A review by shelleys_book_nook
Hang The Moon by Jeannette Walls

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Jeannette Walls is one of my favourite authors, my daughter-in-law introduced me to her in 2007 when she gave me The Glass Castle and I have read everything she has written since. Hang the Moon takes place in the prohibition era of East Appalachia Virgina. I love southern historical fiction and Walls does not disappoint. I liked how the author was inspired by the history of Henry VIII and his many wives and children. I had that figured out long before I read the acknowledgements. You can tell the book was well-researched.

I can’t remember being drawn into such a sad, desperate atmosphere of a book as I have with this one. It’s a heartbreaking storyline. Also, I can’t remember wanting so much for there to be some happiness for the characters and I don’t mean fairytale endings.

Beautiful, literate writing, well-drawn, believable characters. Just a touch of black humour and a book that haunts the thoughts, long after reading. The setting was easy to imagine, Walls's writing was very atmospheric, and the characters, especially Sallie, will be hard to forget. In fact, the writing, characters and plot were all top-notch. All. The. Stars.