Thatcher Carter: Fiction and Nonfiction
Forthcoming May 1 from Inlandia Books
Cover art by Carter Kustera
Preorder link: https://tinyurl.com/RazedBOOK
Advance Praise:
"I love a passionate, vivid portrait of an American city -- RAZED gives readers just that in this novel that explores generations of family living through the many histories of a city in New York." Susan Straight, bestselling author of Mecca and In the Country of Women
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"A stirring portrait of great conflict and intimate triumphs, RAZED deftly tethers present day 1973 with an unshakeable and selectively blind and brutal past. RAZED is a reminder of an unjust world and the prayer of the next generation on the horizon." Rita Williams-Garcia, author of A Sitting in St. James
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"In this coming of age story, our narrator heroine, Lucretia Wilson, wrestles with complex issues. [She] is a character to love and hate and love again. RAZED is a compelling read, complex in its simplicity -- a brilliant feat for a writer. My hope is that we get to see this heroine again in a sequel." Romaine Washington, author of Purgatory has an Address
Upcoming Event
Sunday, May 4 – Join Inlandia and UCR Arts on Sunday, May 4, for Conversations at the Culver as we celebrate the launch of Thatcher Carter’s new novel, Razed – published by Inlandia Books. Thatcher will be joined by writers Kate Anger, Ellen Estilai, and Romaine Washington for a conversation about writing and publishing after the age of 50, moderated by the creator of the 52 Project, Sue Mitchell. Refreshments will be served, and books will be available for sale and signing. 1:00-3:00 PM. Barbara and Art Culver Center for the Arts, 3834 Main Street Mall, Riverside, CA. All are welcome.
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Preorder your copy of Razed and pick it up at the event! https://tinyurl.com/RazedBOOK
publications.
about.
Photo credit: Carlos Puma
I come from a long line of grudge-keepers. My father stopped talking to his brother when I was a toddler, cutting off half our family. Then, my mother stopped talking to her sister for decades, further depleting our numbers. Since I was a child, I have read books as a way to understand these complex human decisions, every novel serving as a blueprint of what to embrace or avoid. My writing also centers around this mystery of human relationships.
For 25 years,I taught English at my local community college in Riverside, CA, just up the road from my house. Just recently, my husband and I have retired to Ontario, Canada where we talk about the weather a lot, walk our Springer Spaniel through the woods, and always keep an eye out for a snowy owl.
​​My debut novel (if you haven't heard) is forthcoming at Inlandia Books on May 1, 2025. You can read a draft excerpt here at Embark: A Literary Journal for Novelists.
The story:
In 1970s upstate New York, a closeted woman with undiagnosed anxiety uses her librarian skills to challenge the public honoring of her wealthy, powerful family. Can she put an end to the lies without ruining her tenuous relationship with her sister?
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In 1958, before the novel opens, Lucy Wilson witnessed her father physically attack a protestor who was marching against the town’s proposed elevated highway. The problem was that Lucy’s sister wasn’t there to see it, and afterward their visions of the world and their father diverged. Lucy, with the help of her soon-to-be girlfriend, Miranda, confronted her father, but by doing so she lost her inheritance and also her close relationship with her sister.
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The novel opens in 1973, the year Nixon was investigated for Watergate and Roe v. Wade was passed by the Supreme Court. At her father’s funeral, 34-year-old Lucy is handed an accordion file with incriminating information about her father’s misdeeds, proving that he was bilking funds from the highway’s toll system and handing out favors with taxpayer money. Lucy does not accept this bulging folder. She says she has moved on. However, when her sister announces a plan to honor their father with a statue, Lucy can’t resist making one more attempt to pull the scales from her sister’s eyes—or, even better, from her niece Sarah’s eyes, since Sarah is now old enough to know the truth about her beloved grandfather.
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RAZED addresses themes of privilege and power, as well as the heart-breaking rifts that families experience due to political and philosophical differences.
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You can reach me with the contact form or social media links below.
