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The Maid's Version: A Novel Hardcover – September 3, 2013

by Daniel Woodrell (Author)

3.7 614 ratings

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The American master's first novel since Winter's Bone tells of a deadly dance hall fire and its impact over several generations.

Alma DeGeer Dunahew, the mother of three young boys, works as the maid for a prominent citizen and his family in West Table, Missouri. Her husband is mostly absent, and, in 1929, her scandalous, beloved younger sister is one of the 42 killed in an explosion at the local dance hall. Who is to blame? Mobsters from St. Louis? The embittered local gypsies? The preacher who railed against the loose morals of the waltzing couples? Or could it have been a colossal accident?

Alma thinks she knows the answer-and that its roots lie in a dangerous love affair. Her dogged pursuit of justice makes her an outcast and causes a long-standing rift with her own son. By telling her story to her grandson, she finally gains some solace-and peace for her sister. He is advised to "Tell it. Go on and tell it"-tell the story of his family's struggles, suspicions, secrets, and triumphs.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

An Amazon Best Book of the Month, September 2013 (also a Big Fall Books Preview 2013 selection): From the opening line--"She frightened me at every dawn that summer..."--Daniel Woodrell sets a spooky tone in his ninth novel (his first since Winter's Bone). Based on a true story, this slim volume reimagines the horrific night when dozens were killed in a mysterious explosion at an Ozarks dance hall, the night "all hell came callin'." Years later, in the summer of 1965, our narrator's grandmother tells him her version of that night’s events and, eventually, the boy’s father encourages him, "Go on and tell it." The result is a story of hard times and hard people, of secrets, betrayals, and revenge. The murky, resilient truth of that night ripples across the family’s future, unfolding on the page like a mash-up of Faulker, Flannery O'Connor, Johnny Cash, and the bible. This is an entirely original, brutal, and darkly elegant book, and Woodrell is a storyteller at the top of his game. --Neal Thompson

From Booklist

In his first novel in seven years, Woodrell (Winter’s Bone, 2006) returns to the Ozarks to tell the story of a catastrophe based on a real-life occurrence. Alek Dunahew is sent to live with his grandmother, the former housemaid Alma DeGeer Dunahew. Haunted by the death of her sister, Ruby, in the explosion of the Arbor Dance Hall in 1928, Alma’s views of the cause of the disaster created a schism between her and one of her sons. But Alek is curious and listens carefully, tucking away Alma’s stories of her drunken husband, her wild sister, and her affair with Alma’s employer and the mysterious whisperings about mobsters and shootings. Told in meandering flashbacks with a lyrical cadence, the story is gripping and heartrending at the same time. Interspersed with Alma’s memories are vignettes of some of the victims of the explosion and how they happened to be at the dance hall on that particular night. With this book, Woodrell confirms his place among the literary masters. --Elizabeth Dickie

Review

Editors' Choice, Times Book Review

A Best Book of 2013, Slate

A Best Book of 2013, Washington Post

An NPR 2013 "Great Read"

Winner of the 2014 Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for Fiction

A Top Five Book of the Year, Kansas City Star

A Best Book of 2013, St. Louis Post Dispatch

Kirkus Reviews selection for the Best Books of 2013

A Best Book of 2013, Capital Times (Madison, Wis.)

An Irish Times Book of the Year

An Irish Mail on Sunday Book of the Year

A Favorite Book of 2013, National Post (Canada)

One of Amazon's Top 10 Best Books of the Month

An Amazon Best Book of the Year

A Best Work of Fiction in 2013, Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal

"Daniel Woodrell is the American writer we increasingly look to for the latest urgent news on the American soul. The Maid's Version is a beautiful engine of a novel, whose cogs were not entirely made by human agency, one might hazard to say. As regards the level of reading pleasure, the highest. As regards the level of literary achievement, the highest."--Sebastian Barry

"The Maid's Version is stunning. Daniel Woodrell writes flowing, cataclysmic prose with the irresistible aura of fate about it."--Sam Shepard

"I'd gladly sign a petition to see Mr. Woodrell included on any roll call of America's finest living writers. He conveys a sense of the past with the stringent affection of Katherine Anne Porter; his turns at bedlam humor are worthy of Charles Portis; and his gorgeously tangled prose is all his own."--Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal

"Woodrell is, like every truly great novelist, a mythmaker with both eyes on the absolute....The Maid's Version is one more resplendent trophy on the shelf of an American master."--William Giraldi, The Daily Beast

"Compact and soulful....The Maid's Version's worth is also in its luminous prose. Woodrell's sentences bristle with finely tuned language and almost biblical rhythms of his characters' speech....Further proof, as if we needed it, that Woodrell is a writer to cherish."--Adam Woog, Seattle Times

"The Maid's Version shows one of America's best writers at the top of his game."--Kevin Nguyen, Grantland

"For readers new to Daniel Woodrell's work, The Maid's Version is a perfect introduction and an invitation to read more. It's a short book...but there are lifetimes captured here....Throughout this remarkable book, Woodrell is an unsentimental narrator of an era that is rendered both kinder and infinitely less forgiving than our own."--Ellah Allfrey, NPR Books

