The Caretaker: A Novel

The Caretaker (2023) by Ron Rash tells the story of newlyweds Jacob Hampton and Naomi Clarke, who were forced to elope because Jacob’s prominent family disapproves of Naomi’s working-class background. When Jacob is injured while serving in the Korean War and sent back home, his parents form a plot to deceive him and Naomi into thinking that the other has died. Jacob turns to his best friend, Blackburn Gant, in his grief as Blackburn starts to unravel the Hamptons’ lies. Blackburn, the quiet and reserved caretaker of the local cemetery, has a limp and partial facial paralysis from a polio infection in his childhood. The novel’s characters reveal The Costs and Rewards of Devotion, The Dangers of Prioritizing Appearance Over Truth, and The Importance of Confronting Grief.

Rash, renowned not only for his novels and short stories but also for his poetry, is the author of 20 books. His fiction is lauded for its depiction of the conflict embedded in rural Appalachian life and is often compared to that of other writers of rural settings, such as Tom Franklin and Wiley Cash. His novel Serena (2009) was both a PEN/Faulkner finalist and a New York Times best-selling novel and became a feature film. His short story collection Burning Bright (2010) was awarded the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award, and Chemistry and Other Stories was also a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award in 2007.

This guide refers to the 2024 paperback edition, published by Penguin/Random House’s Vintage Books.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of death, illness, graphic violence, child death, pregnancy loss, death by suicide, mental illness, and ableism.

Plot Summary

The novel, told from multiple points of view and conveying key plot points via flashback scenes, opens in South Korea, where Jacob Hampton has been conscripted to serve in the Korean War. During nightly watch at a partially frozen river, he is attacked by an enemy soldier with a knife. The two struggle until the North Korean soldier slips under the ice and drowns. Jacob is hospitalized for his injuries and learns that he will be discharged to his home—Blowing Rock, North Carolina—when he has healed.

Before being conscripted, Jacob eloped with Naomi Clarke, the 16-year-old daughter of a Tennessee farmer. Jacob’s parents, Daniel and Cora Hampton, disapprove of Jacob’s marriage to Naomi, whom they view as socially beneath them, and they disinherited Jacob from their successful businesses: a sawmill and supply store. Jacob, frustrated with his parents’ attempts to dictate his life choices, bought a farmhouse for himself and Naomi and took a job with a construction company. When he was conscripted for war, Naomi was pregnant with their first child. Concerned because the town of Blowing Rock has followed the Hamptons’ lead in shunning her, Jacob made arrangements with his best friend—Blackburn Gant—to watch out for her. Blackburn was charged with driving Naomi from her father’s farm in Tennessee to her prenatal appointments with Dr. Egan in Blowing Rock. Blackburn, the caretaker of the local cemetery, is also an outcast, as he has a limp and partial facial paralysis from a childhood bout with polio.

While Jacob convalesces in Japan, the telegraph operator in Blowing Rock receives word about his injuries. The telegram is addressed to Naomi, but the operator, Ben Parson, decides to alert the Hamptons before delivering the telegram to Naomi. As Ben leaves their home, the Hamptons hatch a plot to end Jacob and Naomi’s marriage: The next day, Daniel blackmails Ben by threatening to reveal that he broke the law by showing Naomi’s telegram to them. He forces Ben to type a fake telegram informing Naomi that Jacob has been killed in action. Daniel sets off to the Clarkes’ farm in Tennessee to deliver the telegram. With him, he brings legal documents that he demands Naomi’s father sign in exchange for a sum of money. The documents prevent the Clarkes from having any further contact with any member of the Hampton family.

In Blowing Rock, a casket is built at the Hamptons’ sawmill. Daniel accompanies the casket to the cemetery himself, explaining to Blackburn that Naomi died of pregnancy complications upon learning of Jacob’s severe injuries. He forces Blackburn to dig the grave. As Blackburn asks questions about Naomi, the Hamptons tell him that the Clarke family has sold their farm and moved to Michigan to work in the automobile industry.

Jacob returns to Blowing Rock, wracked with grief over Naomi’s “death” and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Angered, he heads immediately to meet with Dr. Egan, demanding to know more about Naomi’s cause of death. Egan can offer no information without knowing what hospital Naomi was taken to. He admits that it is indeed possible for shocking news—such as that of Jacob’s injuries—to cause a pregnancy loss that might also result in the death of the mother. Egan does not share with Jacob, however, his certainty that had Naomi been in Blowing Rock, she could have received better care at a better hospital and survived.

