Booklover's Blog

     Ritual River by Nancy Sales Cash

     When Carol Mattox was a teenager, Winston Wolfe saved her life during a rafting trip on the Nantahala. She fell in love with him, but their romance was cut short by her parents' opposition. Now she re-encounters him and wonders if it's too late for a fresh start. She is deeply troubled by stories of an ancient Indian curse on her family--and, whether the legends are true or not, it is a fact that the eldest child in each generation has died. This story is interwoven with the tale of Isabelle, a long-ago relative of Carol's, who fell in love with a Cherokee Indian named Wolf during the days of the Trail of Tears and faced harsh opposition from her brother. The two stories, one from modern times and one from the past, become more closely connected near the end of the novel, as the threat of the curse on Carol's family increases and suspense builds.

     The author is a UNC-Chapel Hill graduate now living in Asheville.

(Helen Snow, Information Services)

Signs in the Blood by Vicki Lane

     One of my bloggers (Helen Snow) reviewed this book a few months ago; in fact, it was her review that got me interested.  I enjoyed it very much, needless to say, and thought that the author did a bang-up job with this addition to the Appalachian murder mystery genre. 

     The book overlaps hundred year old tragedy and a modern day one - a neighbor's simple-minded but  nature-savvy son is found dead, apparently drowned.  It's up to Elizabeth Goodweather, an outsider by birth but a long-timer in this mountain setting (it sounds suspiciously like Madison County) to figure out the broken parts of this puzzle, as she encounters snake handlers, new age devotees with a dastardly secret, and a militia group that practices maneuvers all too close to her farm, not to mention the revival preacher who paints in his sermonizing fervor. 

     Along the way, the story of Little Sylvie and her lover is interwoven, proving that tragedy has haunted these hills repeatedly and that certain older buildings in the vicinity have unsavory histories of their own.  It'll sort of make you think the next time you're driving up north of Asheville on one of those crazy mountain roads...'round about twilight. 

(William Hicks, Information Services)

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

     When Cold Mountain was first published, I started reading it and soon became bored. Somehow, the tale of Inman, a Confederate soldier, languishing in a military hospital and of Ada, a young woman struggling to survive on a small mountain farm with little money and less skill, didn't get me interested, and I soon moved on to another book. One of my colleagues had the same experience, and we could wax eloquent on this book which everybody loved--except us.

     Several years went by, and I saw--and enjoyed--the movie. At last, I decided to give the book another try. Any book that won the National Book Award, got onto the bestseller list, and was written about North Carolina couldn't be all bad! This time, I became fascinated by the detailed description of life during the Civil War era, learned to admire Ruby's ability to make a good life for herself and Ada by raising most of what they needed and bartering to get anything else, and became caught up in the love story. Bottom line--if you haven't read this book, or if you found the slow start discouraging, read it now!

(Helen Snow, Information Services)

My Old True Love by Sheila Kay Adams

     The Civil War and its consequences on the lives of mountain folk form the greater stage for this novel.  In the southern Appalachians, the war split families and neighbors - the flavor of this time and happenings is caught well in My Old True Love.

     The real thread of the story is a love triangle that could be the stuff of the ballads sung within the book's narrative.  Arty Norton is the narrator, a gutsy old lady who recounts her youth and her fondness for Larkin, her cousin whom she raises from infancy, and her brother Hackley, both of whom grow up together, fight like brothers, and maintain a rivalry that is only heightened by their love for the same girl.

     If you like historical fiction about the southern mountains and enjoy a good yarn, you'll like this one.  I was initially put off - I don't usually like books written in dialect or regional accent, as it can bog down the narrative for me.  Also, unless the book is written from the perspective of an "insider", i.e. a native to the speech pattern, I find dialect writing to be belittling to the people the book portrays.  Thankfully, this book doesn't fall in either of these traps. Sheila Kay Adams is a native to the region she writes about (southern Appalachia), is renowned as a storyteller and ballad songstress in her own right, so this book, despite being in a first person regional accent, crackles with vitality and moves along with a fine pace.  

(William Hicks, Information Services)