out his front door into his boat. Then he set fire to his house and watched it burn. He was the last resident of St. Thomas to leave. Reception Author Howard Frank Mosher, who selected the novel to be the inaugural winner of the book prize named in his honor, stated that "Lords of St. Thomas is both a terrific coming-of-age story and an exact and haunting evocation of a bygone time and place. What's more, it's a great read." New England Review of Books called it "a thrilling story where readers measure how much they value their rights and how far they're willing to fight for them. Ellis does a compelling job of showing the Lord family's nearly noble hopelessness in their fight to change a fait accompli, without capitulating to sentimentality." Midwest Book Review stated, "Lords of St. Thomas masterfully couples a historic event with a classic coming of age story...[offering] a glimpse into the past and a glimmer of hope for the future." Pam Ferrell of the Historical Novel Society wrote, "Beautifully written, Lords of St. Thomas is the story of tragedies leading to subsequent tragedies [and] a thoughtful portrayal of the human consequences of major environmental changes," while Margot Harrison of Seven Days called it "a sparsely eloquent, elegiac novel." References External links Lords of St. Thomas at Goodreads Lords of St. Thomas at jacksonellis.net 2018 American novels American historical novels Novels set in Nevada Novels set in Las Vegas Novels set in the Las Vegas Valley Novels set in Wyoming Novels set in Montana 2018 debut novels