Gifts in Appalachian Lit

 I've been a fan of Appalachian literature ever since I read Jesse Stuart's short story, "Split Cherry Tree," in my 7th grade lit book. The first Appalachian novel I read was when I was thirteen— Harriet Arnow's Hunter's Horn. As I got older, I read more Appalachian books—novels by Jesse Stuart and Janet Holt Giles, and eventually others. When I was in my fifties, I started writing Appalachian short stories—I eventually won the Lonesome Pine Short Story Contest five times—my favorite is this one— and the Sherwood Anderson Short Story Contest three times. My Sherwood Anderson winners are in this ebook, Rest in Peace.

I especially like Appalachian stories where a character has a "gift"—like Sharyn McCrumb's character Nora Bonesteel, who's appeared in several of McCrumb's novels. My favorite is The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter. The first two lines of this novel immediately hooked me: "Nora Bonesteel was the first one to know about the Underhill family. Death was no stranger to Dark Hollow, Tennessee, but Nora Bonesteel could see it coming."

In 1916, when I wrote my own Appalachian novel, Them That Go,  I featured a main character with a gift—Annie Caldwell, who can communicate with animals. 

I have Annie begin her story by remembering which stereotypes her classmates were. She concludes her list by identifying herself: "Who was I back then? The quiet mousy one that nobody noticed. I was 'The Other,' a term I learned years later when I was no longer an Other. But in 1972, I didn't have a word for who I was. All that I knew was that I was Annie Caldwell, I lived at the end of a holler, and I wasn't like other kids. I had what Aint Lulie—my great aunt on Daddy's side—called 'the gift.' "

Consequently, I'm always delighted when I find other Appalachian novels that feature a character with a gift. Rebecca D. Elswick's new novel, The Dream is the Truth, has several characters with "gifts."

This ovely and lyrical novel has a strong sense of place—Coal Valley West Virginia. Among its Appalachian motifs are superstitions, mountain wisdom, uses for plants, Irish heritage, strong women, and the importance of family, 

The book bridges two stories and two time periods: Zelda's story which begins in 1912 and Maggie and Hannah's story which begins in 1990

And the first line hooked me: "Two days shy of Zelda Ryan’s tenth birthday, she went into the forest to gather Shepherd’s Purse and came back with a dead baby."

The rest of the opening paragraph kept me hooked: "Zelda’s mother was a midwife, and she needed Shepherd’s Purse to make a poultice to stop bleeding. It was May fifth and Shepherd’s Purse was in bloom on Rock House Mountain, and thanks to her grandmother, Zelda knew every nook and cranny of the mountain. Zelda was named for that grandmother, a healer who now in her old age was called Granny Zee."

Chapter 3, which switches to 1990,  begins: "Addie buried the secret ring deep in the heart-shaped pocket of her dress. With her other hand, she grabbed her mother’s wrist and tugged her down the hall. Her Tinker Bell backpack swished back and forth on her thin shoulders as she step-skipped through the crowd of parents and children gathered in the hallways of Coal Valley Elementary School."

This chapter introduces Margaret—Maggie—Whitefield and her daughter Addie, and Hannah Lively and her daughter Reilly. Maggie recently moved from the Washington DC area because of her husband's job, but Hannah's family has lived in the Coal Valley area for generations. The two women  meet on the first day of school where their daughters are beginning kindergarten. Addie finds a ring on the ground and returns it to its owner, Reilly. 

Maggie "had not seen Addie pick up the ring, but she had looked around the parking lot, and she was certain the mother and daughter, who claimed ownership, had not been there.  She said, 'Addie, when you found that ring was the girl there?' Addie shook her head in a slow side to side motion. 'Then, how did you see her drop it?' Addie giggled. 'Oh Mommy, I saw her with my other eyes.' ” 

The rest of the novel switches back and forth between the two time periods, and connects them beautifully. I highly recommend this novel—it is indeed a gift!

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