The Duke of Ash Avenue

They say you can never go home again, but what if home won’t let you leave?

When Elbridge Corvallis’ mother dies, the barely minted professional hockey player abandons his first season to return to Lowland, PA in mourning. When a car accident keeps him there, Elbridge must confront a father's slipping sanity, a perverted landlord, a vengeful physical therapist, and the one that maybe got away in order to find his way back out of the dying steel town. Easier said than done, especially with the mysterious Duke of Ash Avenue looming over them all, whose crazy schemes to take Lowland back under the rule of the British crown might just bring the whole town down with him.

With the help of an assorted cast of locals, Elbridge must unwillingly unravel the Duke's mysterious identity and intent to find his own place in Lowland. Can he come to peace with his mother’s death and her lingering expectations? Can he repair the bridge with his estranged father? Can he mend the injuries, physical and otherwise, that prevent his return to play? And when he’s finally offered the chance to leave, will he still want to take it?

REVIEWS:

Elby Corvallis is equally as likely to conquer the day as he is to be found deflated, clutching an empty beer bottle on a torn-up, hardwood floor. Yet in the chaos—often of his own making—Elby unflinchingly answers the loudest questions in his head: Who was his mother, really? Who is his father, really? And above all, who is Elby—now—in his new world order? Where does he go from here? This book is heartbreakingly funny with an endlessly endearing hero whose voice will echo for a long time in your brain. Fine by me—or, as Elby would say, “We good? Good.”
– Colleen Alles, author of Master of Arts

This novel is a smorgasbord for the literary senses. There’s loss, grief, and grit; humor, mayhem, and mystique; regionalism, plot twists, and, yes,—love! Rarely can a writer balance so much in one novel as Stack has here.
– Mitch James, Author of Seldom Seen: A Miner's Tale