Jayber Crow

Jayber Crow, published in 2000 by Counterpoint, is one of author Wendell Berry’s 80 novels and is set in the fictional town of Port William on the banks of the Kentucky River. The novel is often classified under transcendentalism, and Berry’s works focus on the agrarian lifestyle he practices in his personal life living and working a farm in rural Kentucky. Many of his novels share what he calls the “Port William membership” and have overlapping characters and settings examining similar themes of faith, belonging, and small-town existence. Berry has been awarded the T. S. Elliott Prize and the Cleanth Brooks Medal for Lifetime Achievement by the Fellowship of Southern Writers.

Plot Summary

Protagonist Jayber Crow, at the age of 72, narrates the story of his life from his modest river camp. Born Jonah Crow, the narrator begins his story on the banks of the Kentucky River in a rural town called Goforth. Orphaned at age five by the flu pandemic, Jayber is adopted by family friends he calls Aunt Cordie and Uncle Othy and taken to live at Squires Landing. The childless, aged couple love him but both die in close succession, and Jonah is sent to live in an orphanage called The Good Shepherd at age 10. Known only as J. to Brother Whitespade and the others at the orphanage, Jayber languishes under the cold, loveless walls of the orphanage. Feeling he is called to be a preacher, J. leaves the orphanage and enters divinity school at Pigeonville College. However, the calling rings false as Jayber wrestles with his faith and struggles to be successful in his studies. He leaves the college with the blessing of a favorite professor Dr. Ardmire, who encourages him to lay down the idea of being a pastor but to continue seeking answers to his questions.

J. strikes out on his own to the big city of Lexington finding work where he can, including helping the local barber. Finding city life unfulfilling, Jayber decides to return home to Port William after 13 years. With five dollars in his pocket given to him by a chance meeting with Sam Hanks and all his worldly possessions in a cardboard box, Jayber begins the journey back home.

With help from Burley Coulter and Mat Feltner, Jonah purchases a modest brick building in town that will serve as his barbershop and home. Jayber’s shop becomes a place not just to get a haircut but to commiserate with other members of the community, swapping stories, legends, and sometimes terse words. His windows become a looking glass into the world of Port William. Jayber also becomes the church steward and gravedigger. While watching the kids leave school, Jonah, now called Jayber by the townsfolk, sees young Mattie Keith and instantly falls in love. However, Mattie is already promised to the haughty basketball star Troy Chatham. The two are married and Jayber spends most of his life watching and loving her from afar. Jayber develops a tender affection for the older members of the Port William community and becomes close with Mattie’s father Athey. Tragedy strikes when Troy and Mattie’s daughter Liddie is struck and killed by a car and their son Jimmy is killed in the Vietnam War. One night at a Christmas dance, Jayber spots Troy dancing with another woman. Jayber abandons his date Clydie and pledges to himself to be Mattie’s spiritual husband. Athey Keith dies, and Mattie inherits the farm, but Troy destroys its value by accruing debt and over-taxing the land.

After serving as the town barber for 32 years, Jayber packs up his belongings and moves to Burley’s river camp. Men still come from town for haircuts, but he retires from his church steward job. Jayber makes peace with his spiritual life and often dreams of those who have passed on before him. He enjoys a peaceful life of fishing, gardening, and taking long walks in the woods near a patch of old-growth trees Athey called the Nest Egg. Sometimes he sees Mattie there and they walk together. Mattie becomes ill but does not tell Jayber. Burley invites Jayber to spend time with his family, and when he passes away Jayber is ready to make peace with his own life coming to an end. In a desperate attempt to save the farm, Troy cuts down the Nest Egg to sell for timber. Devastated but compelled to see her one last time, Jayber goes to visit Mattie in the hospital, and with a special smile, she confirms she has loved him too.