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Haircuts for the Dead: A Novel

Haircuts for the Dead: A Novel
By author: William Walsh
Product Code: P732
ISBN: 9780881469752
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When twenty-one-year-old Hannah Gardner's father sells the family farm, she is cast onto the streets of Sundown, Georgia, where, having left her fundamentalist church, she grapples with the weight of her family's racist past. Working as a shampoo girl at a rinky-dink salon, Hannah tries to make ends meet cutting hair at the local funeral home. After finding herself in a precarious situation where she is raped by Hawkshaw Bales, a local criminal, Hannah is blackmailed by Bales to take custody of the resulting child. When Hannah is befriended by Margaret, the Black librarian, their interracial friendship develops into a love affair where Hannah finds the tenderness and protection she needs. Despite all the trials Hannah endures, she keeps a journal, her "Document of Life," and records Bible verses to show that even when you turn away from "God’s steady light, He lives within you." When the family farm is destroyed, Hannah saves some apple seeds in the hope of planting an orchard on new land and building a future with Margaret. With each haircut she gives at the funeral home, Hannah sends her customers to the hereafter with honor. HAIRCUTS FOR THE DEAD is a modern retelling of the Fall of Man in a small-town Peyton Place where Hannah is kicked out of Eden and forced to deal with race issues, her sexual identity, the burdens of her family's past, and challenges to her faith.
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Reviews

Review by: Robert Morgan, author of GAP CREEK - June 2, 2025
"Those fortunate enough to have read William Walsh's first novel, LAKEWOOD, know he is a vital voice in contemporary fiction. Now with HAIRCUTS FOR THE DEAD we can welcome a story addressing the most important concerns of our time: race, choice in sexual identity, the burdens of the past, and challenges to faith. Walsh portrays the elusive dynamics within families in this era of rapid change, as a story-within-a-story illuminates each. You will be moved by this novel of the search for a home and love, to be found in unexpected places."
Review by: Jessica Handler, author of THE MAGNETIC GIRL - June 2, 2025
"In Hannah Gardner's search for both a place and a love that feel like home, William Walsh has given us a rollicking tale of a charming heroine healing an injured heart and conquering a small part of a great big world."
Review by: Rosemary Daniell, author of FATAL FLOWERS - June 2, 2025
"William Walsh's second novel, HAIRCUTS FOR THE DEAD, is just as original as its title implies. In it, Hannah writes her 'Document of Life,' sprinkled with the occasional Bible verse; her mother Lilith is unhappy; her father Darnell is abusive; and her brother Lucas is constantly on the run from Hawkshaw Bales who has impregnated Hannah. And finally, there's Margaret, the loving Black librarian who saves Hannah from it all just before a surprise ending. Indeed, Walsh is one of our most imaginative novelists ever--his every word is arresting--and I, for one, will eagerly read everything he writes."

Goodreads reviews