THE LAST REPATRIATE: A NOVELLA

In 1953, after the end of the Korean War, 23 POWs refused to repatriate to America. The Last Repatriate tells the story of Theodore Dickerson, a prisoner who eventually returns to his home in Virginia in the midst of the McCarthy Era. He is welcomed back as a hero, though he has not returned unscathed. The lasting effects of the POW camp and troubles with his ex-fiancée complicate his new marriage as he struggles to readjust to the Virginia he holds dear.

“Salesses’ examination of the troubled mind of a Korean War POW returning home is pensive and brooding. A subtly painful psychological journey.”
—James Franco, actor and author of Palo Alto

“Salesses is a writer to embrace. In their beauty, strangeness, and heart, his fictions are a gift.”
—Paul Yoon, author of Once the Shore

“A harrowing story rendered in balletic prose, The Last Repatriate draws us inside a war of the body and of the heart—a confirmation of Salesses’ inventive, ambitious, big-hearted brilliance.”
—Laura van den Berg, author of Find Me

Best of 2011
—Amber Sparks, Big Other

“Salesses knows how to write a fine sentence—fine in the traditional sense: well-wrought, attended-to, and unexpected.”
—Kyle Winkler, The Rumpus

“Every word is painstakingly chosen… The cinematic tone is perfect.”
—Josh Denslow, The Lit Pub

“Occasionally I’ll find myself reading a book and thinking ‘This is so important right now.’”
—Alissa Nutting Looking Back at 2011, Heavy Feather Review

“I told myself, ‘Just because this is a short novella does not mean you are going to stay up late and read the whole thing at once.’ . . . And then I read the entire book at once.”
—Sara Habein, Word Riot

“Concisely illustrates how war destroys individuals.”
—Luis Jaramillo, The Brooklyn Rail

“The gorgeous prose and gripping plot… testify to our strangeness, resilience, and capacity for love.”
—Ethel Rohan, author of Cut Through the Bone

“A heartfelt tale that taps into our collective desire for a home we love (but might never see), and it only takes an hour or two to enjoy.”
—Ryan Brock, The Stage

Holiday Survival List 2011
—Kirby Johnson, NANO Fiction

Read an excerpt from Part II. Listen to Chapter 1 at The Drum.