MADELINE FFITCH
"Madeline ffitch writes like no one else, and Avalon, Rise is a book like no other. It's a refreshingly honest look at antifascism and small town life, and I've been talking about this book to everyone I meet since i finished it." - Margaret Killjoy
"Smart, tender, and laugh-out-loud funny, Avalon, Rise is a page-turner about people trying to save each other from the claws of white nationalism. It's a view of antifascist resistance from the inside, where things are messy and difficult and beautiful and real. Madeline ffitch has written a bracing antidote to cynicism and despair." - Leni Zumas, author of Wolf Bells
This is the story of Avalon, Ohio. But it might as well be the story of your town, or mine.
It’s the story of Leroi and Woody, best friends since childhood. Their moms, Sharon and Eloise. Matt and Lewis—soldiers and newspapermen. Sylvester and the punks at Food Not Bombs. Angie and the bikers at the Lucky 13. Stasia and Arne and the true believers at Nation Awake.
It’s the story of America and all the things that have been happening here since the Europeans arrived. It’s about then and now, invasive species and stolen myths, the town square and the public library, Joann Fabrics and somewhere called the Discipline Cafe. It’s about a printing press, twelve-point Cheltenham Regular No. 64J, and old symbols made new. It’s about how we’re fighting the same battles, year after decade, caught up in cycles of violence, addiction, politics, and resistance. And it’s about how we live with it all, live with ourselves, live with each other, and try to keep it moving.
This is a story about a community, the quiet light of agitation, and how things don’t change, but maybe people do. Maybe. Let’s see.