2024 the best fiction books review

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(as of Dec 11, 2024 05:19:15 UTC - Details)

Where the Crawdads Sing meets The Four Winds in this Depression-era historical fiction novel set in the turpentine camps and pine forests of the American South.

A captivating story of friendship and survival as the lives of three vagabonds intersect in rural Georgia and North Carolina.

It takes courage to save yourself...

In the dense pine forests of North Carolina, turpentiners labor, hacking into tree trunks to draw out the sticky sap that gives the Tar Heel State its nickname, and hauling the resin to stills to be refined. Among them is Rae Lynn Cobb and her husband, Warren, who run a small turpentine farm together.

Though the work is hard and often dangerous, Rae Lynn, who spent her childhood in an orphanage, is thankful for it—and for her kind if careless husband. When Warren falls victim to his own negligence, Rae Lynn undertakes a desperate act of mercy. To keep herself from jail, she disguises herself as a man named "Ray" and heads to the only place she can think of that might offer anonymity—a turpentine camp in Georgia named Swallow Hill.

Swallow Hill is no easy haven. The camp is isolated and squalid, and commissary owner Otis Riddle takes out his frustrations on his browbeaten wife, Cornelia. Although Rae Lynn works tirelessly, she becomes a target for Crow, the ever-watchful woods rider who checks each laborer's tally. Delwood Reese, who's come to Swallow Hill hoping for his own redemption, offers "Ray" a small measure of protection, and is determined to improve their conditions. As Rae Lynn forges a deeper friendship with both Del and Cornelia, she begins to envision a path out of the camp. But she will have to come to terms with her past, with all its pain and beauty, before she can open herself to a new life and seize the chance to begin again.

From the Publisher

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Kensington (January 25, 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1496733320
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1496733320
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.43 x 1.02 x 8.2 inches
Reviewer: Allison Rader
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: endearing and unique
Review: This story was easy to get hooked into and a quick read. It was interesting learning about turpentining and made me want to read more about it.

Reviewer: Gramma4
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Good story
Review: Read this quite a while ago so don't remember details, but I do remember that I enjoyed the book a lot.

Reviewer: Heather Mc Erlean
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great Historical Fiction Book
Review: Copied from my Goodreads review ..."The Saints of Swallow Hill" by Donna Everhart is only the second book I have read of hers and it was better than the first one I had read, which was great too. I was never much into Depression-era books, though I can remember stories my grandparents and great-grandparents told me. While my family was not from the same region, there were many similarities. I had heard of the "Tar Heel" state before but didn't have a clue. During the reading of the book, I looked up some information on this very thing and found the book to be accurate. It could have been a true story.The book flowed great. It sparks a lot of emotion at times because you can feel what these characters are going through, which tells you that the character development is terrific. I suppose being a female today and reading about what certain women went through in those days, it could also make you feel blessed. I would also say that Everhart has a great propensity for descriptive writing. You can see what she is writing. When the book plays out in your mind like a movie, that is a sign that the author has done a wonderful job of setting the scene and describing it to the point of viewing it mentally. I love that about this book and so far the other I read too ("The Forgiving Kind").If you love books that are full of hardships, friendships, full of descriptive writing, characters that you grow attached to, and a storyline that you could see as a movie, then it's a book that you should definitely read. I highly recommend it!

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: quick read
Review: Entertaining story. Educational if you’re interested in turpentining. It was an easy reading story and predictable. I liked it ok.

Reviewer: Ro Ro
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Pretty quick read!
Review: Liked the book...characters were believable.

Reviewer: TwoPac
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Ok read
Review: IMHO. It was a read of something by a different author to supplement my reading of favorite authors. I’ll do this and sometimes find a book I really like and read another by the same author. This book was ok. Good history of the South I knew nothing about. But the ending was a “too good to be true” end. I’m guessing a lot of people go for this but it just felt phony for me. It was an ok read but not something I’d pursue again. Thanks anyway.

Reviewer: navy wife
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: GREAT
Review: I don't need to write a book to say I like this book. I don't know the authors life history and all the other books the author wrote. This book was about an era gone by, something we living today may never see or experience. people had nothing, they traveled miles to get work and were paid the minimum, they lived in flea infested shacks, they were whipped if they didn't produce what was expected, they were put into a box for days in all sorts of weather for whatever reason was deemed by their boss. These were people like anyone else during the depression, just needing work, and money to send to their families. These people were abused in so many ways, and sometimes killed just for being slower than others.

Reviewer: Linda Weber
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A departure from the author's usual fare
Review: I enjoyed Donna Everhart's novel, The Saints of Swallow Hill. I love this author and have read everything she has written. I have connected to her other books a bit more than this one, probably because I like her first-person writing style, from which this book is a departure. The Depression-era story and setting were very well done and the characters were very realistic. I have read several books set during the depression and this book stacks up nicely in the mix. I wasn't as thrilled with the end as I could have been and the loose end of the escaped indentured black man left me wondering what happened to him. Did he get away and make some kind of life for himself? Personally, I hope Ms. Everhart returns to her first-person story-telling style in her next book with an emphasis on social issues we are loath to discuss. She does those so well. This book had some unusual twists and turns, from a woman masquerading as a man to work and survive, to a surprise romantic attraction between two same-sex characters. The latter almost felt contrived to satisfy publishers' calls for "own voices" stories. Good book but not Everhart's best. Recommend.

Reviewer: JackiSprat
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: What a vivid picture of the rough life during The Depression. I had no idea of the history of the Longleaf Pines and Turpentine production.The story unfolds chapter by chapter with two people Del Reese and Rae Lynn Cobb recounting their experiences working at Swallow Hill. A dilapidated turpentine farm. Two of the men working there are terribly abusive and have no respect for human life or human rights.Del watches out for Rae as best he can until things come to a head one evening.It’ll take all they can do to survive.

Reviewer: Grandad bob
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Really enjoyed my sort of book well writen, my wife has also read it and feels the same would recommend to other readers

Reviewer: Jenny Sayell
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I liked finding out what life was like for "tar heels". The storyline and charactes were strong, too... an entertaining book.

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Good novel,,, if only 1/3 of this is true,it is a horrific industry,,Rae Lynne was married to a man who took too many chances,And refused to seek medical care, she meets Del while working in aturpentinecamp

Reviewer: mark
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I’m sad to have finished this book ..I’ve enjoyed it so much and really feel I know the characters and am reluctant to let them go.