In a year of war, sixteen-year-old Charlotte sets off on a mission of love in the backwoods of Louisiana, only to be violated by three soldiers in a lonely section of the forest. Charlotte's young life is destroyed, but another life is growing inside her. Years later, in peacetime, Charlotte comes to House of Gentle Men, a mysterious sanctuary where sad, damaged women are administered to by haunted men wishing to atone for their past crimes. Here, Charolotte falls in love with one of the Gentle Men, a tormented young soldier with a terrible secret of his own.
An artistic triumph of the highest order, this debut is a transcendent tale of salvation that celebrates the strength of the heart.

The House of Gentle Men: A Novel

Literature & Fiction

Hepinstall, Kathy

United States

William Morrow

A virgin child dreamed a woman's dreams in the lush, somnolent backwoods of Louisianna. In a year of war, sixteen-year-old Charlotte embarked on a mission of love, only to be set upon by three sodiers in training in a lonely, isolated section of the forest. And thus was a young life destroyed and remade, leaving Charlotte silent and alone, save for something that now grew inside of her. And nine months later when a babe was born--a demon in her eyes--Charlotte abandoned it to the elements, knowing she could never bear to look upon it.
Most wars eventually end. But some continue to rage internally.
Years later, in a world at peace, a friend's gift of pity brings Charlotte to a very special place in the woods. Every night, sad, damaged, overworked and unappreciated women make their way to the House of Gentle Men. Here they find the solace and chaste kindness they so desperately crave, administered by haunted men wishing to atone for the crimes in their pasts.
But Charlotte's past is alive within these welcoming walls. And her own sins and secrets impel her to consort with one--and only one--penitent soul whose accusing conscience has brought him here: a damaged man, no longer a solier, who once joined two comrades to defile a teenage girl in the Louisiana wood.A virgin child dreamed a woman's dreams in the lush, somnolent backwoods of Louisiana. In a year of war, sixteen-year-old Charlotte embarked on a mission of love, only to be set upon by three soldiers in training in a lonely, isolated section of the forest. And thus was a young life destroyed and remade, leaving Charlotte silent and alone, save for something that now grew inside of her. And nine months later when a babe was born--a demon in her eyes--Charlotte abandoned it to the elements, knowing she could never bear to look upon it.Most wars eventually end. But some continue to rage internally.
Years later, in a world at peace, a friend's gift of pity brings Charlotte to a very special place in the woods. Every night, sad, damaged, overworked and unappreciated women make their way to The House of Gentle Men. Here they find the solace and chaste kindness they so desperately crave, administered by haunted men wishing to atone for the crimes in their pasts.
But Charlotte's past is alive within these welcoming walls. And her own sins and secrets impel her to consort with one--and only one--penitent soul whose accusing conscience has brought him here: a damaged man, no longer a soldier, who once joined two comrades to defile a teenage girl in the Louisiana woods.

The House of Gentle Men

After saving Alice's mother from drowning, a mysterious man named Simon is quickly ensconced in the family as the husband of the rescued woman, but Alice becomes suspicious of his motives, in a suspenseful coming-of-age novel by the author of The House of Gentle Men.

The Absence of Nectar

Literary

Putnam Adult

Prince Of Lost Places

In an obsessive attempt to protect her son from the innumerable dangers of the world, Martha kidnaps him and hides in an isolated cave before reluctantly befriending a detective who has been hired to bring them back home. 15,000 first printing.

Prince of Lost Places

“Delightful. . . funny and poignant.” --People With a kick like the best hot sauce, this is the laugh-out-loud story of a girl determined to keep up with her aging, crazy-as-a-fox mother "If you ever pined for a mother who would take a hunting falcon as her wingman to a parent-teacher conference, Polly is the gal for you. Delicious." --Mark Childress, author of Crazy in Alabama Willow Havens is ten years old and obsessed with the fear that her mother will die. Her mother, Polly, is a cantankerous, take-no-prisoners Southern woman who lives to chase varmints, drink margaritas, and antagonize the neighbors—and she sticks out like a sore thumb among the young modern mothers of their small conventional Texas town. She was in her late fifties when Willow was born, so Willow knows she’s here by accident, a late-life afterthought. Willow’s father died before she was born, her much older brother and sister are long grown and gone and failing elsewhere. It’s just her and bigger-than-life Polly. Willow is desperately hungry for clues to the family life that preceded her, and especially Polly’s life pre-Willow. Why did she leave her hometown of Bethel, Louisiana, fifty years ago and vow never to return? Who is Garland Jones, her long-ago suitor who possibly killed a man? And will Polly be able to outrun the Bear, the illness that finally puts her on a collision course with her past? The Book of Polly has a great blend of humor and sadness, pathos and hilarity. This is a bittersweet novel about the grip of love in a truly quirky family and you’ll come to know one of the most unforgettable mother-daughter duos you’ve ever met.

