I read “Oral History” by Lee Smith ages ago and didn’t much like it and had never read this. Then a nearby county school system was asked to take this book out of their library, and the paperback version showed up in my library’s new books section, and I read it.

Wow. It is an absolutely fantastic book.

Ivy Rowe and I share a culture. She would be of my grandparents’ generation. While the circumstances of my life and of her life are very different, somehow I feel that in our souls we are the same.

If you want to find out about Southern Appalachian Culture, read this book, The Doll Maker by Arnow, and Night Comes to the Cumberland by Caudill. I should make an “I recommend” list.

Read this book.