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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
challenging
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Sharyn McCrumb is one of my favorite authors, although I prefer Nora Bonesteel and Spenser Arrowood. The story could have been fine without the Dumb Supper, but I like the pragmatic character of Ellie. She keeps her thoughts to herself, even when readers are inside of her head.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Well, that went somewhere I didn't expect!
But like most Sharyn McCrumb books, it was engaging and easy to listen to. A story about a woman who takes over her dead husband's job as a sheriff in Depression America is unusual in its own right.
But there are complications in the sheriff's job it's easy to forget.
But like most Sharyn McCrumb books, it was engaging and easy to listen to. A story about a woman who takes over her dead husband's job as a sheriff in Depression America is unusual in its own right.
But there are complications in the sheriff's job it's easy to forget.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
While I really enjoyed the early Ballad books by Sharyn McCrumb, her last few have rung false notes for me. Either there was a very obvious agenda, things happened that were just too dark for me, or both.
This book was quite enjoyable up until the end, which felt rushed.
The book begins with a Dumb Supper. This was a ritual done by mountain girls to find out if they would marry soon. I wasn't familiar with this bit of lore and found it pretty interesting. All does not go as planned, and the disruption of the ritual bodes ominously for the future.
This thread is mostly left behind as we get to know Ellie Robbins, a young wife whose family has moved to town from the mountains in hopes of a better life. This is set during the Depression, and everyone is pretty hand-to-mouth, but Ellie's husband slowly begins to find a place for himself in this new environment. Ellie is tough and practical, although she's also shy with new people and has to work hard to fit in.
A prayer the devil answers is a wish that is granted, but in such a way that you wish you'd never prayed in the first place. There are a couple of such prayers in the book, although I don't want to spoil the details.
What I liked most about the book was Ellie. We read her voice in the first person and I really got to like her. The Depression era Smoky Mountains and the people who live there are vividly drawn by someone with deep understanding of that culture.
The problems I had with the book: first, the Dumb Supper, after all the build-up, never really is a factor in the plot. It does come up later in the book, and I suppose you could reach and say that it had something to do with what happens, but it was never really spelled out and I, as a pragmatic reader, didn't feel that the action was because of anything supernatural. Second, Ellie is beautifully developed, but once she becomes sheriff, everything gets glossed over. We get some build-up about how difficult it will be for a woman to be sheriff, but don't ever really see that difficulty. She quickly builds a relationship with her deputies and everyone's pretty professional. When it develops that she will have to supervise a hanging, Ellie is taken aback but quickly works to accept what she's got to do for her job and does her duty to the best of her ability. The idea of what it would really be like to execute someone is explored in some depth, and gave me the shudders. And although the final scenes are rendered quite vividly, they were somewhat anticlimactic- I'm not sure how, but that's how I felt while reading.
Finally, the author is pretty clear who the good guys and the bad guys are in the book. There's a woman who's "blowsy, with piggy eyes" and she's pretty much a one-dimensional antagonist. Ellie herself is pretty black and white in her thinking, and when she learns a secret about her husband, quite implacable. I couldn't follow her on the path she took at that point.
So, the book was wonderfully set up and developed, but then it rushed ahead, glossed over details, and ended in an unsatisfying way. I'd really probably give it about 3 1/2 stars, but rounded up on the strength of past books by this author.
While I really enjoyed the early Ballad books by Sharyn McCrumb, her last few have rung false notes for me. Either there was a very obvious agenda, things happened that were just too dark for me, or both.
This book was quite enjoyable up until the end, which felt rushed.
The book begins with a Dumb Supper. This was a ritual done by mountain girls to find out if they would marry soon. I wasn't familiar with this bit of lore and found it pretty interesting. All does not go as planned, and the disruption of the ritual bodes ominously for the future.
This thread is mostly left behind as we get to know Ellie Robbins, a young wife whose family has moved to town from the mountains in hopes of a better life. This is set during the Depression, and everyone is pretty hand-to-mouth, but Ellie's husband slowly begins to find a place for himself in this new environment. Ellie is tough and practical, although she's also shy with new people and has to work hard to fit in.
A prayer the devil answers is a wish that is granted, but in such a way that you wish you'd never prayed in the first place. There are a couple of such prayers in the book, although I don't want to spoil the details.
What I liked most about the book was Ellie. We read her voice in the first person and I really got to like her. The Depression era Smoky Mountains and the people who live there are vividly drawn by someone with deep understanding of that culture.
