Overview

In THE MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART, six months have passed since Dan and Sarah lost their four-year-old son in a car accident-one Sarah was driving. Dan spends each dawn running through the streets of Missoula, pounding the pavement in an effort to outrun the grief, guilt, and fierce love that have knotted themselves inside him. He wants to be the strong one, the forgiving one, but every attempt to soothe Sarah falls apart, and lately he's shocked to realize he's noticing an attractive young colleague at work, a sign of how far off-center he's drifted. Sarah, meanwhile, wakes every morning to pray to a God who seems to turn away from her pleas. She kisses Dan on the stairs, feels the widening fracture between them, and believes that leaving might be the most merciful act she can offer. A new, frightening prayer has slipped into her heart: If you don't want me to go, stop me. But no divine roadblocks appear, and she has begun-quietly, methodically-to plan her departure. Set against the rugged landscape of Missoula, Montana, this novella is an intimate exploration of grief, marriage, and the brutal, bewildering work of forgiveness. A 2019 Finalist for the Clay Reynolds Novella Prize and a 2020 Honorable Mention for the Landmark Prize for Fiction, the book also appeared in excerpt in The Windhover in 2021.

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9781963115802

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Rickrode is a writer from central Pennsylvania, as well as a husband, dog owner, and longtime English professor. He earned his MFA from the University of Montana in 2013 and has spent the years since teaching and writing in his home state. His work has appeared in Dappled Things, The Cresset, Lalitamba, Fathom Magazine, Identity Theory, The Common, The Good Men Project, The South Carolina Review, Still Point Arts Quarterly, and Bright Bones: An Anthology of Contemporary Montana Writing.His debut novel, The Mountains May Depart, is forthcoming from Unsolicited Press in 2026. Set in Missoula, Montana, the book explores grief, faith, and forgiveness, and was recognized as a 2019 Finalist for the Clay Reynolds Novella Prize and a 2020 Honorable Mention for the Landmark Prize for Fiction. An excerpt from the work appeared in The Windhover in 2021.Alongside his writing, Rickrode teaches college courses in English and creative writing, leading workshops, professional development seminars, and classes on the evolution of modern genres-including literary journalism, memoir, and the short story-as well as introductory writing courses.

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