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A review by lifewithjoce
Hang The Moon by Jeannette Walls
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I knew nothing about this book before I started it, seeing only Jeannette Walls’ name and decided that was enough to make the book worth the read. Hang the Moon is a story of a young adult woman (18 at the start) coming into her own during the Prohibition era. Born to the most prominent family in town, Sallie Kincaid is exiled to her aunt’s house when her father remarries, and then brought back home after her death. It’s from there that the book really kicks off, exploring the story of how the town copes with death and fills the power dynamics hole that is created when a leader dies.
While the historical fiction genre is a tad bit oversaturated with “strong young woman who doesn’t want marriage” characters, Walls managed to make this book different by making the general Kincaid family—and the town—a character as well. The main focus is Sallie growing up, but we also see the town growing and changing as well. I was rooting for Sallie, but I was also rooting for the town to succeed. No matter what happened, I wanted the Duke, Mattie, Sallie, Mary, and everyone else to do right by Clayborn County.
There was a strong focus on social justice politics, from the way women are treated to the way Black members of the town are treated. Sallie was, of course, always on the right side of these political debates, but the way she learns about various secrets and the way she reacts to them felt extremely accurate to an 18 year old girl. For the majority of the book, Walls managed to make her point about the protection of women, and make that a major point of the novel, without endowing Sallie with knowledge that would be unrealistic for her to know. In the last few chapters, she emphasized the “roads help women” narrative a bit too much for my taste.
Full Review: https://writethroughthenight.com/2023/04/01/hang-the-moon-is-a-historical-fiction-entry-to-the-new-adult-genre/
While the historical fiction genre is a tad bit oversaturated with “strong young woman who doesn’t want marriage” characters, Walls managed to make this book different by making the general Kincaid family—and the town—a character as well. The main focus is Sallie growing up, but we also see the town growing and changing as well. I was rooting for Sallie, but I was also rooting for the town to succeed. No matter what happened, I wanted the Duke, Mattie, Sallie, Mary, and everyone else to do right by Clayborn County.
There was a strong focus on social justice politics, from the way women are treated to the way Black members of the town are treated. Sallie was, of course, always on the right side of these political debates, but the way she learns about various secrets and the way she reacts to them felt extremely accurate to an 18 year old girl. For the majority of the book, Walls managed to make her point about the protection of women, and make that a major point of the novel, without endowing Sallie with knowledge that would be unrealistic for her to know. In the last few chapters, she emphasized the “roads help women” narrative a bit too much for my taste.
Full Review: https://writethroughthenight.com/2023/04/01/hang-the-moon-is-a-historical-fiction-entry-to-the-new-adult-genre/
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Infidelity, and Child death
Moderate: Suicide