Monday Memories

This is a meme hosted by Annette's Book Spot. Monday Memories is a place to post favorite books from the past. You can either link to an old review, or write something new about a favorite book from the past. What's important is what makes the book so memorable to you..

I am choosing Oral History by Lee Smith as my Monday Memory.

This is my favorite book EVER. The copy I own is my third copy because I kept lending it to people who loved it so much they refused to return it. (I finally learned my lesson.)  I don't loan my Lee Smith books.

The story begins when a college student returns to her family home in 1970's Appalachia. She intends to do an oral history project on how the family home place, an old cabin sitting high on a mountain, became so haunted that no one can live there. The story then reaches back to the early 1800's when Almarine Cantrell takes a wife, a witch known as Red Emmy, and lives with her in the cabin.  The story grabs you from page one.  EVERYONE I have ever recommended this book to has said they could NOT put it down.  It's just that kind of a book. Part ghost story, part historical fiction, part family saga...and ALL southern Appalachian fiction (my fave).

This is the book that placed Lee Smith as my all-time favorite author. I own many of her books, and she has her own special "Lee Smith" shelf in my living room.  I would love to meet her in person. She is an amazing writer.

Try this book. I PROMISE you won't be able to put it down, either. If you do try it, be sure and comment and let me know how you liked it.

Beth :)