The Owls' House

The story follows John Penhale, a young farmer whose face is horribly injured in a hunting accident, driving him into bitter seclusion at his Bosula farm. Supported by a widow and her daughter and visited only by occasional neighbors, he lives shut away from public life until a visit to town to settle an aunt’s will forces him to face the community’s shock and avoidance. The narrative sketches the rugged Keigwin Valley and coastal countryside while examining the effects of physical disfigurement, social stigma, and the uneasy balance between isolation and the need for human contact.