books set in Appalachia – Amy Hammond Hagberg

Nothing much happens in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. The highlight of 35-year-old Ave Maria Mulligan’s week is when the bookmobile comes to town. As the town pharmacist, she knows intimate details about the community; sometimes more than she cares to know. She’s a member of the volunteer rescue squad and leads the drama team. Imagine the excitement when Elizabeth Taylor and her husband, John Warner, come for a visit. Adriana Trigiani’s first novel concerns the family scandals that befall Ave Maria in this seemingly uneventful town. When the self-proclaimed spinster discovers a skeleton in her family’s closet, her quiet, conventional life is turned topsy-turvy. Greed, lust, and envy aren’t just […]

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“The wonder is that you could start life with nothing, end with nothing, and lose so much in between.”—Barbara Kingsolver, Demon Copperhead. This is my third book by Barbara Kingsolver. Prior to Demon Copperhead, her most famous book was probably The Poisonwood Bible, the story of a missionary family in the Belgian Congo in 1959. It’s a novel I’ll never forget. I also enjoyed Prodigal Summer, in which she uses her knowledge of nature to weave together three stories of life in Appalachia. Neither compares to sheer brilliance to Demon Copperhead. I know this will be one of my favorite reads of 2023—maybe ever. Barbara Kingsolver’s monumental historical novel about […]