A cult classic set on a Montana ranch in the 1920s, Savage's deft psychological drama pits two brothers against each other when one of them brings a young widow into their lives.
Discover Thomas Savage's dark poetic tale of a small town in early 20th century American that inspired the new Jane Campion film.
Phil and George are brothers and joint owners of the biggest ranch in their Montana valley. Phil is the bright one, George the plodder. Phil is tall and angular; George is stocky and silent. Phil is a brilliant chess player, a voracious reader, an eloquent storyteller; George learns slowly, and devotes himself to the business. They sleep in the room they shared as boys, and so it has been for forty years.
When George unexpectedly marries a young widow and brings her to live at the ranch, Phil begins a relentless campaign to destroy his brother's new wife. But he reckons without an unlikely protector.
From its visceral first paragraph to its devastating twist of an ending, The Power of the Dog will hold you in its grip. With an afterword by Annie Proulx.
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
ISBN: 9781784877842
Number of pages: 304
Weight: 213 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 18 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
Optimistically billed as the next Stoner, this 1967 reissue is in fact the better novel...a rich and challenging psychodrama, based on brilliant characterisation... With its echoes of East of Eden and Brokeback Mountain, this satisfyingly complex story deserves another shot at rounding up public admiration - Guardian
[Savage’s] prose is vivid and direct… [his] descriptions of nature have real power… a slow-burn psychological western. - The Times
An exhilarating drama between two brothers set in Twenties Montana, and better even than Stoner - Daily Telegraph
Something aching and lonely and terrible of the west is caught forever on Savage's pages, and the most compelling and painful of [his] books is The Power of the Dog, a work of literary art
The shocking turn of the book’s final pages keeps the story bright as a blade to the end...This is the perfect example of a book that never quite made it to the rank of classic...but is more than worthy of resurrection now - New Statesman
