A story of the lives of three women, tightly woven together and surviving the harsh societal environment of an Appalachian mining town in the early to mid-1900s. Two religions contrast with each other—the Cherokee spirits of the native people and the Old Testament God of the white settlers—as each woman struggles to find her place. Love and hate, marriage and adultery, childbirth and abortion, … all have their parts to play. Beloved Mother accurately portrays the evilness in humanity, in which the wicked corrupt the innocent to create a vicious cycle of abuse, until one person—with a heart of understanding and forgiveness—has the courage to end it.
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It was difficult to read for about the first 1/3 of the book. It got easier to read and I was determined to complete the book. I felt unfulfilled and disappointed by the ending.
Interesting.
I didn’t expect it to be so depressing, my take on the synopsis was that it would be uplifting. everyone in this book had a terrible life either thru their own choices or their mental abilities. fans of Dorthey Garlock will probably relate to this book as it has her same era & women without choices, but without the happy ending.
This was a difficult book to stay with. It has a slow movement and characters that are difficult to admire. The story though wraps you in the location and provides a rich story about little known areas.
What a great book! This story, which spans the time period of the early 1900’s through the middle of the century, is about three women living in an Appalachian mining town. The religion of the oldest, known as Two Tears, is that of the Cherokee people, which she adopted when she was rescued from an abusive husband by a Cherokee man, at the age of sixteen. The second oldest, Anna, the younger sister of Two Tears, lives by the established Old Testament religion of the white settlers of the area. Lily, Anna’s daughter, learns from Two Tears, (who she refers to as Fee Granny) about, and becomes enthralled by, the Cherokee beliefs, developing great sensitivity to and awareness of the world around her. The lives of these women is greatly affected by their beliefs and their dire financial situations. But this is not a story about religion by any means. Instead, it illustrates how the poor and marginalized, often women, suffer and manage to live their lives as best they can.
This was a very well written and absorbing novel. I strongly recommend it.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author Laura Hunter and the publisher Bluewater Publications for granting my request for an ARC in return for my honest opinion.
To be honest, I tried to read this book once and could not get into it. Then, my mother went into hospice and I tired it again and really enjoyed it. It’s a different type of story and I think you need to be open to it.
This book didn’t work for me. Couldn’t get into the characters. Found it difficult to follow.
This book was slow moving. I had to force myself to finish, and I love to read. I did not feel the events in the book were anything but mundane. I kept thinking it would get better. The only time I was fully pulled into the book was when the protagonist finds out her half-brother was killed and she retaliates. Very unsatisfying book.
Kind of weird
This was an interesting story which dragged much more than it needed to. Frankly I became weary of it about half way through. The main character, the daughter, was an amazing spirit, but I felt I would have enjoyed it more if some of the verbiage was cut shorter.
Convoluted plot line with Great Spirit, Sister Sun, and Brother Moon adding their opinions to the narrative, though, no one but the reader is aware of this.
Most of the characters aren’t likable, so I found it difficult to get invested in the book.
Won’t be reading anything else by Laura Hunter.
So much repression & depression.
A different kind of read
This story follows sisters whos lives intertwine as they separate but never reunite while traveling the same roads in the mountains of the south.
I didn’t like this book. It’s not my style at all.
The mountains of Virginia near Kentucky hold generations of secrets in their dense forests. Turtle Mountain is the scene of family tests and tragedies. A young woman, Mona, takes up with a persuasive stranger, and his abuse leads to her rescue by a Cherokee man. Scarred and impregnated by her abuser, she becomes an herbalist and healer, called Beloved Mother, reflecting the culture of her adopted family and neighbors.
However, she is lost to her parents and two sisters. Her background is complex; her relationships are fraught with conflict. She is neither as good as she at first appears, nor as bad as her family legend.
Mona’s sister Anna betrays her sister Ruth, then is made pregnant by her wealthy lover. To avoid scandal, she raises her daughter in near-isolation near Turtle Mountain. Lily, the daughter, is befriended by Beloved Mother, although neither seem to know their kinship. Lily learns the terrain, animals and plants of the mountain. While nursing her mother through illness, Lily stumbles across Beloved Mother’s own dark secrets, and the cause of her mother’s illness.
The book benefits from a touch of mysticism, and a heavy dose of mystery. Good reading.
Lots of twist and turns with the lives of these 3 women, some predictable and others not predictable. Interesting settings and lifestyle as well as beliefs.
This book is hard to follow and I did not finish reading it.
I kept reading until the end but it was an effort. The characers were incomplete and at the end I just felt like there were so many unanswered questions.
A bit repetitive but a good read