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AudioBook information:
Author: Silas House
Narrated by: Michael Crouch, Torian Brackett, Charlie Thurston, Carly Larson, Winsome Brown
Release date: October 13, 2026
Audiobook Duration: 11 h 35 min
Summary: A sweeping historical novel about hidden, forbidden love in the early 1900s by bestselling writer and former poet laureate of Kentucky Silas House.
Amos and Tom fall in love while working in the tobacco fields during the hot summers of the early 1900s, yet Tom cannot shake his strict religious upbringing nor the responsibilities of his family’s farm. His longtime friend Maeve also pines for a man she can’t have, lest she endanger his already tenuous life in a town and world shaped by racial lines. How do you live a life that feels untrue, and at what point do you risk everything?
The Tulip Poplars is a gorgeous and moving novel spanning most of the 20th century, centering on four people trying to find happiness in a world that demands conventional choices. House tells a deeply intimate story of faith and doubt, race and class, sexual desire and the longing to be good when you’ve been taught that you are evil for loving who you love. Based on the story of an ancestor, House’s new novel takes us from NYC to Southern cities to Appalachia and will leave you with a bigger heart.
Reviews:
“The Tulips Poplars is a great big orchestra of a book―it’s a story that is tiny and epic, ancient and new, local and global all at the same time. It’s a song of repair at a time when we need to heal. It’s also a brave book, and transgressive in the very best sense. Pulling the strayed strands of America together, Silas House manages to compose a narrative that recognizes the importance of every small and glorious note of our lives.”―Colum McCann, author of Twist
“Silas House’s The Tulip Poplars is a story of love between people that society says should not love each other . . . . The South, and the rural South in particular, is often flattened in stories. Here, the pain, beauty, danger and community of life in a small Southern town are all on full display. Amos, Tom, Paschal and Maeve find their voices as they fight for what matters―for the land, for their home and for their hearts.”―Bookpage, starred review
“Set in a world of lush beauty and dangerous prohibitions, this tender, big-hearted novel about the abiding power of love will move you to tears.”―Thrity Umrigar, author of Honor and Missing Sam
“I couldn’t put down this heart-panging novel of forbidden love.”―Garden & Gun
“Silas House has always been a masterful storyteller, and with each new book, I’m amazed at how he pushes further in his empathy while never turning away from the difficult ways the world tries to break us. In The Tulip Poplars, House has crafted an ambitious and utterly beautiful love story, sweeping and yet so attuned to the minute moments in which a life can change.”―Kevin Wilson, author of Run for the Hills
“House offers unflinching depictions of the era’s prejudice and cruelty . . . but also threads the novel with hope by showing the characters’ capacity for growth. There’s much to savor in this wise tale.”―Publishers Weekly
“A sweeping Appalachian love story about longing, identity, faith, and the enduring pull of home. This will resonate with readers of historical fiction, LGBTQIA+ romance, and Appalachian literature.”―Library Journal
About the Author:
Silas House was a finalist for a 2024 Grammy Award, winner of the 2022 Duggins Prize, and is a two-time winner of the Southern Book Prize. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Time, the New York Times, the Advocate, Time, Garden & Gun, and other publications. He teaches at Berea College and at the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Creative Writing.