A gorgeous, unflinching love letter to Flint, Michigan, and the resilience of its people, Kelsey Ronan's Chevy in the Hole follows multiple generations of two families making their homes there, with a stunning contemporary love story at its center.
In the opening pages of Chevy in the Hole, August “Gus” Molloy has just overdosed in a bathroom stall of the Detroit farm-to-table restaurant where he works. Shortly after, he packs it in and returns home to his family in Flint. This latest slip and recommitment to sobriety doesn’t feel too terribly different from the others, until Gus meets Monae, an urban farmer trying to coax a tenuous rebirth from the city’s damaged land. Through her eyes, he sees what might be possible in a city everyone else seems to have forgotten or, worse, given up on. But as they begin dreaming up an oasis together, even the most essential resources can’t be counted on.
Woven throughout their story are the stories of their families—Gus’s white and Monae’s Black—members of which have had their own triumphs and devastating setbacks trying to survive and thrive in Flint. A novel about the things that change over time and the things that don’t, Chevy in the Hole reminds us again and again what people need from one another and from the city they call home.
Genre: Literary Fiction
In the opening pages of Chevy in the Hole, August “Gus” Molloy has just overdosed in a bathroom stall of the Detroit farm-to-table restaurant where he works. Shortly after, he packs it in and returns home to his family in Flint. This latest slip and recommitment to sobriety doesn’t feel too terribly different from the others, until Gus meets Monae, an urban farmer trying to coax a tenuous rebirth from the city’s damaged land. Through her eyes, he sees what might be possible in a city everyone else seems to have forgotten or, worse, given up on. But as they begin dreaming up an oasis together, even the most essential resources can’t be counted on.
Woven throughout their story are the stories of their families—Gus’s white and Monae’s Black—members of which have had their own triumphs and devastating setbacks trying to survive and thrive in Flint. A novel about the things that change over time and the things that don’t, Chevy in the Hole reminds us again and again what people need from one another and from the city they call home.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"Chevy in the Hole is undoubtedly a Flint love story, but only for those willing to acknowledge love for what it is: an act of endurance that's often painful, sometimes destructive, and absolutely necessary for survival. Like the city itself, August and Monae struggle to reconcile what they've inherited with what they are, and Kelsey Ronan has the grace to make us understand their fumbles and believe in their restoration." - Xhenet Aliu
"Profoundly honest and stunning in scope, Chevy in the Hole is a beautifully written reminder of community strength in the face of extraordinary change. Kelsey Ronan's voice is simply unforgettable and this debut, an absolute must-read." - P J Vernon
"Kelsey Ronan is a storyteller of extraordinary wisdom and empathy, devoted to rendering fully the lives of these remarkable characters-their complexities and frailties, their unexpected kindnesses and terrible mistakes, their resilience in the face of nearly insurmountable obstacles. Grace-filled and elegant, Chevy in the Hole is a testament to the long reach of history, and family, and the salvific power of love. What a joy and honor to read a debut novel of such beauty and reach, one that so gloriously bears witness to the stories of a place and its people." - Elizabeth Wetmore
"Profoundly honest and stunning in scope, Chevy in the Hole is a beautifully written reminder of community strength in the face of extraordinary change. Kelsey Ronan's voice is simply unforgettable and this debut, an absolute must-read." - P J Vernon
"Kelsey Ronan is a storyteller of extraordinary wisdom and empathy, devoted to rendering fully the lives of these remarkable characters-their complexities and frailties, their unexpected kindnesses and terrible mistakes, their resilience in the face of nearly insurmountable obstacles. Grace-filled and elegant, Chevy in the Hole is a testament to the long reach of history, and family, and the salvific power of love. What a joy and honor to read a debut novel of such beauty and reach, one that so gloriously bears witness to the stories of a place and its people." - Elizabeth Wetmore
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