Lay Your Armor Down tells a dark Southern tale
Acclaimed Oxford writer Michael Farris Smith launches his eighth novel Lay Your Armor Down on Tuesday, May 27, at Off Square Books, where he will be in conversation with John T Edge. Smith will also take questions from the audience and sign copies of the book, which will be available in-store and anywhere else books are sold. Signed and personalized copies will also be available.
In his latest, Smith delivers a haunting, lyrical exploration of several broken individuals bound by violence, memory, and the desperate hope for redemption. Rich in Southern gothic atmosphere, the story begins with an elderly woman, deep in the throes of dementia, wandering barefoot through the woods with a headful of fragmented memories. Meanwhile, the disturbing discovery of a carnage scene develops in a rural church cellar by two men—Keal, a dream-ridden drifter, and Burdean, a strict enforcer. Then unexpectedly, a mute, mysterious wide-eyed girl with strange abilities appears.
Dementia-plagued Wanetah is at the core of the novel, as her confused and disjointed mutterings are given depth and empathy, and not particularly looked down on as a mere medical condition. Wanetah’s erosion drums up a sense of obligation to those she comes in contact with—particularly Cara, a woman riddled with grief since her daughter’s death. Cara is drawn to her in a way that begins to relieve her emotional crisis.
As the characters become swept into a whirlwind of danger, with violent men in pursuit, they are forced to reconcile with their own haunted pasts. They all find themselves connected to the fragile child and gradually fading woman, as each is forced to decide whether to keep bearing the burden of their past, or to at long last lay their armor down.
Square Books called Smith’s newest “an engrossing level of experience not usually encountered in a novel.”
And Wright Thompson, a Clarksdale, Mississippi, native and senior writer for ESPN Magazine said, “Michael Farris Smith possesses a conductor’s mastery and a lead singer’s swagger, and Lay Your Armor Down demands that you pay attention.”
The book launch starts at 5:30 pm and will include a conversation between the author and local writer John T Edge. The event is free and open to the public.
Michael Farris Smith is an award-winning writer whose novels have appeared on Best of the Year lists with Esquire, NPR, Southern Living, Garden & Gun, Oprah Magazine, Book Riot, and numerous other outlets, and have been named Indie Next, Barnes & Noble Discover, and Amazon Best of the Month selections. As a screenwriter, he scripted the feature-film adaptations of his novels Desperation Road and The Fighter, titled for the screen as Rumble Through the Dark. With his band MFS & The Smokes, Smith wrote and released the record Lostville, which was produced by Grammy nominee Jimbo Mathus. He lives in Oxford, Mississippi, with his wife and daughters.
