From National Book Award finalist and one of the USA's most revered cult writers, The Fifty Year Sword is an explosive and thrilling ghost story. A local seamstress named Chintana finds herself responsible for five orphans on her birthday. The children are captivated by the storyteller who arrives and tells a tale of vengeance - and produces a long black box he sets before them. As midnight approaches, the box is opened, a fateful dare is made, and the children as well as Chintana come face to face with the consequences of a malice retold...
The setting is decidedly thrillerish: in an East Texas ranch house, five orphans listen attentively to a story about a weapon quest, even as a big black box with five latches looms before them. But given that Danielewski is the author of books like the cutting-edge House of Leaves, dont expect standard, thrillerish writing.
In this story set in East Texas, a local seamstress named Chintana finds herself responsible for five orphans who are not only captivated by a storyteller's tale of vengeance but by the long black box he sets before them. As midnight approaches, the box is opened, a fateful dare is made, and the children as well as Chintana come face to face with the consequences of a malice retold and now foretold.