tabithar's review against another edition
3.0
I like the story but this is not my favorite book that McCrumb has written. I do think its worth reading if you are interested in the story but be prepared for it to be told in a manner fairly true to the environment in which it occurred.
suzkozbelle's review against another edition
4.0
McCrumb is back to the murder ballad books that I love best! Cool choice of narrators (although I found the lawyer's narration to be a little repetitive at times). Fascinating take on the classic Tom Dooley tale.i
real_life_reading's review against another edition
2.0
I was really hoping that this book would be as great as the title made it seem, but I was disappointed. It's hard for me to get into a book where the narrator is so past feeling, cruel, and conniving. The book is set in the post Civil War South, and people are living in hard times. So it stands to reason that the 20-something narrator, having had to take care of herself through the war by prostitution, is hardened to others and their situations. However, she purposefully wants to make other people suffer as she has suffered, and her primary target in the novel is her beautiful cousin Ann.
Then there's these strange inserts written in the voice of Zebulon Vance, the man who is a lawyer for Ann and her lover, Tom Dula, after they are accused of murder. His piece in the novel doesn't really add anything to the story line, other than the very last bit when he gives us more information than the narrator Pauline gives in her story. It's pretty ineffective and distracting to the story line.
Then there's these strange inserts written in the voice of Zebulon Vance, the man who is a lawyer for Ann and her lover, Tom Dula, after they are accused of murder. His piece in the novel doesn't really add anything to the story line, other than the very last bit when he gives us more information than the narrator Pauline gives in her story. It's pretty ineffective and distracting to the story line.
nursenell's review against another edition
4.0
I've always loved the song The Ballard of Tom Dooley but never gave much consideration to what the story behind the song was. The real person was Tom Dula, not Dooley, a Civil War drummer boy who spent out the last of the war in a POW camp. He returns to the piedmont of North Carolina where he doesn't do much of anything but use his charms on women. One of his lovers is a married woman, Ann Melton, another is her cousin Laura Foster. The other woman in the story is Pauline Foster, cousin to both women, she works as a hired helper in the Melton home. Pauline is amoral, a sociopath with no regard for others who manipulates people and conditions to inflict hurt. Ann Melton is a narcissist whose only interest is herself, she's as lazy as they come. And Laura just wants a husband. When Laura steals her daddy's horse and leaves the area, but a few months later is found in a shallow grave nearby it's Tom Dula who hangs. Ann Melton is charged too but is let off after Tom's final words before hanging. But who really killed Laura Foster? It wasn't Tom.
The author did an impressive amount of research in writing this book. I enjoyed the book and will be reading more in this series.
The author did an impressive amount of research in writing this book. I enjoyed the book and will be reading more in this series.
judyward's review against another edition
3.0
In a tale with strong parallels to Wuthering Heights, Sharyn McCrumb retells the legend of Tom Dooley (actually Tom Dula) which has been handed down through the decades as a mountain ballad. After the Civil War, which disrupted society, destroyed lives, tore families apart, and divided moutain communities throughout the Appalachian Mountains, Tom Dooley was accused of the murder of Laura Foster, found guilty in two trials, and hanged for his crime. The case attracted national attention because of the love triangle that was exposed during the trial and because a former governor of North Carolina, Zebulon Vance, was appointed to head the defense. When McCrumb began to investigate the crime with the help of historians, attorneys, and researchers, she discovered that the facts of the case may be different from what most people have believed for over a hundred years. She sees the major players in the drama--Laura Foster, Tom Dula, and Ann Melton caught in a Appalachian version of Wuthering Heights with the strings being pulled Pauline Foster, a cousin of both Laura and Ann. Unfortunately, none of these characters capture the sympathy of the reader. Laura was viewed throughout the community as sexually available, Ann was a narcissist, Pauline was a sociopath, and Tom had a hollow moral core. And the hero of the story, Zebulon Vance, came across as dull and uninteresting. The story is told in alternate chapters by Pauline Foster and Zebulon Vance so the facts of the case are seen through two alternative realities. It is clear that McCrumb did her research. In fact, making sure that the research is highlighted during the novel, slows down the story and proves to be a distraction. But this research is included to strengthen McCrumb's argument that we should all forget the famous Kingston Trio version of the ballad and, instead, follow her research to discover the true story.
mxemma's review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I'm not the biggest fan on McCrumb's writing style - it's just not to my taste - but her take on this old story was an interesting one, and I'm always interested in ballads, so I did end up enjoying it pretty well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Terminal illness, Medical content, Murder, War, Body shaming, and Racism
Minor: Pregnancy and Slavery
brittney_megan's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. I'm from the Appalachian area and live very near many of the locations described in the book, so I think that led me to be more interested in the story. And yes, I've heard the story told from some older folks around here and know of some of the different variations of the story. I thought this author did a very good job of describing the area and the attitudes of the mountain people at that time. And I read the book in less than 24 hours. I really had a hard time putting the book down. I just had to know what would happen next. While the narrator Pauline was not very likeable, she was an interesting character and her style of speaking was something I'm familiar with as some of the older generations here in the mountains still speak like that. Overall a very good book and interesting story, especially since it was based on true events.
sngick's review against another edition
2.0
I love Sharyn McCrumb and was anxious to read this book. Unfortunately, this book was drudgery and I did not enjoy it at all. Usually a master at storytelling, this book fell flat with me. I was not drawn into the story, nor did I enjoy the one-dimensional characters. When I finished the book, I enjoyed reading about Sharyn's research but was disappointed in the story and how detached I felt from it all.