Someplace Like Home
By Bob Conn
Jenny Caudill spent her whole life in Kentucky near the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Her father was a mechanic while her mother raised four children, struggling to stretch every dollar. Her mother was as tough as she had to be to keep the children away from the dangers lurking in a small town. Jobs were scarce, and they all wound up at the factory, bored and mistreated, stitching zippers into jeans. Jenny fell for the first guy who paid her any attention – Rob Lewis, an older boy who dropped out of school and was a handful of trouble. Everyone warned her, but once he was set on courting Jenny, she transitioned from her mother’s rules to a prison of Rob’s making. He drank, took pills and fought with everybody. With little education and a dead-end job, Rob found his power by lording over Jenny and their children. Living deep in the holler, Jenny was suffocating from Rob’s violent mood swings, and she needed to find a way out before someone got killed. Loosely based on her mother’s life, this author pulled all my heartstrings. Beautifully written, this quiet story is about family, motherhood and self-preservation.
Hill Women
By Cassie Chambers
Cassie Chambers grew up in Owsley County, one of the most impoverished communities in Appalachia. Her mother, both beautiful and smart, left the family tobacco farm to attend college. As frightened as she was to leave, Wilma knew this was the key to a better life. Cassie stayed in the ramshackle home of her Granny, Papaw and aunt Ruth. She ran barefoot through the fields with her hardscrabble cousins. As Cassie matured, she strove for the same accolades her mother had: good grades and a step up on the steep education ladder. An opportunity for a unique boarding school in New Mexico took Cassie away from Kentucky for the first time. This turning point filled her with even more determination, which served her well as she later attended Yale College and Harvard Law. Torn between two worlds, it took years for Cassie to understand the beauty she remembered in the heroic mountain women who were brave, loving and tireless. With deep admiration and respect, Cassie yearns to find a compromise that will allow her the honors she earned while helping those left behind. Mesmerizing and compelling, this is nonfiction that reads like an inspirational novel.
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
By Kim Michele Richardson
In 1936, with few opportunities available, Cussy Mary Carter was lucky enough to get a job as a pack horse librarian. Through a government initiative, these women were hired to distribute reading materials to remote and impoverished communities in Appalachia. Cussy is the last of the blue-skinned people of Kentucky. Commonly known as the Fugates, they carry a genetic trait that led to a blood disorder called methemoglobinemia, causing their skin to appear blue. As one of the few literate folks in this area, Cussy, whom many of the locals found most curious, was as determined to bring comfort to this neglected community as she was to break down lingering prejudices. While the men risk their lives daily at the coal mine, these poor women work their fingers to the bone, barely scraping by. Witnessing the joy that books bring to the most troubled stops along her route brings Cussy unquestionable happiness. This novel delves into the intertwined narratives of heartbreak and beauty, offering an exploration of historical education and socioeconomic challenges that persist in our contemporary struggles. It emphasizes the transformative power of kindness and reading in shaping lives.
WorthWatching: “Hillbilly Elegy.” A tender glimpse of the American Dream blended with the drama of a dysfunctional Appalachian family narrated through the eyes of a young man caught between two worlds. Can be viewed on Netflix.
