Another fine book from Meat For Tea Press.
An epic tale of a family's downfall and a community's complicity,
The Execution of Tertius Lafontaine tells the story of a murder in a small Georgia town and explores the damage that can be done by family and community and how that ugliness reverberates through time. Neighbors call Tertius Lafontaine "slow." In reality he's just a shy, misunderstood man - failed at every turn by his family, his community, and his only friend. On a cold November night, Tertius comes home to a nightmare. His wife lies dead on the kitchen floor, her pretty yellow dress hiked around her hips. Tertius is taken in for questioning, coerced into giving a false confession and tried for her murder. This town has ghosts, and they have a lot to say about the community's worst acts - one person's in particular.
The Execution of Tertius Lafontaine is a wise and moving story of the evil men do - both great and small - and how, though they may seem to escape punishment, it always finds them. Or someone they love.
"This good ole Southern Gothic tale will keep you turning the pages."
- Margaret Verble, Pulitzer Prize Finalist, author of
Maud's Line and
Stealing "This is a magical, moving and surprising work of fiction, one that speaks truth to power, not just in high places, but in the petty tyrannies of the day to day that control how we live, how we love and, in the end, how we are able to die."
- John Burnside, Booker Prize judge 2015 and winner of the David Cohen Prize for Literature
"Christian Livermore's
The Execution of Tertius Lafontaine is a poignant and gripping exploration of justice, prejudice, and the complexities of the human mind. When Tertius, a soft-hearted young man who struggles with limited mental capabilities, is charged with his wife's brutal murder, the reactions of the citizens of Euphrates, Georgia, reveal both the pettiness and heroism of small-town lives. With deft control of multiple narrative threads, Christian weaves layers of familial and town history into an intricate tapestry of the cruel realities of a system that doesn't always protect the innocent. The Execution of Tertius Lafontaine expertly treads the murky boundaries between the real and the irreal, between culpability and blamelessness, and between iniquity and honor."
- Cynthia Reeves, author of
The Last Whaler and
Falling Through the New World 
