The Novel

Abraham Two-Hill (2003)

Abraham Two-Hill is a novel set in Western North Carolina in the 1880s. I worked on this novel for five years. It was my senior project for my BA in Literature and Writing and it was my thesis project for my MFA in Writing and then my focus two years beyond that.

From Ashley Warlick, author of Distance from the Heart of Things (Houghton Mifflin) and other books – true writer. (Thanks, Ashley):

“[Abraham Two-Hill is] wise and deeply imagined, one of those manuscripts you soon forget is not yet a classic… Abraham Two-Hill is the kind of quintessential American character whose story takes on the grand dimensions of history and in doing so, tells as much about his time as our own. The narrative is sweeping and confident, the language finely wrought. Jason’s roots as a poet serve him well, and I think this novel speaks of a writer embarking on a long career.”

As published by the publisher Behler Publications on BehlerPublications.com:

“This strong Southern gothic and historical story follows a mysterious drifter named Abraham to a cove outside of Asheville called Two-Hill. There, Abraham falls in with the Gauldens, an important family in this small community. He then works with the members of this family to fulfill his plan.

“Abraham is progress personified. And progress brings with it good and bad. Through the course of the novel, Two-Hill is radically changed by commerce and traffic, and Abraham is at the center of it all. He becomes a father figure to the town. Yet everyone in the community becomes indebted to him in one way or another. He then begins to dissipate, to not be a man at all, but a legend, a myth, a cliché of a kindly slave-owner of his antebellum past in a mansion up on the hill. Is he good? Is he bad? You may as well try to answer that question about Progress itself. It is neither and both. It is ambiguous and to be judged by the individual. Yet it is overwhelmingly powerful; of this there is no doubt.

“The main characters of this novel go on to experience success, happiness, loss, sadness, tragedy, and death, with Abraham always in their minds and somehow in control of their lives. The story is beautiful, funny, and haunting. It is Faulknerian to a degree. Its casually-paced tempo is compelling to the very end. Full with beautiful prose, wonderful dialogue and powerful imagery, Abraham Two-Hill is a sure literary success.”

Visit BehlerPublications.com for more information on purchasing and to see many other books published by Behler.

As printed in the Rapid River in Asheville, NC:

Abraham Two Hill is an amazing debut novel by Asheville resident Jason Broadwater. This young author, poet and musician is a modern-day Renaissance man who cannot sit still, and doesnnt. Founder of Prose Productions, he oversees the engineering and recording of CDs, distribution and publishing, even graphic design. He has a Masterrs Degree from UNC Asheville but continues to take graduate courses while teaching creative writing at East Mc Dowell Junior High School.

Broadwater was already an experienced musician (touring with bands in South Carolina before he was 18) when he discovered an affinity for writing. He started work on “Abraham Two Hill” while an undergraduate. This historical novel, which takes place mostly in the early 1880s but includes childhood recollections of the Civil War, required such labor-intensive research that only in the last few years has he been able to dedicate himself once again to his guitar and recordings; along with Buncombe County teacher Ben Graham, he has formed a two-man band, Broadwater Gra
The very unusual title coupled with Broadwater’s choice of book cover–a rather unclear black and white photograph of a fat-legged, plump-handed little-girl angel in a Shirley Temple dress which leaves the knees bared–already serve to pique the readers curiosity. One page before the dramatic entrance of Broadwaterrs mystery man he inserts a quote from Genesis12.1,2: The Lord said to Abram “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name t.” Kelley makes his appearance in the Buncombe County courthouse in Asheville, North Carolina, “dirty and tattered” with “nothing but the one thing in his pocket, and a plan to make his life again worthy of weeping willows.’ There he changes his name officially from Kelley to Two-Hill and “glides down South Main a melody,” as if he were floating on top of the world. Inside “he was the firing of cannons, but he kept himself calm.” Using his new name for the first time ever, he introduces himself to the editor of ‘The Asheville Gazette’ and proposes a deal. The editor’s jaw drops when he sees what Abraham has taken out of his pocket. It is a nugget of solid gold, “twice the size of an eyeball,” found upstream of Two-Hill.

Exchanging it for eagle and double-eagle gold coins a little under what it’s worth Two-Hill signs a contract agreeing to buy it back in one year’s time for twice its going value if the editor will run the story: “Gold Found in Two-Hil ortBroadwater’s talent for imagery shines throughout the book as brilliantly as the light sparkling off Two-Hillls gold nugget. (Ashley Warlick, author of “The Summer After June,” includes mention of this talent in his review: “wise and deeply imagined…a classic…Jason’s roots as a poet serve him well.”) Abraham is born, literally, under a willow tree with “rain falling like heroes from grace.” Puddle and breath are words Broadwater uses often to paint his characters.

Abraham’s father, before spanking him, “would breath so loud that chills would run up the chimney.” Abraham and Miss Maudie (the latter entering rooms “like a heifer coming into the barn from a storm”) find themselves standing “up to their ankles in the lack of words like a puddle.” Abraham’s mother “visualized the larger oceans in which their puddle swam.” As a child Abraham stands up to his ankles in a puddle of sunlight. The young woman Sissy is so in love with Abraham that “(she) breathed and it sounded a breeze in her head.” Bessi, her younger, sister talks “through deep breaths.” Maggie, also in love with Abraham, envisions “a long breath (moving) across the table, entering only two of the glasses.” When Sissy’s husband Sheriff Lum, who is “like men who run small worlds,” hears his brother Jebb’s voice for the first time since the war, (Jebb, whose “childhood valley was a stale empty pantry”), he breathes in, “but the breath was hollow somehow, a net The way Broadwater’s characters actually use words says much about their personalities. Some use them as weapons. Jump’s father, Mr. Gaulden, whose “face poured into his head as if his mouth was a drain,” used words which would “scrape his son’s skin.” Gaulden, an old coot, treats Jump’s words “as if they were apples–some good enough to keep or to be thrown out like fodder.” Humorously, Broadwater describes Miss Maudie: “(she) spoke in small droves, her words stampeding… (she used) words like a bag of feed chucExhibiting imagination and maturity beyond his years, Broadwater delves deeply into his characters’ minds; and so, he has created a contemporary classic with unforgettable characters.

In Book 2, page 71, we can actually see the inner workings of a child’s mind (note: the actual fragments of conversation between the dots have been omitted). The plantation master (who has already lost all three of his sons in the Civil War) is about to tell Abraham (the boy ) his father is dead. Although physically presentt and responding to questions in childlike fragments, the child senses disaster; his mind is already seeking to leave the room: Abraham followed the pin-stripes of Mr. Masteson’s gray suit-pants downward…He planted his feet and twisted his upper body slightly, side to side, pendulum. Then he fell tiny from the cuff of Mr. Masteson’s pants onto his dark, leather shoes… His tongue caught the words and had to force them out of his mouth. He pushed them out and they clung stretching from his lips…. A burp climbed Abraham’s throat and pushed out more words…He brought his legs together and stood up straight. He leaned his weight onto one leg. Then, he rolled off the toes of Mr. Mastesonns enormous shoes and onto the burgundy rug…He clung to the white tassels of the burgundy rug, dangling lure.ason Broadwater’s “Abraham Two-Hill” is, in his own words, “engaging, funny, sad, and poetic.” It is much more than that.”