TO THE MOUNTAIN
by Erik Raschke
February 2021 | Fiction | 978-1-948814-32-4 | 176 pp | $15.95
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
​
ERIK RASCHKE received an MA in Creative Writing from the City College of New York. His first novel, The Book of Samuel, was translated into Italian and nominated for the Printz award. His short stories and essays have been published in, among others, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Magazine, Hazlitt, De Volkskrant, and Guernica. His short story, “Winch” (Portland Review), was nominated for the 2018 Best American Short Stories. 
​
As a reporter in the early nineties for The Newsletter and Belfast Telegraph, Erik covered the bombings, shootings, and assassinations that marked the end of The Troubles. Later, he was a Peace Corps volunteer in Armenia and a certified New York public school teacher working with lower-income students in the upper-Manhattan/Bronx area. He became a dual Dutch and American citizen in 2013. He lives in Amsterdam with his wife and three boys and teaches writing at The University of Amsterdam. 
​
​
Eleven-year-old Marshall lives in a remote juvenile center in Colorado, where he is bullied by the other boys, misunderstood by all of the staff except Leslie, and so overwhelmed by the sounds and smells in the cafeteria that getting his lunch is a daily terror. During a blizzard, an unexpected mishap for Marshall and Leslie leads to Marshall’s disappearance into the wilderness. His father, Jace, knows that Marshall has gone searching for a secret on the mountain. To save Marshall, Jace must overcome not only the winter elements, but his own self-doubt in this tale of sacrifice, hope, and the bond between father and son.
PRAISE FOR TO THE MOUNTAIN
​
“Powerful . . . a harrowing and engaging tale of survival.”
—KIRKUS REVIEWS
​
"Lyrical and haunting."
—FOREWORD REVIEWS
“Raschke interprets motifs of loss, separation, and renewal with keen storytelling chops and a distinctive lyrical style. This brief but riveting story has much to offer.”
—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“A mercilessly taut, relentlessly thrilling tale of heartbreak and survival. Raschke writes with humanity and grace about the challenges of parenthood, and the rigors of the natural world.”
—JONATHAN EVISON, author of The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
​
“To the Mountain pits a father and son against the wilderness survival tale’s usual merciless elements: perilous trails, menacing predators, and poor cell reception. What lifts this novel above the ordinary also challenges readers—to enter the hyper-sensory perspective of the autistic boy as he puzzles his way through an insensate world. It is not a spoiler to say that love matters when the odds seem insurmountable and surrender feels like mercy.” 
—CHARLIE QUIMBY, author of Monument Road and Inhabited
​
“A deeply affecting tale of a father’s love for his autistic son. Erik Raschke’s lyrical prose evokes both the awesome wilderness of the Rocky Mountains in winter and the unfathomable wilderness of the human heart."
—MARGARET COEL, New York Times bestselling author of Winter’s Child
​
​
Cover art by David Shingler