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llfoofaye's review against another edition
4.0
*I received book from a Goodreads Giveaway.*
I thought this was going to go back and forth between just two points of view, Ella and her grown daughter Lilly, years apart. It actually went through many points of view most along the same timeline. This was confusing at first and made it hard to keep track of who was who, but once you got used to it it made the story better because you got to see so many sides.
I enjoyed this because it was about a topic and time period I was not previously very familiar with. While I know the book is fiction it’s still tells of events that were going on at that time. It was written well and true to the time period. I’m glad I got the chance to read it.
I thought this was going to go back and forth between just two points of view, Ella and her grown daughter Lilly, years apart. It actually went through many points of view most along the same timeline. This was confusing at first and made it hard to keep track of who was who, but once you got used to it it made the story better because you got to see so many sides.
I enjoyed this because it was about a topic and time period I was not previously very familiar with. While I know the book is fiction it’s still tells of events that were going on at that time. It was written well and true to the time period. I’m glad I got the chance to read it.
colleengeedrumm's review against another edition
5.0
Loved this one - way more than his first novel A Land More Kind Than Home. This was really beautiful and touching. The author is really coming into his own with the "hillbilly/mountain" genre.
Which of us is not forever a stranger and alone? Thomas Wolfe - Look Homeward, Angel
The valiant never taste of death but once. Shakespeare - Julius Caesar
It don't get no easier to lose someone you love. No matter how long it's been.
The car picked up speed. With each second that passed, Ella felt as if another layer of time, another layer of herself were peeling away. It thrilled her. She just wanted to go back far enough to find herself as the young girl who'd never left home, whose mother and father were both still alive, whose children somehow existed in the world as well and would be waiting for her on the porch at the lumber camp.
It's nice to have a child in the house again, no matter how old she is.
Not the ones who will get you killed. And, Mr. Haywood, there are any kinds of death.
Which of us is not forever a stranger and alone? Thomas Wolfe - Look Homeward, Angel
The valiant never taste of death but once. Shakespeare - Julius Caesar
It don't get no easier to lose someone you love. No matter how long it's been.
The car picked up speed. With each second that passed, Ella felt as if another layer of time, another layer of herself were peeling away. It thrilled her. She just wanted to go back far enough to find herself as the young girl who'd never left home, whose mother and father were both still alive, whose children somehow existed in the world as well and would be waiting for her on the porch at the lumber camp.
It's nice to have a child in the house again, no matter how old she is.
Not the ones who will get you killed. And, Mr. Haywood, there are any kinds of death.
alisonlaw's review against another edition
Listen to my interview with [a:Wiley Cash|5018174|Wiley Cash|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1506887349p2/5018174.jpg] in Episode 16 of the Literary Atlanta podcast, released November 30, 2017.
jgintrovertedreader's review against another edition
5.0
I struggled a little with this rating because I struggled a little with the book. In the first chapter or two, we learn that Ella May, the central character, is murdered. I already liked her and I didn't want to read about her death. But every time I picked up the book, I lost all track of time and inhaled this story. I have a lot more to say, but let me end with this for now: Ella May is a member of my tribe. She's from the Appalachians, she's working in a factory, getting by the best way she knows how. I always say that Ivy Rowe from Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith feels like a member of my family; I'm adding Ella May to the list. I don't have higher praise than that.
wonderofthepage's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
ridgewaygirl's review against another edition
5.0
The Last Ballad tells the story of workers in textile mills in the South in the late 1920s. Ella May is raising four children alone. She's got work, but her 72-hour work week pays less than enough to even feed them everyday. Her youngest is ill and when she stays home to care for him she'd told that if she misses another shift, she'll be fired. So when news comes that unionizers are to come to nearby Gastonia she's desperate enough to hope.
Told from several viewpoints, from the wife of a mill owner to a black union organizer terrified to be back in the South, Cash tells the story of one brave and desperate woman and also of the textile mills of the piedmont region of the Carolinas. It's fascinating stuff, and Cash clearly spent years in immersive research.
Told from several viewpoints, from the wife of a mill owner to a black union organizer terrified to be back in the South, Cash tells the story of one brave and desperate woman and also of the textile mills of the piedmont region of the Carolinas. It's fascinating stuff, and Cash clearly spent years in immersive research.
melohpa's review against another edition
4.0
See my review at https://topplingbookpile.blogspot.com/
lmf456's review against another edition
Can’t get into it. Finally started getting into Ella’s story and then the perspective kept changing
knynas1's review against another edition
3.0
3 ⭐
I enjoyed the story, however, I would have liked a few more chapters from Lily to tie it all together. It was a small snap shot of a life, but the ending didn't really give the closure I was expecting. The plot was leading to an event, but what happens as a result of that event? Does anything change?
I enjoyed the story, however, I would have liked a few more chapters from Lily to tie it all together. It was a small snap shot of a life, but the ending didn't really give the closure I was expecting. The plot was leading to an event, but what happens as a result of that event? Does anything change?