Chapel of Ease
A Novel of the Tufa
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4.0 • 4 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
The latest installment in Alex Bledsoe's critically-acclaimed Tufa series about musically-talented fae in rural Tennessee, a series Kirkus Reviews calls "powerful, character-driven drama...a sheer delight." (starred review)
“Beautifully written, surprisingly moving, and unexpected in the best of ways.” —Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author
When Matt Johansson, a young New York actor, auditions for "Chapel of Ease," an off-Broadway musical, he is instantly charmed by Ray Parrish, the show's writer and composer. They soon become friends; Matt learns that Ray's people call themselves the Tufa and that the musical is based on the history of his isolated home town. But there is one question in the show's script that Ray refuses to answer: what is buried in the ruins of the chapel of ease?
As opening night approaches, strange things begin to happen. A dreadlocked girl follows Ray and spies on him. At the press preview, a strange Tufa woman warns him to stop the show. Then, as the rave reviews arrive, Ray dies in his sleep.
Matt and the cast are distraught, but there's no question of shutting down: the run quickly sells out. They postpone opening night for a week and Matt volunteers to take Ray's ashes back to Needsville. He also hopes, while he's there, to find out more of the real story behind the play and discover the secret that Ray took to his grave.
Matt's journey into the haunting Appalachian mountains of Cloud County sets him on a dangerous path, where some secrets deserve to stay buried.
Enter the captivating world of the fae in Alex Bledsoe's Tufa novels
The Hum and the Shiver
Wisp of a Thing
Long Black Curl
Chapel of Ease
Gather Her Round
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bledsoe's fourth Tufa novel (following 2014's Long Black Curl) weaves together the magic of off-Broadway theater with the lore and fantasy of the Tufa, Appalachia-dwelling exiles from the land of Faerie. Actor and dancer Matt Johanssen is picked to be part of Chapel of Ease, a musical written and composed by Ray Parrish, one of the Tufa, and inspired by his people's history. When Ray abruptly dies before the show's opening night, Matt volunteers to take his ashes home to Needsville, Tenn. There, he discovers many of the Tufa's secrets, but one still eludes him: the true nature of what lies buried under the Chapel of Ease, an unexplained element of the musical that has frustrated cast and crew alike for months. As Matt risks life and limb to satisfy curiosity, he develops an unexpected rapport with Ray's friends and family, and an attraction to the handsome Cyrus "C.C." Crow. With his subtle, character-driven approach, Bledsoe skillfully fuses music, legend, and regional atmosphere to create something that feels like an unexplored corner of American mythology.
