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Fiction
In reply to the discussion: What Fiction are you reading this week, April 7, 2019? [View all]japple
(10,459 posts)24. Over the Plain Houses by Julia Franks. I just added it to my Best of
2019 list. It is one of the most satisfying books I have ever read, probably because the setting (Western North Carolina) is so near and dear to my heart.
Here's a review (the best one I've read of this book): http://southernlitreview.com/?s=Julia+Franks
Reminds me a bit of the writing of Charles Frazier, esp. as regards place, nature, human connections.
I copied this review from amazon as it best encapsulates my own opinion of this book"
It becomes clear that Irenie needs to save herself and her son from an emotionally and physically abusive relationship. A representative from the USDA offers a solution, first for her son, and soon for Irenie as well. Brodis, her husband, farmer and fundamentalist preacher, looks askance at any kind of assistance from the government outsiders and comes to see the intervention as part of a diabolical plot… quite literally.
Set in the Appalachians of western North Carolina in the late 1930s, the author creates a wonderful sense of place and of history. This was a time when the virgin forests were still being violently scraped off the mountainsides, and farmers were encouraged to turn their fields over to a crop they could not eat-- tobacco. A way of life families had followed for generations was suddenly upended. The reader is immersed in the world of the novel-- the description of the tortured hills and mountain peaks is exquisite, revealing an insider's knowledge of the local nature and a deep appreciation for the domestic tradition and farm life of that time.
The conclusion of the novel takes on a scale of rather Biblical proportions with at least a couple horses of the apocalypse making a cameo. A strong story with strong characters, this novel by a debut novelist will not disappoint.
Set in the Appalachians of western North Carolina in the late 1930s, the author creates a wonderful sense of place and of history. This was a time when the virgin forests were still being violently scraped off the mountainsides, and farmers were encouraged to turn their fields over to a crop they could not eat-- tobacco. A way of life families had followed for generations was suddenly upended. The reader is immersed in the world of the novel-- the description of the tortured hills and mountain peaks is exquisite, revealing an insider's knowledge of the local nature and a deep appreciation for the domestic tradition and farm life of that time.
The conclusion of the novel takes on a scale of rather Biblical proportions with at least a couple horses of the apocalypse making a cameo. A strong story with strong characters, this novel by a debut novelist will not disappoint.
Thank you for the weekly thread, hermetic. Kitten season is upon us and way too busy. Too many pregnant mamas and too many orphans.


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