back to Divine Right he is at a crossroads in Kentucky and so is the story: the two D.R.'s are about to converge. D.R. struggles with his two selves as he gets closer to home. He hallucinates in the back of the van, meets a dragon with "seven horns". He perceives himself as the "monster". Even so, when he gets to Mrs. Godsey's, he exits the van as David Ray and the two identities finally converged into one after a face off in a nearby coal mine. D.R. psychically returns home, helping his dead grandmother with the laundry and sharing tea with his Uncle Emmit. D.R. becomes a part of his Uncle Emmit, a part of his family, and a part of the hillside where he will live and where his Uncle Emmit will be buried. Emmit is planted in the ground "like a seed," and D.R. sleeps in Emmit's bed. Emmit is in the box marked "past," and D.R. is in the one marked "present." Everything seems to be in harmony, except for the fact that Estelle is missing. She returns and D.R. marries her, and the story is completed. Divine Right has found himself travelling back to his Appalachian roots. Background Divine Right's Trip was originally printed in installments in Whole Earth Catalog in 1971. Norman also wrote the short story collection Kinfolks: The Wilgus Stories in 1977. Both the novel and the short stories share an Appalachian background. References 1972 American novels American fantasy novels Fiction set in the 1960s Novels first published in serial form