Silas House

Any two people can set and jaw all day long but it takes two people right for each other to set together and just be quiet Quote - A Parchment Of Leaves

I love Appalachian Fiction and Silas House draws the reader in with a wonderful sense of time and place. I had this one on my to read list for awhile and January seemed like a good time to de clutter the TBR list as I knew I had some pretty good books there but always swayed by new books.

Set in early 1900s rural Kentucky and young Saul Sullivan is heading up to Redbud camp to look for work. He is wary but unafraid of the Cherokee girl there whose beauty is said to cause the death of all men who see her, but the minute Saul lays eyes on Vine he knows she is meant to be his wife.

Beautiful writing, with vivid descriptions that take you right to the heart of Appalachia. If I had read this one as opposed to listening to it probably would have taken me way longer to finish as its the sort of novel where you want to go back and re-read passages just for the beauty of the writing. I loved the characters although predictable they are well written and have a genuineness about them that makes you care about their outcome in the story.

This is a quiet book, its not full of action or twists and turns, just a good story well told with the added bonus of amazing sense of time and place, and I think readers who have enjoyed books like [b:The Giver of Stars|43925876|The Giver of Stars|Jojo Moyes|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1572879113l/43925876._SX50_.jpg|68351635] or [b:The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek|40914165|The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek|Kim Michele Richardson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1543864778l/40914165._SY75_.jpg|63789129] may well enjoy this one too.

I listened to this on on Audible and the narrator was really good.… (more)

I preface my review with this: "Lark Ascending" is a book that was picked out by a member of our Book Palaver so is one I never would have read on my own.

The writing is excellent. Silas House does a phenomenal job with his prose and descriptions.

But I was not taken at all with the story. I read to be entertained, not to be depressed. And Lark Ascending is a depressing read.

Sometime in the future, wildfires ravage America and fundamentalists take over. Most folks are killed but 20-year old Lark, his family, and another family flee to Maine. They then board a ship headed to Ireland where they believe refugees are still being accepted. Once in Ireland, Lark finds a beagle named Seamus and they make their way to a town in Ireland. The best chapter (there are only 3) was the middle one where we meet Seamus. It's written from his perspective and House does an amazing job with it.

A handful of events take place with much strum and drang. Other than Seamus, I didn't care for any of the characters nor did I really get a sense of how what happened in America somehow made its way oversees as Ireland is also reeling from these same issues.

If you like "literature" you might like Lark Ascending. For me, it was OK at best.… (more)

Clay loses his mother at the age of 4 and is raised by a trio of aunts and uncles in Free Creek, KY. At 18 he moves to his own place and hires on at the local coal mine. His life revolves around work, weekend drinking and family until he meets fiddler Alma. He is immediately drawn to her but she is hesitant, in the process of getting a divorce from an abusive husband. Many of the supporting characters also have dramatic events happen during this book. Abuse, drinking, drugs and obsessive religious fanatics leads to violence and many wasted lives. The writing is poetic and language seems true to the area. Mining is a big part of their lives but not discussed at all except for the grime and it is obviously responsible for much of the drinking.… (more)