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A review by jgintrovertedreader
On Agate Hill by Lee Smith
4.0
Finally! A great book! I was on a mediocre stretch there for a while.
On Agate Hill is the story of Molly Petree, an orphan girl growing up in the Reconstruction South. The book is made up of a lot of journal entries and letters, and it begins with a young Molly telling her own story, the story of her as a "ghost girl" growing up on her uncle's plantation, Agate Hill. Then the story is picked up by the headmistress of Gatewood Academy, a sort of finishing school for girls. The headmistress, Mariah Snow, sees herself in Molly and so never trusts or likes her. The next part is picked up by one of the teachers at Gatewood, when she and Molly head off on their own. Then we have a section told by Molly's husband's cousin, telling about her married life. Then it finishes up with Molly filling in some of the blanks as she looks back on her life from her old age.
This was a great book, filled with believable characters. Molly is flawed, but very likeable. There are parts of Molly's story, and Molly herself, that I think every woman can probably relate to.
This reminded me a little of one of Lee Smith's other novels, Fair and Tender Ladies, which is one of my all-time favorite books. On Agate Hill at first felt to me like the story that would have been Ivy Rowe's if she had gone to school. But then it did become its own story. I like Fair and Tender Ladies better because I liked Ivy Rowe better than Molly, but this is still a fantastic book.
On Agate Hill is the story of Molly Petree, an orphan girl growing up in the Reconstruction South. The book is made up of a lot of journal entries and letters, and it begins with a young Molly telling her own story, the story of her as a "ghost girl" growing up on her uncle's plantation, Agate Hill. Then the story is picked up by the headmistress of Gatewood Academy, a sort of finishing school for girls. The headmistress, Mariah Snow, sees herself in Molly and so never trusts or likes her. The next part is picked up by one of the teachers at Gatewood, when she and Molly head off on their own. Then we have a section told by Molly's husband's cousin, telling about her married life. Then it finishes up with Molly filling in some of the blanks as she looks back on her life from her old age.
This was a great book, filled with believable characters. Molly is flawed, but very likeable. There are parts of Molly's story, and Molly herself, that I think every woman can probably relate to.
This reminded me a little of one of Lee Smith's other novels, Fair and Tender Ladies, which is one of my all-time favorite books. On Agate Hill at first felt to me like the story that would have been Ivy Rowe's if she had gone to school. But then it did become its own story. I like Fair and Tender Ladies better because I liked Ivy Rowe better than Molly, but this is still a fantastic book.