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A review by cmbohn
She Walks These Hills by Sharyn McCrumb
5.0
Harm Sorley has gone a little crazy in prison. Either the alcohol or the confinement, mostly likely both, has got him confused about where - and when - he is. But not so confused that he couldn't escape and start heading for the only home he's ever known, in the country hills of Tennessee.
But much more time has passed than Harm realizes. His beautiful wife and baby daughter are almost 40 years older. The land has changed. And Harm himself has changed too.
His wife, remarried now to a 'respectable' sort of man, isn't afraid of him at all. But local law enforcement don't know whether to take his disappearance as a joke or a menace. They've got other things to deal with, like patrolling high school football games, dealing with domestic disputes, and personnel issues. And then some graduate student gets a goofy idea to trace the footsteps of a long-lost pioneer woman who escaped her Indian captors and made her way back home. His effort might have been helped if he hadn't packed everything he might possibly have needed and bought brand new hiking boots before he left.
I loved the way McCrumb wove all these separate strands into a rich and moving story. It really helped that I have seen this land, and hiked (OK, not for long!) along a part of the trail, and seen what the land has to offer. Poetic and tragic and suspenseful all at the same time. 5 stars.
But much more time has passed than Harm realizes. His beautiful wife and baby daughter are almost 40 years older. The land has changed. And Harm himself has changed too.
His wife, remarried now to a 'respectable' sort of man, isn't afraid of him at all. But local law enforcement don't know whether to take his disappearance as a joke or a menace. They've got other things to deal with, like patrolling high school football games, dealing with domestic disputes, and personnel issues. And then some graduate student gets a goofy idea to trace the footsteps of a long-lost pioneer woman who escaped her Indian captors and made her way back home. His effort might have been helped if he hadn't packed everything he might possibly have needed and bought brand new hiking boots before he left.
I loved the way McCrumb wove all these separate strands into a rich and moving story. It really helped that I have seen this land, and hiked (OK, not for long!) along a part of the trail, and seen what the land has to offer. Poetic and tragic and suspenseful all at the same time. 5 stars.