A review by amyv
Hill Women: Finding Family and a Way Forward in the Appalachian Mountains by Cassie Chambers

4.0

3.5 to 4 stars. Chambers is an engaging writer, and I made my way through this pretty quickly until the final quarter. Then I don't know if I got distracted by other books or just lost interest, but it took me quite a bit of time and effort to finish it up. I enjoyed this portrait of life (especially the life of women) in Appalachia, and given that the negative reviews seem mostly to focus on cliches about bootstraps and annoying feminists, it's apparently a needed portrait. I think perhaps my difficulty finishing the book came from feeling some disconnect between the memoir/portrait focusing on Appalachia versus the somewhat rushed description of Chambers' legal work for underserved clients there. I think the book would have been slightly stronger if it had focused only on one or the other. Still, a worthwhile read.