The Soldier

Phillip's insular artistic life borders on self-exile. He lives in the woods of New Hampshire in a centuries old farmhouse. He does not simply prize his privacy, he insists on it. When a young female relative arrives, to whom he has offered a temporary haven, he finds the intrusion not at all displeasing. Instead of resenting the invasion of his solitude, he finds himself liking it, and her.
But how alone has he actually been? How isolated is his existence? A woman prowls the grounds. A soldier of a war fought long ago dreams of home. Lives, past and present, flow together in mystical collusion, amplifying one another's conflicts, joys, desires. They inform Phillip's life and art, infusing his isolation and imagination.

R.C. Binstock's new novel, Swift River, will be published in November, 2014.