
Ruin: A Novel of Flyfishing in Bankruptcy” Debut by Leigh Seippel
Publishing date: September 27, 2022
Length: 320 pages
genre: fiction/coming of age
About The Book
This vivid story opens with every couple’s nightmare—the disappearance of their comfortable known world. Ruin’s adventure explores the unpredictable progression of character and chance for Francy and Frank Campbell, newly destitute in their early thirties, along with their lovers and foes. And a murder investigator . . . .
Frank is another dreamer whose life is suddenly burned to the ground. More a disillusioned literature Ph.D. than an experienced financier, he had naively agreed to join his wife’s inheritance with his own personal guarantee of a college friend’s private equity partnership debt.
The business implosion and subsequent bankruptcy took all their assets. Francy, an orphaned European heiress, now finds herself homeless, still married to pleasant, witty Frank—who had failed to protect them from disaster.
The couple flees Manhattan to live at a desolate non-working Hudson Valley farm. Frank starts an artisanal brewery with a charismatic new eccentric friend. And, central to the heart of the story, he takes up fly fishing. A local doctor, perceiving Frank’s depression, prescribes that he gain some confidence through self-taught fishing.
Frank’s perceptions on the water are fresh and acute, sometimes colored by his memory of the words of famous writers, now painfully ironic in his life’s new context. The novel weaves together fly fishing and life experiences that ultimately turn shockingly deadly.
And throughout, there is Francy’s story. Now in exile, she re-approaches painting with new and darkly complex emotional energy. Painting in reclusive concentration, she cuts Frank off, tacitly becoming her own woman. Her work’s enigmatic intensity attracts a wealthy neighbor who offers Francy a show in his Manhattan gallery and that attracts a great deal of trouble indeed.
About The Author
Author Leigh Seippel lives in the worlds of Francy and Frank. He has worked a small farm in the Hudson Valley, complete with officious goat herd. Fly fishing has taken him across four continents. He is a past president of The Anglers’ Club of New York, where he now heads its fishery conservation activities.
I have agreed to take this book on a review basis from the publicity agent, although it is a few books down my pile, so probably won’t happen for a few weeks yet.
Not my usual thing at all, but then I have read a few different books which have taken me out of my comfort zone recently, and on the whole, I have enjoyed them all.
This storyline might just be a little too close to home for comfort thought, so I shall have to see how it goes, I don’t intend for my reading to stress me out too much!
Are you planning to read this one alongside your feature? 🙂
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Hi Yvonne, I’m curious to read your thoughts on this one. I couldn’t accept this one for review because I have a stack of review books pending and I have to get caught up. This publicist is one I’ve worked with for a few years so I shared a spotlight post to help spread the word. Happy reading this week. 🙂
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I should do a spotlight post first really, but I am so bogged down with Blog Tour Reviews right now, that I need to stay focussed on those. I too have worked with Meryl Moss quite a lot over the course of time and as I have had to refuse a few reviews recently, felt that I couldn’t say ‘no’ again! 🙂
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