In the days that follow, Jacob spends much of the time asleep due to medication prescribed to him by Egan. Angry at his parents for their lack of grief over Naomi’s death, he is reluctant to have anything to do with them at first but gradually gives in and follows his mother to the family store. He begins working and then gradually takes over the running of the store completely. He visits Naomi’s “grave” almost daily, talking with Blackburn and eager for any details about Naomi that he might supply. Flashback scenes flesh out Jacob and Naomi’s courtship and Blackburn’s childhood bout with polio and its aftermath. Jacob slowly begins to establish a life, even going out on a few dates with his high school girlfriend Veronica Weaver. His grief for Naomi never diminishes, and he continues his cemetery visits.

Naomi, meanwhile, gives birth to a daughter whom she names Annie Mae. She is surprised that Blackburn never visits, though she suspects that the Hamptons have, upon Jacob’s death, taken back his truck, which they had loaned to Blackburn during Jacob’s absence. Though she knows that she will face dire consequences if caught, she makes plans to visit Jacob’s grave in secret to honor the anniversary of their meeting. She is certain that she owes this to Jacob and feels that paying respects at his grave is something she must do at least once before moving on with the rest of her life. Through the Blowing Rock florist, she anonymously sends a bouquet of marigolds—the type of flower she had told Blackburn she hoped to plant in a garden one day. Dressed in widow’s black, she departs for Blowing Rock under the cover of night with the help of her sister, Lila.

That night, Blackburn coincidentally stays up later than usual. When he hears the cemetery gate creak open around midnight, he is initially unconcerned, assuming that it could be that Jacob has come to speak to Naomi in private on their anniversary. After some time, he catches a glimpse of a woman dressed in black mourning clothes and approaches the grave to investigate. When the woman turns around, Blackburn is so stunned to see Noami’s face that he falls to the ground and hits his head, losing consciousness.

When he wakes up the next morning, Blackburn tries to explain what he saw. The most logical explanation is that the woman was Lila, Naomi’s sister. When he discovers marigolds on Naomi’s grave, he is certain that this must be true, presuming that Lila would have known of Naomi’s love of marigolds. However, Jacob then discovers a photograph of Annie Mae with an inscription on the back. The photo is addressed to Jacob. Blackburn is confused but then wonders if it could be true that Naomi’s child is actually living and being cared for by Lila.

Blackburn decides to travel to the Clarkes’ farm himself, certain now that the Hamptons lied to him when they told him that the family had relocated to Michigan. When Blackburn arrives, Mr. Clarke is cautious, fearful that he has been sent there by the Hamptons. Blackburn convinces Mr. Clarke that he can be trusted, and Mr. Clarke reveals that the baby is currently at Lila’s house. Blackburn asks about Naomi’s death, which confuses Mr. Clarke. The truth is then revealed as he and Blackburn realize that both parties have been lied to by the Hamptons. Blackburn is eager to return to Blowing Rock to inform Jacob that Naomi is alive, but Mr. Clarke encourages him not to do so. He fears the repercussions from breaking the legal document that he was made to sign by the Hamptons. He offers Blackburn a piece of his farmland in exchange for his silence, noting that, in time, Naomi may develop affections for Blackburn himself. Blackburn knows that, should he go against the Hamptons, they will certainly see that he loses his job as the town’s caretaker. He thinks over Mr. Clarke’s proposal as he drives back to Blowing Rock.

Back at the cemetery, Blackburn digs up Naomi’s supposed grave. Inside the pine casket, he finds only straw. A few days later, Blackburn returns to the Clarke farm. Mr. Clarke then allows Blackburn to see Naomi. Carefully, Blackburn reveals to Naomi that Jacob is alive. She is certain that Blackburn is lying, so he brings Naomi outside of the farmhouse, where Jacob is waiting in his truck.

In the months that follow, Blackburn quits his job as the cemetery caretaker in order to aid Mr. Clarke with the running of the farm and take up his offer of a parcel of land. Jacob and Naomi move away to Louisiana, where they will start a new life with their daughter. Blackburn leads the Hamptons to believe that Jacob has died by suicide.