New Release from Zarahemla Books

Here's some information about the newest release from my Mormon publishing company:

When Harris Thatcher’s father dies, the boy’s journey into manhood becomes complicated with questions of faith, the meaning of life, and the capriciousness of death. Harris soon finds himself preaching the Mormon gospel as one of the first missionaries to West Germany following the devastation of World War II. Little does he know that his own war horrors await him upon his return home, when he is drafted into the Korean War.

Starting out in the same 1940s-era Provo, Utah, that Thayer brought to life in his memoir Hooligan: A Mormon Boyhood, this novel deepens and darkens as Harris is drawn into his harrowing Korean ordeal. Will he survive the war, not only physically but also emotionally and spiritually? And if he does survive, what other trials does death hold in store?

“Thayer is one of the most truthful writers of fiction I know. Add to that the clarity and beauty of his writing, and his fiction is always illuminating in every sense.”

—Orson Scott Card

“Doug Thayer’s The Tree House ranks with The Red Badge of Courage in its creation of the ghastly bubble inhabited by a soldier in battle. Claustrophobic, electrified by panic, astonishingly intimate, Thayer’s chapters on war have a power we have not seen from him before. There is not a shred of moralizing here, yet the book nourishes the soul from start to finish.”

—Elouise Bell, BYU professor, emeritus

“Douglas Thayer’s writing style is an acquired taste—short, pungent, declarative sentences. But once caught in its grip, one swings along like Tarzan from branch to branch, confident that one will not fall! I have never read such a powerful exposition of the realities of war. The Tree House is an outstanding novel. All who read it, regardless of their background, will be deeply touched.”

—John A. Taylor

“I was totally engrossed in The Tree House. The depictions of Harris growing up in Provo, serving an LDS mission in post-war Germany, and fighting in the Korean War are excellently crafted. I’ve never read a better or more gripping treatment of men at war. Thayer’s characters and places are real; they are alive. This novel is literature, and reading it is a splendid experience.”

—Richard Cracroft
BYU professor of English, emeritus

This title is available for ordering now at the Zarahemla Books website (delivery before Christmas is likely but not guaranteed). Will be available soon at Amazon and other retailers.