Silas House ascending
Gay novelist’s new book is a queer dystopian tale of survival GREGG SHAPIRO | Contributing WriterGreggShapiro@aol.com It’s embarrassing to admit, but I’ve only read two of prolific gay writer Silas House’s novels.
But what amazing books they are. Southernmost, from 2018, is a devastating novel about a flood, family and forgiveness that is nothing short of unforgettable.
Equally powerful, and prescient is House’s newest novel Lark Ascending (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2022), a dystopian — and queer — tale of survival against all odds.
Silas House was gracious enough to answer a few questions about the novel at the beginning of 2023. Dallas Voice: In your 2018 novel Southernmost, you addressed the destructiveness of religious fanaticism, and you’ve returned to the subject in the dystopian Lark Ascending with The Fundies (fundamentalists) and The Nays (the UK version of Fundies), whose campaign of “misinformation and discrimination” led to the collapse of both nations.
