcohol and suspicious of outsiders, but he is intelligent enough to see beyond his rural environment. He sets out to buy the entire county where he lives, starting with the bank. A feud is sparked when he tries to buy the offices of the sheriff and prosecuting attorney, and that feud becomes his undoing. Publisher’s Weekly says “a master storyteller is at work here, offering a singular and knowledgeable vision of the nation’s final frontier days”.

Holt & Company, 1989 - ISBN 0-8050-0944-2

A Painted House, by John Grisham

With this delightful novel, the author steps out of his well-established pattern of legal suspense fiction to take readers into a completely different world. Luke Chandler is the seven-year old narrator and hero of the story, set in northeast Arkansas during the 1950s. He sees things that boys his age ought not see and deals with them in an extraordinary manner. Readers expecting Grisham’s usual suspense and action might be disappointed, but those wanting a detailed look at an Arkansas farm won’t be disappointed.

Century Publishing, 2001 - ISBN 0-712-67064-5

Novelists Douglas C. Jones, John Grisham and David R. Yale take readers away from their everyday lives and transport them to various parts of Arkansas in these novels.

The copyright of the article Four Novels With Arkansas Characters or Settings in American Fiction is owned by Marie Brannon. Permission to republish Four Novels With Arkansas Characters or Settings in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Many Fictional Characters Come From Arkansas

Many Novels are Set in Arkansas Farms

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