"Woodrell's language echoes melodically with the vernacular of the Ozarks, traces of folk song, the cadences of the Bible. Sometimes he offers, seemingly with little effort, as if from a bottomless repository, pithy similes. This of Alma: "grief has chomped on her like wolves do a calf". At other times, sentences leisurely unspool: "The Missouri river floated sixty yards from the street, and there was a small crotchety tavern on the corner." [Woodrell] belongs within a great, predominantly male tradition of American writing that stretches back to Mark Twain and runs on through Willa Cather, William Faulkner, James Dickey, Larry McMurtry to Cormac McCarthy. From the vantage of their willed exile they have produced, down the generations, some of their country's finest fiction and poetry."―Peter Pierce, the Australian

"The author of nine widely-praised novels is sometimes described as a master of Ozark noir, but his gripping narratives and pitch-perfect language transcend genre."―Reader's Digest, "23 Contemporary Writers You Should Have Read by Now"

"The Maid's Version is able to tell a community's history in stunning second-, third-, and even fourth-hand recollection."―Mesha Maren, LA Review of Books

About the Author

Five of Daniel Woodrell's published novels were selected as New York Times Notable Books of the Year. Tomato Red won the PEN West Award for the Novel in 1999. Woodrell lives in the Ozarks near the Arkansas line with his wife, Katie Estill.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0316205850
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Little, Brown and Company; First Edition (September 3, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 176 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780316205856
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316205856
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.75 x 1 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,929,494 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #23,896 in Family Life Fiction (Books)
- #79,230 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- #90,417 in American Literature (Books)

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3.7 614 ratings

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Daniel Woodrell

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Daniel Woodrell (born March 4, 1953) is an American writer of fiction. He has written eight novels, most of them set in the Missouri Ozarks. Woodrell coined the phrase "country noir" to describe his 1996 novel Give Us a Kiss. Reviewers have frequently since used the term to categorize his writing.

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3.7 out of 5

614 global ratings

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Pamela Audeen Poddany

THERE WAS ANGER CROSSED WITH GRIEF

Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2014

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THE MAID'S VERSION

Daniel Woodrell is one of my top ten favorite authors. He never fails to surprise, delight, intrigue, and amaze me with his writing skills and story telling. He can take any subject, any character, any situation and create a dazzling novel that is sure to please.

This is the story of the Arbor Dance Hall explosion taking place in 1929 in Missouri. Woodrell writes -- ".. Forty-two dancers from this small corner of the Missouri Ozarks had perished in an instant, waltzing couples murdered midstep, blown toward the clouds in a pink mist chased by towering flames, and why it happened. This was more like it -- an excitement of fire, so many fallen, so many suspects, so few facts, a great crime or colossal accident, an ongoing mystery .. ".

And the story is off and running. Local residents tell snippets of what they think happened that night, what they claim they saw happen that night, who they felt may be responsible for the fire and ensuing explosion, and the thoughts also that the ravaging fire may have been an accident.

The thoughts and memories of characters are astounding and told so distinctly and in so many different voices. Woodrell sets his characters apart from each other by his sheer genius and talent of writing. For example -- "She hated that she fed another man's children before she fed her own. She cleared the supper table, the plates yet rife with food in this house of plenty, potatoes played with, bread crusts stacked on the tablecloth unwanted, meat bones set aside with enough shreds on them to set her own sons fighting one another for a chance of gnaw them clean and white. Her own sons sucked cold spuds at home, waiting."

There are many characters telling their recollections of this horrible night -- Alma DeGeer Dunahew who refuses to stop her quest for the truth and who believes she KNOWS the God honest truth -- Alma's beloved sister, Ruby, who is a wanton woman, just lives life to have fun, not caring who she loves and what the consequences of her affairs bring -- Arthur Glencross, president of the bank -- and a host of many, many others.

Some of the characters have major roles and others appear for a moment or two, just long enough for you to enjoy a snippet of their life before the fire snuffs that life out. You will get attached to the major characters -- Alma, Ruby, Alma's young sons -- and will walk in their shoes as they reminiscence about that fatal night. As the reader you will be trying to figure out exactly what went down that night and who is responsible for the deaths of forty two innocent souls. Or are they innocent souls? Why were some people upset about the dance? Who were the men in town from St. Louis? Why did witnesses have so many different versions of that evening to tell? Read this gem and find out exactly what happened and why.

Woodrell is poetry in motion. He can take any subject, any genre, and make a reader loose themselves in his written word. Woodrell has other fantastic books out there just waiting for you -- TOMATO RED, WOE TO LIVE ON, WINTER'S BONE [made into a major film], and my all time favorite, THE DEATH OF SWEET MISTER. You need to check these out.

While Woodrell doesn't mince words and often times he paints an ugly picture, his words are pure honesty, beauty, and joy.

Thank you.

Pam

4 people found this helpful

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Larry Hoffer

Sometimes knowing the truth is more painful than not knowing...

Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2013

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Certain authors have a language and a style all their own. I don't mean an invented language, like Tolkien, Pratchett, or Rowling, but rather a way of capturing language that is unique to them. Daniel Woodrell, who has written books such as Winter's Bone and The Death of Sweet Mister is one of those authors. His ability to capture the language of people in the Ozarks makes his books feel tremendously authentic and even more captivating.

In 1929, the small community of West Table, Missouri was rocked by a fire and explosion in the Arbor Dance Hall, which killed 42 people. As with any tragedy, immediately talk turned to the causes of this disaster and who was responsible. Was it caused by the local gypsies? Mobsters from St. Louis on the hunt for one of their own? The frenzy unleashed by a preacher who lashed out at the immoral behavior of the dancers and partiers? Or was it simply a tragic accident?

Alma DeGeer Dunahew knows what caused the tragedy that killed her flirtatious sister, Ruby. But Alma, who works as a maid for one of West Table's most prominent families, is viewed as crazy by the town citizens, many of whom don't really want to know what happened that night, or are willing to turn a blind eye to the truth if it protects the town from the effects of the Great Depression. Her need to speak the truth leads her to lose her job, her mind, and estranges her from one of her sons, John Paul.

Years later, Alma finally has the opportunity to tell her story from start to finish, to her grandson, Alek. And the story, populated with mobsters, hobos, preachers, local businessmen, criminals, and lawmen, not to mention brief glimpses of many of those who were killed or injured in the fire, is a complicated one, but one that utterly captures the Dunahew family's struggles. Alma encourages Alek to "Tell it. Go on and tell it." And tell it he does.

The Maid's Version is a short book--only about 170 pages--but it is packed with a powerful narrative and so many colorful characters, it's difficult to remember who everyone is. Woodrell's storytelling ability is in fine form, as is his evocative language, and while this book may not be as strong as some of his previous ones, it's still a tremendously interesting and, ultimately, tragic story. It does take some concentrating, however, because the book meanders back and forth between 1929 and 1963, when Alek is, essentially, hearing Alma's story.

Daniel Woodrell is an exceptional writer. While this book doesn't have the tension or violence of some of his other books, Alma's story is very much worth hearing.

20 people found this helpful

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J. Mgebroff

Uhhh..who is that guy again?

Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2013

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This is the third Daniel Woodrell book I've read. I read A Winter's Bone after seeing the movie and wanting more details on the characters. That was successful, so I went on to read Give Us A Kiss, which was downright dumb - the plot was apparently conceived as a vehicle to explore a male fantasy of "voluptuous young woman lusts after middle aged guy." I lost interest in Woodrell - then A Maid's Version came out and sounded intriguing. I think Woodrell takes the intrigue too far. There are layers and layers of characters, situations and plot lines. Halfway through the book I had to ask myself - who are these people? I checked back for the names and relationships of the characters more than once. I promise you I'm not illiterate. But once the motivating characters in a two hundred page book reach the double digits, the storyline frays into a knot. The ending seemed really off the wall - until it occurred me a few days later that the action in the last three or so pages was set up on pages one and two - but there was no lead-in to tie both together. This may be a great book for many people - the writing itself is not bad. I prefer the story to be a little tighter, though.

One person found this helpful

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Al Youman

nope

Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2014

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ive really really enjoyed several of DW 's other novels and i think he is a great writer with a unique style.However i read thru over half of this novel and just could not finish.It,to me, rambles with no real central character( its narated by the protagonist of the story).I really tried to get into this as the others but just could not.Possibly i did not 'get' the new direction he is going to as a writer,but for this reader it was rambling,uncentered and didnt capture me.

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vivien stevens

Love this authorc

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 3, 2019

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Beautifully written and great characters

William

No where near as good as Winter's Bone

Reviewed in Australia on March 25, 2018

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No where near as good as Winter's Bone. A long disjointed story about how a tragedy can effect people for the rest of their lives. Way too many characters.

Robert P. Brown

A Pleasure to Read

Reviewed in Canada on May 28, 2015

Verified Purchase

Daniel Woodrell can pack as much into ten pages as most writers can in a hundred, and this slim novel (164 pages) goes to show it.

The story centers around an explosion at a dance hall in 1929 in which forty-two people died, recalled by an old lady, Alma Dunahew to her twelve year old grandson.

We are taken into the lives of the people most affected by the disaster, (this reminded me of Thornton Wilder`s "The Bridge of San Luis Rey"); Alma, the maid who raised three young boys in the absence of a husband, who "hated that she fed another man`s children before she fed her own", her sister, involved with a married man who runs the local bank, a former gangster trying to go straight, a fire and brimstone preacher, Alma`s sons, and a variety of other characters, each described in short , memorable vignettes.

Part mystery,(what caused the explosion?) part social history, evoking small town memories of times gone by. A pleasure to read.

2 people found this helpful

Victor Sakalauskas

Four Stars

Reviewed in Canada on May 16, 2017

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Thanks

Ori Kowarsky

Less a mystery than a meditation on guilt and redemption

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 15, 2013

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Beautifully written, with a gorgeous (and gritty) sense of place. Not so much a whodunit, howdunnit or whydunnit, than a meditation on whether guilt can ever be truly expiated. A slight book but leaves a lot to think about.

4 people found this helpful

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