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A MARCH 2026 INDIE NEXT PICK
★ “Powerfully poetic...a testament to American virtues—and flaws.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
A deeply moving family story unfolding in richly evocative prose during the final decades of the American century, Ashland is a book of metamorphoses—of the dance between permanence and transformation.
The story takes place in Ashland, New Hampshire, a former mill town in the lakes region, and is told in six voices, among them Carolyn, a twenty year old writer at a turning point in her life; Gordon, who arrives in Ashland in the twilight of his years; Andy, a local boy; Geoff, Carolyn's writing teacher at Plymouth State; and Edith, Gordon's wife, who is inadvertently Carolyn's spiritual guide and friend. Then there is Jennie, Carolyn's aunt, who seems to offer her a model for how to live. But things aren't always what they seem, and Carolyn must discover her own rules and make her own way.
Ashland is a debut novel of great intensity, beautifully told in the voices of many vivid characters and, through them, in the voice of Ashland itself.
“Like a modern Thornton Wilder with a touch of Faulkner... With quiet lyricism and deep compassion, Simon brings to life the complexity, melancholy, and hope that are braided into the human spirit.”—Andrew Solomon, author of Far from the Tree
“It is often the stories that go unspoken which carry the most weight and influence in our lives. Dan Simon captures this ethos brilliantly in Ashland, his restrained prose belying the rich undercurrents of the characters who reside in this titular, halfway town. Simon is a bright, attentive new voice in the pastoral canon.”—Shannon Bowring, author of The Dalton Novels
★ “Multilayered and richly evocative... Powerfully poetic, this novel serves as a cross section of the Granite state, a testament to American virtues—and flaws.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred)
“A poetic, psychological, original take on the ways we are all affected and connected by how and where we live.”—Beverly Gologorsky, author of The Things We Do to Make It Home
“Ashland is remarkable for its range of acutely observed characters and its rich evocation of the landscape and weather of New Hampshire. Simon creates a tapestry of voices and tones with extraordinary skill and emotional resonance.”—Colm Tóibín, author of Brooklyn
“On the surface, the main characters in the novel lead fraught lives. Marriages don’t last. Women raise children without fathers present. Jobs don’t have much of a future. Life seems a matter of survival. But there’s much under that surface... The book is slowly revelatory, with continual moments of inspiration and knowledge found in nature, in people's comments, in the small moments of daily life.”—Shelf Awareness
“Simon... captures the rhythms of small-town New Hampshire in his lyrical debut novel.... This leaves a lasting impression.”—Publishers Weekly
“Dan Simon’s family drama ponders life’s joys and losses using a patchwork of first-person narratives from folks in small-town Ashland, New Hampshire. The novel is a refreshingly meditative, modern Our Town with a hat tip to the blessings of nature, books, and writing.”—Christian Science Monitor
“Dan Simon gives voice to characters we don’t see often enough in literature.”—Texas Public Radio
“This beautifully written, poetic literary novel tells the desperate story of quiet lives, or perhaps demonstrates Thoreau’s ‘The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.’”—She Threads Softly
“Dan Simon’s debut novel blends polyphonic storytelling with keen attention to the natural world and its emotional echoes... Beyond its nuanced attention to landscape, Ashland also explores family life, its joys and loss, including teenage parenting, in compelling ways.”—The Arts Fuse