“[A] striking debut…”—BUSTLE
He’s gonna be sorry he ever messed with me and Loretta Lynn.
Sadie Blue has been a wife for fifteen days. That’s long enough to know she should have never hitched herself to Roy Tupkin, even with the baby.
Sadie is desperate to make her own mark on the world, but in remote Appalachia, a ticket out of town is hard to come by and hope often gets stomped out. When a … ticket out of town is hard to come by and hope often gets stomped out. When a stranger sweeps into Baines Creek and knocks things off kilter, Sadie finds herself with an unexpected lifeline…if she can just figure out how to use it.
Fans of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek will love this intimate insight into a fiercely proud, tenacious community and relish the voices of the forgotten folks of Baines Creek.
With a colorful cast of characters and a flair for the Southern Gothic, If the Creek Don’t Rise is a debut novel bursting with heart, honesty, and homegrown grit.
“Like Daniel Woodrell’s ‘hillbilly noir’ novel Winter’s Bone…[If the Creek Don’t Rise] unfolds like a dark, gripping alt-country ballad.”—Yahoo!
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Loved it.Reminded me of Where the Crawdads Sing.
4 stars
This book takes place in the Appalachian mountains of N. Carolina in 1970. Life is hard for people in these mountain villages. Domestic violence is a generational thing and opens the first chapter, with Roy Tupkin beating his wife, Sadie Blue. Chapter 2 is about Sadie’s grandmother, Gladys Hicks, now a widow. There are flashbacks to when her husband Walter used to beat her up. These 2 chapters upset me with the generational domestic violence. But the story improves as the characters develop. There are descriptions of mountain ways of healing and kindness.
The book is organized into chapters based on individual characters and narrated in the first person by that character.
Some other characters:
Eli Perkins–a preacher and a kind, gentle man
Prudence Perkins–Eli’s sister, never married and a mean spirited woman who lives to hurt people
Kate Shaw–a new teacher from the valley and considered an outsider
Two quotes:
Gladys:”Times like these I wonder if I ever been happy. From the start there’s been a film of dingy on my days.”
Eli: “I first heard about a murder of crows at the seminary.”
My wife frequently says “If the creek don’t rise..” Her grandmother grew up in the Appalachians and I suspect my wife picked the phrase from her grandmother. So I decided to request this book from NetGalley. I liked the ending.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me this book. The publisher is doing a raffle and here is a link http://books.sourcebooks.com/if-the-c…
The raffle has ended. There are doing a book club raffle.
My wife just read this book and agrees on 4 stars. She said that she could hear her grandmother’s voice in some of dialogue. There is a character who she describes as “some people just need killing.”
Read the entire book in one day and wakened the next day thinking about the characters and wondering what happened next. I’m not a fan of questions for book clubs in the back but I read them as well. Per the questions, you were supposed to dislike three characters. I felt sympathy for Billy (yes, he did bad things but he never got a break). I still disliked three characters. In some chapters, I wanted more details about the character.
loved the twists throughout out the book, especially the ending
I truly adored this book. Everything about the book – setting, tone, characters, etc. – is right up my alley but this is also a very well written book. I’ll just skip to what I think sets it apart from other books. Characters, characters, characters…..this book is full of them. Some are endearing and others are mean and unlikeable. But what each character has in common is that they are fully formed and multi-layered. Even with the unusually high number of narrators in this book you can really tell each one of them apart from the others.
Fans of southern fiction, Appalachian stories, or books with a rural setting with really enjoy this work.
I absolutely loved this book.
It seemed like this book started slow. I even laid it down for a while. I was so glad I picked it back up because once I connected the characters I was hooked and didn’t want to put it down. I am ready for more.
I liked the book, gave me a lot to think about
I couldn’t care about the characters at all I didn’t even finish it. Don’t bother. There’s lots of other great books
the characters were complex and interesting. the story was hard and soft, happy and sad. the story progresses and pulls you into the setting and takes you on this journey through the Appalachia.
An unusual book, I found it interesting.
I absolutely loved this book! My paternal family is from Appalachia, and I was anxious to read more about the area, the bad along with the good. The author has truly captured the atmosphere and voices of the Appalachian mountains. She has accurately captured the dialect of the area. There is no fluff; every word is carefully thought out, and the end result is a lyrical, if not always pleasant, book of first-person narratives. This is one of the very best books on the area that I’ve ever read. The unrelenting poverty of the area adds to the stories of the people who live there. Highly recommended. (Borrowed from the library but I want to own it.)
I found it difficult to read and follow all the characters. It was depressing as I know it was realistic.
I hope there is a sequel out soon. I liked this story a lot!!!
What a great story, great characters, very interesting about the Appalachian culture.
Best book I read in 2017!
Couldn’t get into it and had looked forward Tony. Probably just me!
I loved this book even though it dealt with some sad subjects – wife abuse, murder and other weird stuff. Not a “fluff romance” type of book at all.
disturbing read
I enjoyed the poetry in the expressions spoken by the characters in this novel. The way the words got at the heart of things rang true and authentic. Refreshing novel.