The Book of Polly: A Novel

Pamela Dorman Books

Humor & Satire

Penguin??Books

After a tragedy at her son's school, a young Ohio mother decides not to take any chances. Late one night, she kidnaps her son from under her husband's nose and takes him to live-hidden, isolated, and safe-in a cave on the Rio Grande...day by day moving closer to a startling love, a terrible choice, and the revelation of a devastating secret.

BERKLEY

After saving Alice's mother from drowning, a mysterious man named Simon is quickly ensconced in the family as the husband of the rescued woman, but Alice becomes suspicious of his motives, in a suspenseful coming-of-age novel by the author of The House of Gentle Men. Reprint.

Jove

"A first-rate choice for fans of intelligent historical romances."—Library Journal, starred review Amid the mayhem of the Civil War, Iris Dunleavy is put on trial by her husband, convicted of madness, and sent to Sanibel Asylum to be restored to a compliant Virginia plantation wife. But her husband is the true criminal; she is no lunatic, only guilty of disagreeing on notions of cruelty and property.On this remote Florida island, Iris meets a wonderful collection of inmates in various states of sanity, including Ambrose Weller, a Confederate soldier haunted by war, whose dark eyes beckon to her. Can love in such a place be real? Can they escape, and will the war have left any way—any place—for them to make a life together? "An absorbing story that explores both the rewards and perils of love, pride, and sanity."—Publishers Weekly"With Blue Asylum, Hepinstall presents the reader with the rare and delicious quandary of whether to race through and find out what happens to her characters or to linger over her vivid, beautifully crafted sentences. For me, the only resolution was to read it twice." —Hillary Jordan, author of Mudbound and When She Woke"Agripping story of love and madness in the midst of the Civil War—I couldn’t put it down!"—Kathleen Grissom, author of The Kitchen House

Blue Asylum

Harper Paperbacks

A best-selling novelist enlists her own sister to bring us the story of two Southern sisters, disguised as men, who join the Confederate Army—one seeking vengeance on the battlefield, the other finding love. In a war pitting brother against brother, two sisters choose their own battle. Joseph and Thomas are fresh recruits for the Confederate Army, daring to join the wild fray that has become the seemingly endless Civil War, sharing everything with their fellow soldiers—except the secret that would mean their undoing: they are sisters. Before the war, Joseph and Thomas were Josephine and Libby. But that bloodiest battle, Antietam, leaves Libby to find her husband, Arden, dead. She vows vengeance, dons Arden’s clothes, and sneaks off to enlist with the Stonewall Brigade, swearing to kill one Yankee for every year of his too-short life. Desperate to protect her grief-crazed sister, Josephine insists on joining her. Surrounded by flying bullets, deprivation, and illness, the sisters are found by other dangers: Libby is hurtling toward madness, haunted and urged on by her husband’s ghost; Josephine is falling in love with a fellow soldier. She lives in fear both of revealing their disguise and of losing her first love before she can make her heart known to him. In her trademark “vibrant” (Washington Post Book World) and “luscious” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) prose, Kathy Hepinstall joins with her sister Becky to show us the hopes of love and war, the impossible-to-sever bonds of sisterhood, and how what matters most can both hurt us and heal us.

Sisters of Shiloh

Hepinstall Hilliker, Becky

Houghton, mifflin, harcourt

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hepinstall, Kathy. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Hepinstall, Kathy

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hepinstall, Kathy. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The House of Gentle Men: A Novel

The House of Gentle Men

The Absence of Nectar

Prince of Lost Places

The Book of Polly: A Novel

The Book of Polly: A Novel

Prince Of Lost Places

The Absence of Nectar

Blue Asylum

Sisters of Shiloh