Mertztown native’s debut novel ‘West of Wanting’ nominated for Spur Award
People of Mertztown are reflected in Jared Reinert’s writing
A writer born and raised in Mertztown released his debut novel “West of Wanting” on Aug. 31. The novel has earned him a nomination for the Spur Award for Best Debut Western Novel.
“We are committed to releasing this book during this time of isolation and global uncertainty as a way for readers to escape their homes and take part in a westward pilgrimage,” said Jared Reinert, an eye doctor and a writer who lives outside Boston with his partner, Heather, and their dog, Ellie.
“Growing up in Mertztown didn’t have nearly as much influence on this book as returning. A few years ago, I spent several months working at the VA Hospital in Cheyenne, Wyoming and when I returned to Mertztown, I felt like the landscapes and expanses of open space were still with me,” said Reinert.
“It was as if the solitude and peacefulness followed me over a thousand miles eastward, and I felt completely changed by my time in the West. That was one of the things that got me thinking about a story where the characters leave their small town to experience the aweinspiring mountains and plains, along with a cast of neighborly people, and return with different, and wider, outlooks.”
Synopsis
A family’s secret, a pair of young, weather-beaten brothers, and the long and desolate miles before them.
When the death of their beloved mother saddles the Copeland brothers with a staggering family secret, Jack and Lester decide they have no choice but to set out on horseback toward answers that lie hundreds of miles away. Their saddlebags packed, their hats pulled low,
they leave behind the dust bowl ranch that has grown little besides family.
Along their westward pilgrimage, in desperate search of answers, the Copeland boys soon realize the Nebraska skies they had grown under were only the gods washing their brushes and mixing their palettes before painting the skies over Wyoming. As the mountains begin to rise above the horizon, so too do the hopes of the forsaken brothers.
A Story of Two Brothers
“I went through a few titles while I was working on this book but, in the end, ‘West of Wanting’ felt most like the story I ended up telling. The brothers feel forsaken and desperate for answers and belonging, and they’re certain they can only find those things to the West,” he said.
In the story, their greatgrandfather had come westward to claim their homestead, and then Jack and Lester set out even further west in search of something, too.
“I think everybody has a sense of wanting in life; we always think the grass is greener somewhere else, somewhere to the West maybe, and these brothers are no different.”
When he started writing this book, it was a simple concept in his imagination.
“But eventually, I realized the brothers would be dealing with the death of their mother, so I began to see this story as a way to express brotherhood and male emotions. This story is set in a time and place where men were taught to bury their emotions, but how can anyone expect that after their mother dies? So I let the boys be boys, and I tried to let their emotions breathe and to write their feelings honestly.”
His favorite part of the novel is when the brothers are talking for the first time about the weeks before their mother passed away.
“They spent months acting like they were mostly unaffected by her loss, but at some point during their ride westward they feel it bubbling over and they finally share their feelings with each other,” he said. “It was a difficult passage to write because I wanted so much for the emotions to feel real and honest, and also because I grew to love the brothers I was writing and, even though I knew it was wrong, I found myself hoping to protect them from the sad realities of their story.”
Neighborly Mertztown influences the story
Reinert said that the people of Mertztown are reflected in his writing.
“Even though the novel is set over a thousand miles away, there is a theme of neighborly kindness and camaraderie that runs through it. Those are all things I took from personal experiences in growing up in Mertztown,” he said. “The main characters of this novel, Jack and Lester, are two young brothers, and the fraternity they share was loosely based on my memories with my brother, Nik.”
Reinert believes that the people writers base characters on are owed honesty.
“Even if the character is a loose interpretation of that person (which they almost always are), their emotions and morals should be grounded in either your or their reality. People appreciate honesty, and readers appreciate it even more.”
Reinert hopes the Copeland
brothers would enjoy reading about themselves the way he wrote them.
“Even though I imagined them from the ground up, they felt tangible to me and I hope readers will feel the same. I think Jack and Lester would feel I wrote them honestly and did their tale justice. As for me, I loved being able to envision and write their story.”
The feedback he has received so far has been overwhelmingly positive.
“The best compliment I’ve gotten so far was when I had just finished the first draft of the last chapters and was able to watch my mother read them for the first time. To see her feel the emotions that I worked so hard to convey, the feelings I had when writing those last pages, was the first time I felt that my story was doing what I’d hoped it would.”
Nominated for a Spur Award
“West of Wanting” being nominated for a Spur Award for Best Debut Western Novel was a relief and affirmation for Reinert.
“When I realized West of Wanting was going to be a novel that I would be willing to send out into the world, I had the same worries and anxieties most writers do. I spent many months poring over researching, writing, and editing, and when all of that is finished and all you can do is hope readers react positively to the story is a daunting feeling,” said Reinert. “I trust the Spur Awards to the point where the winners almost always end up on my ‘to read’ pile of books, so to have something I wrote recognized by the Western Writers’ Association for an award like this is honestly astonishing.”
Signed copies “West of Wanting,” published by Walking Man Books, are available at his website (jaredreinert. com). Hardcover or eBook versions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and local independent bookstores.