Tag Archives: Moonshining
Ann Hite. Ghost on Black Mountain. New York: Gallery Books, 2011.
Nellie Clay falls hard for winter-eyed, curly-haired Hobbs Pritchard. In no time at all they are married, paying no heed to Nellie’s mama, who warns that she sees death in her tea leaves. It’s 1939, and despite the Depression that … Continue reading
Charles Frazier. Nightwoods. New York: Random House, 2011.
When Luce is appointed guardian for her dead sister Lilly’s young twins, her reclusive life in the back woods of a small mountain town changes forever. Frank and Dolores are not like other children. Witnesses to their mother’s murder at … Continue reading
Lynn Boyd. The Awakened Heart.Mustang,OK:Tate Publishing, 2009.
This brief, moving novel recounts the early adult years of a Halifax County man. Told in the form of a memoir, seventy-five year old Vernon Lee (Buddy) Young reflects on working on his family’s farm, serving in the Korean War, … Continue reading
Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Boyd, Lynn, Coastal Plain, Halifax, Religious/Inspirational
Jennifer Niven. Velva Jean Learns to Drive. New York: Plume, 2009.
Rhinestones. High-heeled cowboy boots. Hawaiian steel guitars. Many people are drawn to the bright lights of Nashville, Tennessee, and Velva Jean Hart Bright is one of them. She is enthralled by the opportunities afforded by the city and consumed with … Continue reading
Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Historical, Mountains, Niven, Jennifer, Novels Set in Fictional Places
Cotton Ketchie. Little Did They Know. Davidson, NC: Lorimer Press, 2009.
Many women like being part of a group–the monthly book club, the weekly dinner group, the daily walking crew. But how well do we know the women we spend time with? The once five, now four, women of the Wednesday … Continue reading
Bob Terrell. Get Rufus! Alexander, NC: Land of the Sky Books, 2008.
Rufus Raby was an easy-going mountain lad until his friend Sid Hollifield was murdered. Rufus is a good tracker, helping Sheriff Clure find people missing in the mountains of Jackson County. (In return, the sheriff overlooks Rufus’s moonshining.) Seeing Sid’s … Continue reading
Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Jackson, Mountains, Terrell, Bob
DuBose Heyward. Angel. New York: George H. Doran Co., 1926
This novel’s North Carolina setting is a bit of a surprise since the author, DuBose Heyward, is strongly associated with that other Carolina–particularly the city of Charleston, the setting for his novel Porgy. Porgy was the basis for Porgy and … Continue reading
Filed under 1920-1929, 1926, Heyward, DuBose, Mountains
Andrew Carey Lincoln. Motorcycle Chums in the Land of the Sky. Chicago: M. A. Donohue, 1912.
Four young boys from the North seek adventure in the mountains around Asheville. They find hospitable Southerners, ornery sheriffs, runaway horses, moonshiners, and a long-lost brother. The plot might not hold the attention of the YouTube generation, but the cover … Continue reading
Filed under 1910-1919, 1912, Buncombe, Children & Young Adults, Lincoln, Andrew Carey, Mountains
Margaret Maron. Bootlegger’s Daughter. New York: Mysterious Press, 1992.
Lawyer Deborah Knott is a modern southern woman, but as the only daughter of a notorious, retired bootlegger, she still has one foot in the traditions of the old south. After one of the local judges is particularly and unnecessarily … Continue reading
Catherine Marshall. Christy. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967.
After hearing a missionary doctor speak about his work in the Great Smokies, nineteen year-old, Christy Huddleston volunteers to be a mission teacher. She leaves her home and well-to-do family in Asheville and travels to the remote Cutter’s Gap, a … Continue reading
