Molly by Kevin Honold was selected by Dan Chaon as the winner of the 2020 Autumn House Fiction Prize and is a compelling story of enduring hardships in rural New Mexico.
This debut novel tells the story of nine-year-old Raymond, nicknamed "Ray Moon" by Molly, his adoptive caretaker, a waitress, and the former partner of his recently deceased uncle. These two outcasts rely on one another for survival, and their bond forms the heart of this book. Living atop a mesa in the high desert of New Mexico in 1968, Raymond ages quickly amid hostile circumstances. With the help of a keen imagination that Molly inspires, he navigates various forms of loss and exploitation amid enduring hardship.
Kevin Honold’s deft and trance-like prose is interspersed with sharp insights and brings attention to the hardships of capitalism, the ills of misogyny, and the raw hurt of living a displaced or marginalized life. This is a story of endurance, memory, and unceasing change.