Chapel of Ease, first time in trade paperback: Alex Bledsoe's critically-acclaimed Tufa series about musically-talented fae in rural Tennessee, a series Kirkus Reviews calls "powerful, character-driven drama...a sheer delight." (starred review)
"Beautifully written, surprisingly moving, and unexpected in the best of ways." --Seanan McGuire,
New York Times bestselling author
When Matt Johansson, a young New York actor, auditions for
Chapel of Ease, an off-Broadway musical, he is instantly charmed by Ray Parrish, the show's writer and composer. They soon become friends; Matt learns that Ray's people call themselves the Tufa and that the musical is based on the history of his isolated home town. But there is one question in the show's script that Ray refuses to answer: what is buried in the ruins of the chapel of ease?
As opening night approaches, strange things begin to happen. A dreadlocked girl follows Ray and spies on him. At the press preview, a strange Tufa woman warns him to stop the show. Then, as the rave reviews arrive, Ray dies in his sleep.
Matt and the cast are distraught, but there's no question of shutting down: the run quickly sells out. They postpone opening night for a week and Matt volunteers to take Ray's ashes back to Needsville. He also hopes, while he's there, to find out more of the real story behind the play and discover the secret that Ray took to his grave.
Matt's journey into the haunting Appalachian mountains of Cloud County sets him on a dangerous path, where some secrets deserve to stay buried.
Enter the captivating world of the fae in Alex Bledsoe's Tufa novels The Hum and the Shiver
Wisp of a Thing
Long Black Curl
Chapel of Ease
Gather Her Round
The Fairies of Sadieville