The problems I had with the book: first, the Dumb Supper, after all the build-up, never really is a factor in the plot. It does come up later in the book, and I suppose you could reach and say that it had something to do with what happens, but it was never really spelled out and I, as a pragmatic reader, didn't feel that the action was because of anything supernatural. Second, Ellie is beautifully developed, but once she becomes sheriff, everything gets glossed over. We get some build-up about how difficult it will be for a woman to be sheriff, but don't ever really see that difficulty. She quickly builds a relationship with her deputies and everyone's pretty professional. When it develops that she will have to supervise a hanging, Ellie is taken aback but quickly works to accept what she's got to do for her job and does her duty to the best of her ability. The idea of what it would really be like to execute someone is explored in some depth, and gave me the shudders. And although the final scenes are rendered quite vividly, they were somewhat anticlimactic- I'm not sure how, but that's how I felt while reading.
Finally, the author is pretty clear who the good guys and the bad guys are in the book. There's a woman who's "blowsy, with piggy eyes" and she's pretty much a one-dimensional antagonist. Ellie herself is pretty black and white in her thinking, and when she learns a secret about her husband, quite implacable. I couldn't follow her on the path she took at that point.
So, the book was wonderfully set up and developed, but then it rushed ahead, glossed over details, and ended in an unsatisfying way. I'd really probably give it about 3 1/2 stars, but rounded up on the strength of past books by this author.
This is another book that I'm marking as "read" even though I didn't finish it. That's because it was unreadable. I only got to page 100, and I lost count of the number of times that the narrator informed me that she was shy and uncomfortable around strangers. I also lost count of the number of times I read that the opposite was true of her husband. Okay, you're awkward, I f***ing get it.
The last straw, however, was when the narrator went into a detailed description about her husband's run for county sherriff, and how he thought he'd won because the county commissioners helped him out behind the scenes. Okay, cool. But then we had to go through it all again in a remembered conversation with her husband, in which he tells her about how he thinks he won the post of sheriff. It was the same. Damn. Thing. Even her husband's words were VERBATIM repetitions of what the narrator had laid out earlier. Awful, awful writing. And how did the editor let that ride? Did they even read the book before it was published? My money's on "no".
Never going to pick up one of her books again.
The last straw, however, was when the narrator went into a detailed description about her husband's run for county sherriff, and how he thought he'd won because the county commissioners helped him out behind the scenes. Okay, cool. But then we had to go through it all again in a remembered conversation with her husband, in which he tells her about how he thinks he won the post of sheriff. It was the same. Damn. Thing. Even her husband's words were VERBATIM repetitions of what the narrator had laid out earlier. Awful, awful writing. And how did the editor let that ride? Did they even read the book before it was published? My money's on "no".
Never going to pick up one of her books again.
This is one of those books that I put on hold and forgot about until it came in. I read the jacket and thought, nope, no way and pushed it to the bottom of the pile. Turns out, I should have read it before the other crappy books I wasted my time on. It's the 1930s, America is in a Depression, and Ellendor's husband dies, leaving her alone in a small Tennessee town with two young boys. She does the only thing she can think of and takes her late husband's job as local sheriff. It's easy enough until a man is convicted of murder and as sheriff, Ellendor is required to carry out the execution herself. Although it could have used a bit of editing, the story was interesting and the characters were solid making this a good read.
I just finished "Prayers the Devil Answers" by Sharyn McCrumb. This story takes place in 1936 in Appalachia. It is about Ellie Robbins, recently widowed. Her husband, the sheriff, dies from pneumonia. Ellie has two sons and she now needs a job. She applies for the job her husband had---sheriff. She gains the respect of her deputies as her position involves paperwork and record keeping.
An artist, who has been married for several years, throws his wife off a cliff before two witnesses. She now is faced with the fact that she must execute this man, by hanging. McCrumb's style of writing is simple, but beautifully woven to tell this tale. She captures the way of life of these mountain people. Their way of life and basic credo of "help thy neighbor" makes this a compelling story. This book is an excellent selection for a book club. -Bob K.
An artist, who has been married for several years, throws his wife off a cliff before two witnesses. She now is faced with the fact that she must execute this man, by hanging. McCrumb's style of writing is simple, but beautifully woven to tell this tale. She captures the way of life of these mountain people. Their way of life and basic credo of "help thy neighbor" makes this a compelling story. This book is an excellent selection for a book club. -Bob K.
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes