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The Tall Woman
Lydia Moore grew up in the Appalachian region before the Civil War and married Mark McQueen shortly after it began. Her husband went off to fight for the Union while her father and brother fought for the Confederates. While the men were gone, outliers raided Lydia's mother's home, assaulting her and stealing the livestock. A pregnant Lydia returned to her old home place to tend to her mother and brothers and sisters. When her labor began, the doctor was too inebriated to come, so Lydia's Aunt Tildy delivered the baby, who was turned the wrong way, causing brain damage. After the war, when Mark returned, Lydia learned he had been imprisoned. Her Mark was a changed man who dealt with demons from the war and harbored a deep hatred for the men who had raided Lydia's mother's home, blaming his son's mental problems on them. Through the years, Lydia had more children while dealing with her husband's alienation and cynicism, hoping that through her love, he would become the man he used to be. Times were rough in their mountain region, but Lydia worked hard, trying to do her best for her children and their small community.
315 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1962
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2338 people want to read
About the author
Wilma Dykeman
40 books39 followersWilma Dykeman Stokely was an American writer of fiction and nonfiction whose works chronicled the people and land of Appalachia.
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August 1, 2020
“The wind came again and she felt the pleasure of her own body-warmth. Like a seed, she felt, one of those sun-warmed seeds in the spring ground, growing, ready to give forth new life.”
Do you feel like doing back flips across the yard and hugging your best women friends when you read books with strong heroines? I know I do. If you answered yes as well, then The Tall Woman really ought to be on your to-read list. The problem is, you’ve probably never even heard of this book! The Goodreads listing currently indicates 739 ratings and 115 reviews. The 42 libraries in my system don’t carry it, and I’ve never seen it on the shelves of a bookstore. How did I come across it then? From my enlightened women friends here, of course! That’s not to say this book is for women only. No. This book is for any discerning reader that admires spirited women and excellent storytelling.
“It may not seem so to you now, being a girl only and a girl in love, but there’s something beyond even love, for a woman as well as a man. A body’s personhood.”
When we meet Lydia McQueen, she is a young woman about to be wed. Her mother passes along some sage advice. Marriage is not something to go into lightly, and the young don’t often think of it in the terms Sarah Moore speaks of to her daughter. I thought about that a lot – “a body’s personhood.” It’s easy to get lost within the confines of being a mother, a father, a husband, a wife. In any case, the Civil War has arrived and the people of the little town of Thickety Creek, North Carolina, in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, will find their loyalties divided between North and South. As we so often hear, the women and children are left to fend for themselves while the men are away and at each other’s throats. When the men return, the war never really leaves them entirely. Treachery, physical harm, and loss come right back with them and set up shop in their homes, in their town. People are never the same as they once were and it is thanks to the resilient spirits of some that life goes on. Lydia’s life is far from easy, raising six children and tirelessly working the land. She’s an intelligent woman that if born in a different century would have had better opportunities, an education, and would have thrived in such an environment. But she made the most of what was given to her and expanded her mind to the best of her ability.
“Her body was not as soft and quivering and fresh as in the days of her youth, but it leaned no less eagerly toward the daily experience and touch of life. Her mind was not as trusting and unbruised as when she was a girl, but, given a chance, it turned even more vigorously to laying hold of knowledge, not only the knowledge of the brain but of the understanding heart, as well. She had attained a measure of wisdom.”
I loved everything about this novel. Wilma Dykeman writes about her characters with love and compassion. She knew these people. I read her memoir a couple of years ago and recognized many of the persons from her own life in the lives of those inhabiting this book. Ms. Dykeman’s father in particular must have been the model for Lydia McQueen’s father who had a true love for learning and reading. “She thought of Papa’s rows of books and how she had always meant to read them all, and others, too, someday…” Lydia did not have the time to read, having to take on such heavy responsibilities at a young age, but she always wanted an education, for herself and her children. I suspect Lydia’s relationship with her father was much like the one the young Wilma Dykeman had with hers. Both Lydia and her father have a dream to bring a school to Thickety Creek, and it’s not an easy aspiration by any means. Church and religion abound, but education takes a back seat. There are plenty of obstacles to realizing this desire and it becomes one of the central plots to the novel. Along the way we see everyday hard living, birth, death, grief and the whole circle of life. Lydia’s favorite spring provides a refuge for her and also illustrates the continuity of all things. I smiled through this book, and I shed some tears. Not just for these people but for how damned hard life can be for so many at different times. I think we could all use a healing spring outside our door.
“It’s all a gift, the good or bad, the living or dying, but don’t say it’s a sign: how could we ever bear the sorrow or the joy of it if we had to be a-wondering what we had done to deserve either?”
Do you feel like doing back flips across the yard and hugging your best women friends when you read books with strong heroines? I know I do. If you answered yes as well, then The Tall Woman really ought to be on your to-read list. The problem is, you’ve probably never even heard of this book! The Goodreads listing currently indicates 739 ratings and 115 reviews. The 42 libraries in my system don’t carry it, and I’ve never seen it on the shelves of a bookstore. How did I come across it then? From my enlightened women friends here, of course! That’s not to say this book is for women only. No. This book is for any discerning reader that admires spirited women and excellent storytelling.
“It may not seem so to you now, being a girl only and a girl in love, but there’s something beyond even love, for a woman as well as a man. A body’s personhood.”
When we meet Lydia McQueen, she is a young woman about to be wed. Her mother passes along some sage advice. Marriage is not something to go into lightly, and the young don’t often think of it in the terms Sarah Moore speaks of to her daughter. I thought about that a lot – “a body’s personhood.” It’s easy to get lost within the confines of being a mother, a father, a husband, a wife. In any case, the Civil War has arrived and the people of the little town of Thickety Creek, North Carolina, in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, will find their loyalties divided between North and South. As we so often hear, the women and children are left to fend for themselves while the men are away and at each other’s throats. When the men return, the war never really leaves them entirely. Treachery, physical harm, and loss come right back with them and set up shop in their homes, in their town. People are never the same as they once were and it is thanks to the resilient spirits of some that life goes on. Lydia’s life is far from easy, raising six children and tirelessly working the land. She’s an intelligent woman that if born in a different century would have had better opportunities, an education, and would have thrived in such an environment. But she made the most of what was given to her and expanded her mind to the best of her ability.
“Her body was not as soft and quivering and fresh as in the days of her youth, but it leaned no less eagerly toward the daily experience and touch of life. Her mind was not as trusting and unbruised as when she was a girl, but, given a chance, it turned even more vigorously to laying hold of knowledge, not only the knowledge of the brain but of the understanding heart, as well. She had attained a measure of wisdom.”
I loved everything about this novel. Wilma Dykeman writes about her characters with love and compassion. She knew these people. I read her memoir a couple of years ago and recognized many of the persons from her own life in the lives of those inhabiting this book. Ms. Dykeman’s father in particular must have been the model for Lydia McQueen’s father who had a true love for learning and reading. “She thought of Papa’s rows of books and how she had always meant to read them all, and others, too, someday…” Lydia did not have the time to read, having to take on such heavy responsibilities at a young age, but she always wanted an education, for herself and her children. I suspect Lydia’s relationship with her father was much like the one the young Wilma Dykeman had with hers. Both Lydia and her father have a dream to bring a school to Thickety Creek, and it’s not an easy aspiration by any means. Church and religion abound, but education takes a back seat. There are plenty of obstacles to realizing this desire and it becomes one of the central plots to the novel. Along the way we see everyday hard living, birth, death, grief and the whole circle of life. Lydia’s favorite spring provides a refuge for her and also illustrates the continuity of all things. I smiled through this book, and I shed some tears. Not just for these people but for how damned hard life can be for so many at different times. I think we could all use a healing spring outside our door.
“It’s all a gift, the good or bad, the living or dying, but don’t say it’s a sign: how could we ever bear the sorrow or the joy of it if we had to be a-wondering what we had done to deserve either?”
April 13, 2015
This was my second reading of this book, and if I had time and didn't have so many other books waiting, I would turn right back to page 1 and start reading again, just to stay in Lydia McQueen ' s world a little longer. Maybe because my father was from Boone, and my grandparents had a mountain farm before they sold it and moved closer to town because of age. I vaguely remember the smells of the mountains, the cold streams, the tang of the air that was in so many of the descriptions of the natural world in this book. When reading of this time, just after the Civil War, and this place, high in the Appalachians, I am amazed at how hard people had to work just for daily survival. You worked or did without. No welfare, no hand-outs, just grit and determination and neighbors lending a hand when they could. Before you could even think about preparing a meal, you had to tote water and build a fire, and before that plant and tend a garden, and raise livestock and hunt game. If you were a woman, you also birthed and tended to children, made your own clothes, soap, candles, etc.; the list is endless and it boggles the mind. They also had to make their own fun. But men and women worked together to raise families and instill their values and work ethic to future generations.
This book tells the story of Lydia McQueen and her husband Mark, both of whom battle demons of things inflicted during the war. It tells of 30 years, of raising 6 children, of trying to make their community a better place, helping neighbors, enduring tragedies and sorrows, and standing tall through all of it. It's the story of strong women and what it takes to get by when all seems lost. I'll surely remember it the next time I complain because of traffic, or not finding something at the grocery store, or a short power outage.
I did a quick Wikipedia search on Wilma Dykeman. She was born and died in Asheville, NC. Her husband was the Stokely of Stokely - Van Camp foods, and they lived in Newport, TN. She was introduced to him by Mabel Wolfe, sister of Thomas Wolfe. Interesting facts about a writer who could understand and write so well about poverty and hard lives. She should be better known.
This can be a difficult book to track down (I got mine in a used book store many years ago, just because it looked good). It's out of print, many libraries don't have it, and it's not available as an e-book. But if you can get one, give it a read. You won't be sorry.
This book tells the story of Lydia McQueen and her husband Mark, both of whom battle demons of things inflicted during the war. It tells of 30 years, of raising 6 children, of trying to make their community a better place, helping neighbors, enduring tragedies and sorrows, and standing tall through all of it. It's the story of strong women and what it takes to get by when all seems lost. I'll surely remember it the next time I complain because of traffic, or not finding something at the grocery store, or a short power outage.
I did a quick Wikipedia search on Wilma Dykeman. She was born and died in Asheville, NC. Her husband was the Stokely of Stokely - Van Camp foods, and they lived in Newport, TN. She was introduced to him by Mabel Wolfe, sister of Thomas Wolfe. Interesting facts about a writer who could understand and write so well about poverty and hard lives. She should be better known.
This can be a difficult book to track down (I got mine in a used book store many years ago, just because it looked good). It's out of print, many libraries don't have it, and it's not available as an e-book. But if you can get one, give it a read. You won't be sorry.
July 7, 2020
This, then, was what a glimpse of truth might be like; hard as stone, beautiful as stars, satisfying as bread.
The Tall Woman is the story of Lydia Moore, a girl born in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina and raised in a hard-scrabble world that gets no easier when she becomes a woman and marries Mark McQueen. It is in the years following the Civil War, when the hurt and division has not been healed, that Lydia must find a way to live her life, raise her children, and bind her community together. Dykeman’s descriptions of the mountains and its people are so vivid and real that you close the book feeling you are losing a place you know and friends you can barely bear to leave.
There is a mountain stream that figures in Lydia’s life...a favorite place that she keeps clean and fresh and from which she draws her water. I cast back into my childhood to visits with my Great Uncle Naman, who lived in the North Georgia Mountains, part of the same ridge that crosses North Carolina. One of the things that stands out clearly is going to the church there to clean the graves of my great-grandparents and drinking from the stream that ran behind the churchyard. The water was the clearest, sweetest-tasting liquid that ever touched my lips. I knew Lydia’s stream.
There is a flavor of the mountains that comes from the genuine and easy way Dykeman has her characters speak. There is Aunt Tilda, whose “Eh, law, child” echoed the expressions of my own grandmother and aunts. And such wonderful expressions as “Could he but buy himself for what he's worth, and sell himself for what he thinks he's worth, he'd be princely rich overnight." I laughed aloud at that one and don’t think I will ever forget it.
Lydia’s life is hard, in every way that a life can be. She faces her personal trials with a wisdom and fortitude that is inspirational. She draws her strength from the very mountains she stands upon and from the faith and love she has inherited from her parents.
Sometimes it seemed to Lydia that work was the only certainty, the only lasting truth in a human world of fitful change. Work and the mountains remained. Joy was deceitful and as brief as a summer rainbow. Love was a spear upon which you hurled yourself in ecstasy--to discover pain and bear the wound forever
Even in the face of this, Lydia never gives up. Her progression from girl to wife to mother is gratifying to behold. I loved her, along with every other character with which Dykeman peopled her world. How, oh how, do these kinds of wonderfully written books fade in obscurity? Why is Wilma Dykeman’s name not listed on all these “before you die” lists? I am so happy to have read her at last and hope someone else will pick up this book because of this review and then pass the word on.
My particular thanks to Laura at the Southern Literary Trail who has told me time and again that I didn’t know what I was missing.
The Tall Woman is the story of Lydia Moore, a girl born in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina and raised in a hard-scrabble world that gets no easier when she becomes a woman and marries Mark McQueen. It is in the years following the Civil War, when the hurt and division has not been healed, that Lydia must find a way to live her life, raise her children, and bind her community together. Dykeman’s descriptions of the mountains and its people are so vivid and real that you close the book feeling you are losing a place you know and friends you can barely bear to leave.
There is a mountain stream that figures in Lydia’s life...a favorite place that she keeps clean and fresh and from which she draws her water. I cast back into my childhood to visits with my Great Uncle Naman, who lived in the North Georgia Mountains, part of the same ridge that crosses North Carolina. One of the things that stands out clearly is going to the church there to clean the graves of my great-grandparents and drinking from the stream that ran behind the churchyard. The water was the clearest, sweetest-tasting liquid that ever touched my lips. I knew Lydia’s stream.
There is a flavor of the mountains that comes from the genuine and easy way Dykeman has her characters speak. There is Aunt Tilda, whose “Eh, law, child” echoed the expressions of my own grandmother and aunts. And such wonderful expressions as “Could he but buy himself for what he's worth, and sell himself for what he thinks he's worth, he'd be princely rich overnight." I laughed aloud at that one and don’t think I will ever forget it.
Lydia’s life is hard, in every way that a life can be. She faces her personal trials with a wisdom and fortitude that is inspirational. She draws her strength from the very mountains she stands upon and from the faith and love she has inherited from her parents.
Sometimes it seemed to Lydia that work was the only certainty, the only lasting truth in a human world of fitful change. Work and the mountains remained. Joy was deceitful and as brief as a summer rainbow. Love was a spear upon which you hurled yourself in ecstasy--to discover pain and bear the wound forever
Even in the face of this, Lydia never gives up. Her progression from girl to wife to mother is gratifying to behold. I loved her, along with every other character with which Dykeman peopled her world. How, oh how, do these kinds of wonderfully written books fade in obscurity? Why is Wilma Dykeman’s name not listed on all these “before you die” lists? I am so happy to have read her at last and hope someone else will pick up this book because of this review and then pass the word on.
My particular thanks to Laura at the Southern Literary Trail who has told me time and again that I didn’t know what I was missing.
December 15, 2023
I think 4 stars is generous here. I wish I could say I loved it more. For me, I appreciate its position in an early 1960s revival of interest in Appalachian literature. There had been a few fictional works before this time and a number of earlier memoir pieces, but in general literature from this region was considered marginal as far as being true, acceptable writing.
This book is the story of a strong woman born before the civil war who marries, lives through the war, poverty and life with/without/with a PTSD husband. The book certainly ticks off all the boxes regarding a woman’s life in those times but I felt the writing lacked artistry and was very predictable.
This book is the story of a strong woman born before the civil war who marries, lives through the war, poverty and life with/without/with a PTSD husband. The book certainly ticks off all the boxes regarding a woman’s life in those times but I felt the writing lacked artistry and was very predictable.
July 11, 2020
5★
An absolute gem. Though out of print I was able to purchase a copy on Amazon and join others for a group monthly read. If you appreciate literature of the American South, Appalachian Noir, or books like Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith you will love this one. If you want to learn more please read my GR friend Diane Barnes's review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
An absolute gem. Though out of print I was able to purchase a copy on Amazon and join others for a group monthly read. If you appreciate literature of the American South, Appalachian Noir, or books like Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith you will love this one. If you want to learn more please read my GR friend Diane Barnes's review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
May 18, 2015
Set in the remote North Carolina mountains, this 1962 Dykeman Classic is about the strength of one woman who holds together her family and unites a divided community after the civil war.
Lydia (Moore) McQueen is one hell of a dynamic woman who not only helps those in need, but handles her own challenges and devastating horrors of life with a calm and forgiving heart.
Great read! Unexpected ending! Loved it!
(THE FAR FAMILY (1966) continues the saga generations later)
May 3, 2015
The Tall Woman is a book I have been interested in reading for some time but, having no access, wondered whether I should buy. It is long out of print, So I asked fellow OTSLT member Diane about it and she promptly lent me her copy! The rest is reading history for me.
The story of Lydia McQueen is that of a young woman who grows up in the mountains of Appalachia in the Carolinas, coming of age just before the Civil War. She marries the man she loves and they raise a family of six children but life is in no way as simple as that. They are farmers and work together to clear and plant and harvest and build. The war takes all the men away and most return changed, some physically, all emotionally. There are good and bad times caused by weather, neighbors, government, the economy, sickness, love and hate. The sheer physical and mental strength required for daily life is astounding considered against 21st century life.
Wilma Dykeman writes in a style that nearly convinced me for a time that this novel was written in the 19th century, with it's interesting dialect and word choices. But this book was actually written in 1962. The author apparently knew her setting, however, having lived much of her life in Ashville, North Carolina.
There are many excellent sections to quote from. Here is a selection from a revival meeting that Lydia and Mark attend.
He asked the questions that had troubled Mark one
night by the fire, the questions that had stirred deep
in the minds of many of these men and women as they sat
beside their hearths of a winter night and heard the
wind sweep down from the mountains and felt their lonely
cabins shake in the icy blast; or as the fog of autumn
closed in over the valley and isolated each person,
each place in a damp, impenetrable, absolutely silent
mystery. They were questions of spirit as well as mind,
of old, dark fears clutching toward new bright hopes,
the questions that are forever answered and never
answered. Why am I here? What is the meaning and
fulfillment of the years between an unchosen birth
and an unsought death? Where and what is the ending?
At the close of this life? Or another? Or is there,
after all, eternity and immortality?
They neither put the questions so precisely nor did
Gentry answer them deeply, but it was the darkness of
these fears he stirred and fed. (p 271)
And in one of the finest descriptions of Lydia in the book, we hear from the schoolmaster who has stopped by the McQueen cabin to leave some books for their youngest boy.
"I wish I were a painter," he said. "It would give me
satisfaction to paint your face, Mrs. McQueen. You'll
pardon my saying it, but I suppose it's the handsomest
face I've ever seen on a woman. Oh, now don't mistake me,
my Lenore is pretty, and there are others look well
enough, but there's something chiseled about your
countenance, as if time had chipped away everything
unimportant and left only the essential of eyes that see
what they behold, a nose that smells the wind, and a
mouth that tastes the honey and gall of life." The words
stopped but he was still examining her, remotely,
critically, with homage, too. (p259-260)
So...I recommend The Tall Woman for its portrait of pioneer life in an earlier America, for its portrait of a strong and loving woman who nurtured her family as well as trying to nurture her community. I also recommend it for it's portrait of the post-Civil War years when the United States struggled to regain some unity. There is so much here in this story of a woman and a family.
As I mentioned above, the book is out of print, but there is a used market and I have now purchased a copy for myself as I know I will read this again. I also went to Amazon and clicked to tell the publisher I'd like to read it on Kindle. I do think this book deserves to be brought back for new readers.
A definite 5*
The story of Lydia McQueen is that of a young woman who grows up in the mountains of Appalachia in the Carolinas, coming of age just before the Civil War. She marries the man she loves and they raise a family of six children but life is in no way as simple as that. They are farmers and work together to clear and plant and harvest and build. The war takes all the men away and most return changed, some physically, all emotionally. There are good and bad times caused by weather, neighbors, government, the economy, sickness, love and hate. The sheer physical and mental strength required for daily life is astounding considered against 21st century life.
Wilma Dykeman writes in a style that nearly convinced me for a time that this novel was written in the 19th century, with it's interesting dialect and word choices. But this book was actually written in 1962. The author apparently knew her setting, however, having lived much of her life in Ashville, North Carolina.
There are many excellent sections to quote from. Here is a selection from a revival meeting that Lydia and Mark attend.
He asked the questions that had troubled Mark one
night by the fire, the questions that had stirred deep
in the minds of many of these men and women as they sat
beside their hearths of a winter night and heard the
wind sweep down from the mountains and felt their lonely
cabins shake in the icy blast; or as the fog of autumn
closed in over the valley and isolated each person,
each place in a damp, impenetrable, absolutely silent
mystery. They were questions of spirit as well as mind,
of old, dark fears clutching toward new bright hopes,
the questions that are forever answered and never
answered. Why am I here? What is the meaning and
fulfillment of the years between an unchosen birth
and an unsought death? Where and what is the ending?
At the close of this life? Or another? Or is there,
after all, eternity and immortality?
They neither put the questions so precisely nor did
Gentry answer them deeply, but it was the darkness of
these fears he stirred and fed. (p 271)
And in one of the finest descriptions of Lydia in the book, we hear from the schoolmaster who has stopped by the McQueen cabin to leave some books for their youngest boy.
"I wish I were a painter," he said. "It would give me
satisfaction to paint your face, Mrs. McQueen. You'll
pardon my saying it, but I suppose it's the handsomest
face I've ever seen on a woman. Oh, now don't mistake me,
my Lenore is pretty, and there are others look well
enough, but there's something chiseled about your
countenance, as if time had chipped away everything
unimportant and left only the essential of eyes that see
what they behold, a nose that smells the wind, and a
mouth that tastes the honey and gall of life." The words
stopped but he was still examining her, remotely,
critically, with homage, too. (p259-260)
So...I recommend The Tall Woman for its portrait of pioneer life in an earlier America, for its portrait of a strong and loving woman who nurtured her family as well as trying to nurture her community. I also recommend it for it's portrait of the post-Civil War years when the United States struggled to regain some unity. There is so much here in this story of a woman and a family.
As I mentioned above, the book is out of print, but there is a used market and I have now purchased a copy for myself as I know I will read this again. I also went to Amazon and clicked to tell the publisher I'd like to read it on Kindle. I do think this book deserves to be brought back for new readers.
A definite 5*
February 9, 2022
"A tall woman casts a long shadow"
And so it was with Lydia McQueen who with (and more often without) her husband, Mark, who returns home from the war a changed man, raised her family of six children, in the high Appalachian mountains after the end of the Civil War. Though daily life was already consumed by farm and household chores and trying to maintain a family on the barest of necessities, Lydia remained hardworking and selfless, becoming a local midwife and steadfastly working towards her biggest goal of bringing a school to the children of Thickety Creek, even though it was deemed useless by many.
This is the story of a strong and brave woman of pioneer spirit, who lived a simple but very appreciative life never fully realizing how much her life influenced others.
5 stars- Read for On The Southern Literary Trail
And so it was with Lydia McQueen who with (and more often without) her husband, Mark, who returns home from the war a changed man, raised her family of six children, in the high Appalachian mountains after the end of the Civil War. Though daily life was already consumed by farm and household chores and trying to maintain a family on the barest of necessities, Lydia remained hardworking and selfless, becoming a local midwife and steadfastly working towards her biggest goal of bringing a school to the children of Thickety Creek, even though it was deemed useless by many.
This is the story of a strong and brave woman of pioneer spirit, who lived a simple but very appreciative life never fully realizing how much her life influenced others.
5 stars- Read for On The Southern Literary Trail
February 1, 2026
“Nobody can plumb ruin your life, nobody but yourself. Nor save it, either” (292)
Outside of a few flashbacks, the main events of the book take place between 1865 and 1896 in the Appalachians of western North Carolina. It is a tale of a community in fictional Nantahala County, focused through the perspective of newly-married Lydia McQueen, whose older brother and father fought on the side of the Confederacy and whose husband fought on the side of the Union.
The war is central piece of the story. The war is a source of violence, disruption, and destabilization. In addition to the great loss of life, the war left Lydia’s older brother maimed and her husband damaged by post traumatic stress. The war’s violence also extended outward in raiding and profiteering that went well beyond the front lines. Even after the war ended, ideological and political divisions remained and festered, hard feelings were lightly hidden as irritations, intolerances, suspicions, and sullen silence.
Through Lydia’s thoughts, we experience the hardships of postwar mountain life where the slow postwar recovery came even more slowly. The McQueen’s initial hardships are in building and repairing their own family. Eventually, Lydia and her husband extend this help into the community as well. A guiding principle that Lydia articulated for herself seems to capture an overall theme: “lose your littleness in bigness, your own self into the all of living” (158). We get ourselves into trouble when we confuse our littleness for bigness, when we fail to see past what affects us personally to see the broader impact. Lydia’s values offer a simple outlook on life. The outlook is not without its problems, but its underlying humbleness and selflessness anchors an appealing and actionable logic.
I’m attracted to books set in this part of the country, both because of the beauty of the area and the people I have met from there. Among the people with roots in that part of the country there is this sense of independence and dignity, as well as a reciprocal friendliness and civility that is portrayed so well in this novel. I might have liked for the land to have been a bit more of a character in Dykeman’s book, but that’s hardly a fault. Instead, Dykeman focused energy on people, and she sketched wonderful characters in Lydia and Mark McQueen, Dr. Hornsby, Jesse and Sarah Moore, and too many to name.
This was a gem of a book — a tale of a life and time that can remind you of the goodness in people and in the importance of community.
Outside of a few flashbacks, the main events of the book take place between 1865 and 1896 in the Appalachians of western North Carolina. It is a tale of a community in fictional Nantahala County, focused through the perspective of newly-married Lydia McQueen, whose older brother and father fought on the side of the Confederacy and whose husband fought on the side of the Union.
The war is central piece of the story. The war is a source of violence, disruption, and destabilization. In addition to the great loss of life, the war left Lydia’s older brother maimed and her husband damaged by post traumatic stress. The war’s violence also extended outward in raiding and profiteering that went well beyond the front lines. Even after the war ended, ideological and political divisions remained and festered, hard feelings were lightly hidden as irritations, intolerances, suspicions, and sullen silence.
Through Lydia’s thoughts, we experience the hardships of postwar mountain life where the slow postwar recovery came even more slowly. The McQueen’s initial hardships are in building and repairing their own family. Eventually, Lydia and her husband extend this help into the community as well. A guiding principle that Lydia articulated for herself seems to capture an overall theme: “lose your littleness in bigness, your own self into the all of living” (158). We get ourselves into trouble when we confuse our littleness for bigness, when we fail to see past what affects us personally to see the broader impact. Lydia’s values offer a simple outlook on life. The outlook is not without its problems, but its underlying humbleness and selflessness anchors an appealing and actionable logic.
I’m attracted to books set in this part of the country, both because of the beauty of the area and the people I have met from there. Among the people with roots in that part of the country there is this sense of independence and dignity, as well as a reciprocal friendliness and civility that is portrayed so well in this novel. I might have liked for the land to have been a bit more of a character in Dykeman’s book, but that’s hardly a fault. Instead, Dykeman focused energy on people, and she sketched wonderful characters in Lydia and Mark McQueen, Dr. Hornsby, Jesse and Sarah Moore, and too many to name.
This was a gem of a book — a tale of a life and time that can remind you of the goodness in people and in the importance of community.
May 16, 2013
This is a book that you save for your daughter to read. Not for when she can read it but when she can understand the importance of this work of literature. I adored this book and the protagonist. The title is soooo fitting! My husband found this little gem for 50 cents, I would say that's well worth the money!
January 29, 2020
This is my second reading of this book and it did not disappoint. It's still a favorite and it still emotionally moved me even knowing the outcome. What a gem of a book! A book about family, community, self-sacrifice and humility.
Great commentary on this book....
https://crimereads.com/the-strange-ru...
Great commentary on this book....
https://crimereads.com/the-strange-ru...
March 6, 2017
What would life be like to build a cabin in the mountains and work daylight to dusk to fill the larder? This is a beautiful depiction of what that might be like in the 19th Century but much, much more than just that. A woman, her family, her strength and a life so full. It is a quiet book with deep content. One word for me represents Lydia the center of this book: Wise. I knew all along I had been captured, but was hardly prepared for the powerful ending. Recommended for anyone with a need for less chaos, and a view of what a harmonious life could be at its very best. My own brother was a special needs child, damaged at birth in exactly the same way. The author's handling of the subject was dead accurate and not over the top. Every sibling of a vulnerable child like that has had to stand up and provide defense against the pack. The book feels so honest it could be a memoir, yet it is only just glorious fiction.
September 19, 2017
Just inside the book, “A tall woman casts a long shadow.”—Mountain saying
It’s always a treat to ‘discover’ a new author—even if it’s one whose book you’ve owned for 20+ years. The Tall Woman is Lydia McQueen née Moore, a truly admirable heroine. It’s also the title of a novel which opens during the conclusion of the Civil War in the Appalachian Mountains and continues through the difficult Reconstruction years when this poverty-stricken area is still split along Union-Rebel lines. This book deals with poverty-hatred, the haves, v. the have-nots.
Dykeman’s descriptions of the indescribable beauty of that part of our country took me back to that long ago vacation, although Lydia’s life was anything but a vacation. Hers was a life of constant toil and struggle just for uncertain survival. She was always surrounded by those she loved and who loved her even if their problems and personalities constantly challenged her as did the environment; there were enemies too. And yet, “It’s not the ease to do less that we need; I reckon we need strength to do what we can.”
I especially loved the little bits of wisdom like that tucked throughout the book. Another favorite was, “Nothings ever taken or given, doesn’t have its price.” And, “You remember telling me once they ruined our lives?” He nodded. “I’ve been thinking, they brought us trouble all right, but nobody can plumb ruin your life, nobody but yourself. Nor save it either.” The book has a feel about it which takes you back to that time. It could be the dialogue or its overall realism but it seemed older than it was. It was written in 1962.
And the unique mountain terms and phraseology are a treat, such as, “You’re a thoughty girl, but wait a while on something for me,” Lydia advised. “Your first money never comes but once. Find something to remember it by.” And a ‘play-pretty’ was their term for a toy. There are more but you will have to read the book to find out for yourself.
I only have two more of Wilma Dykeman’s books left from our Smoky Mountain vacation. My regret is that I did not get more while I had the chance. Apparently they are hard to come by now.
September 13, 2017: Picked up three Wilma Dykeman books when we went to the Smoky mountains years ago. I have been wanting to read these.
It’s always a treat to ‘discover’ a new author—even if it’s one whose book you’ve owned for 20+ years. The Tall Woman is Lydia McQueen née Moore, a truly admirable heroine. It’s also the title of a novel which opens during the conclusion of the Civil War in the Appalachian Mountains and continues through the difficult Reconstruction years when this poverty-stricken area is still split along Union-Rebel lines. This book deals with poverty-hatred, the haves, v. the have-nots.
Dykeman’s descriptions of the indescribable beauty of that part of our country took me back to that long ago vacation, although Lydia’s life was anything but a vacation. Hers was a life of constant toil and struggle just for uncertain survival. She was always surrounded by those she loved and who loved her even if their problems and personalities constantly challenged her as did the environment; there were enemies too. And yet, “It’s not the ease to do less that we need; I reckon we need strength to do what we can.”
I especially loved the little bits of wisdom like that tucked throughout the book. Another favorite was, “Nothings ever taken or given, doesn’t have its price.” And, “You remember telling me once they ruined our lives?” He nodded. “I’ve been thinking, they brought us trouble all right, but nobody can plumb ruin your life, nobody but yourself. Nor save it either.” The book has a feel about it which takes you back to that time. It could be the dialogue or its overall realism but it seemed older than it was. It was written in 1962.
And the unique mountain terms and phraseology are a treat, such as, “You’re a thoughty girl, but wait a while on something for me,” Lydia advised. “Your first money never comes but once. Find something to remember it by.” And a ‘play-pretty’ was their term for a toy. There are more but you will have to read the book to find out for yourself.
I only have two more of Wilma Dykeman’s books left from our Smoky Mountain vacation. My regret is that I did not get more while I had the chance. Apparently they are hard to come by now.
September 13, 2017: Picked up three Wilma Dykeman books when we went to the Smoky mountains years ago. I have been wanting to read these.
September 10, 2020
Yet again I have my Goodreads friends to thank for directing me to this fine novel. Perhaps I like reading about strong women who overcome terrific challenges. Perhaps I like being reminded about the importance of innate goodness. Perhaps I love beautiful writing. Yes, these are some of the reasons that I savored this lovely novel.
Thanks friends. Thanks for recommending it.
Thanks friends. Thanks for recommending it.
April 28, 2015
Whoa, whoa, whoa. This book hits all the marks. Don't be lulled into thinking this one is a story regarding a woman and her struggle to eek out a life on a rugged mountainside farm in post-civil way North Carolina. That's short selling. It starts out as such, but this one ramps up to hit the deep places of human existence; life marrow which is drawn out of books like Stoner but told in a way that can lift your soul (and your soles). The juxtaposition between the illuminations within against those being flashed across the TV tonight (the Baltimore riots of April 2015) is surreal. So much that I almost get Biblical chill-bumps.
Strength can be found in resolute determination, but it can also be found in forgiveness, sacrifice, realization, trust, surrender, and perspective shifts. I will reread this at different seasons in my life, and expect it to have more impact as time goes along.
Particularly, the end of this book holds so much that I can't quite grasp it. There are no doubt images which have deeper meaning that I gleaned out of this first pass. Highly recommended- makes me consider going in and lowering some other 5 star reads back down to 4.
As an aside, almost all my favorite authors and books- for whatever reason- use some kind of prey bird to paint a story. This tale uses a red-tailed hawk in one of the most moving word stories I can remember having read. I have no idea why these keep popping up, but there is a common thread in there somehow.
Strength can be found in resolute determination, but it can also be found in forgiveness, sacrifice, realization, trust, surrender, and perspective shifts. I will reread this at different seasons in my life, and expect it to have more impact as time goes along.
Particularly, the end of this book holds so much that I can't quite grasp it. There are no doubt images which have deeper meaning that I gleaned out of this first pass. Highly recommended- makes me consider going in and lowering some other 5 star reads back down to 4.
As an aside, almost all my favorite authors and books- for whatever reason- use some kind of prey bird to paint a story. This tale uses a red-tailed hawk in one of the most moving word stories I can remember having read. I have no idea why these keep popping up, but there is a common thread in there somehow.
May 1, 2015
Realistic and poignant story of a woman, her life, her marriage, her children, her work in the period following the Civil War within a small area of Appalachia. It's written completely in the mid-20th century style of everyday narrator living her work and her thoughts. It holds no agenda outside of her time and place, and gives full throated song to Lydia's homestead in the cove where two mountains meet. And at the same time details what fine onus and neighbor/family connections inspired her perseverance and her survival.
August 30, 2020
“A tall woman cast a long shadow.”
SUPER BOOK!!
Lydia (lovingly called Lyddy by her loved ones) is mighty, compassionate, generous, kind, humble, loyal, forgiving and diligent to a fault. Each page added to a beautiful, sometimes heart wrenching story.
The Tall Woman is an “oldie but goody” ❤️
SUPER BOOK!!
Lydia (lovingly called Lyddy by her loved ones) is mighty, compassionate, generous, kind, humble, loyal, forgiving and diligent to a fault. Each page added to a beautiful, sometimes heart wrenching story.
The Tall Woman is an “oldie but goody” ❤️
July 6, 2020
“... and so she did what she must.”
A beautifully written novel about a woman named Lydia Moore McQueen and the effects of the hard life living in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina just after the Civil War and during Reconstruction. She is a daughter, mother, wife, farmer, midwife, naturalist, community builder and advocate for education. A strong, devoted woman who made a life for herself, her husband and their 6 children. Her story is one of self-sacrifice, conviction, and forgiveness. She is a character of quiet courage and dignity who does what she believes she must in facing the challenges presented in her life.
“Work went on. Sometimes it seemed to Lydia that work was the only certainty, the only lasting truth in a human world of fitful change. Work and the mountains remained.”
“She thanked God she was strong. She must stay strong for a long time for her children, for this child in particular.”
A beautifully written novel about a woman named Lydia Moore McQueen and the effects of the hard life living in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina just after the Civil War and during Reconstruction. She is a daughter, mother, wife, farmer, midwife, naturalist, community builder and advocate for education. A strong, devoted woman who made a life for herself, her husband and their 6 children. Her story is one of self-sacrifice, conviction, and forgiveness. She is a character of quiet courage and dignity who does what she believes she must in facing the challenges presented in her life.
“Work went on. Sometimes it seemed to Lydia that work was the only certainty, the only lasting truth in a human world of fitful change. Work and the mountains remained.”
“She thanked God she was strong. She must stay strong for a long time for her children, for this child in particular.”
December 4, 2010
I haven't been in tears over a book for a long time--this one did it TWICE! I chose the novel for my AP English III students to read in January because it is set in the Appalachians during the Civil War and after. It will be a good alternative for those who aren't William Faulkner fans (the other choice is The UnVanquished, set in the same period). I liken it to a Laura Ingalls Wilder book, but with more pathos. I can't wait until my classes start to read and discuss it!
October 24, 2015
In the early 1860's in North Carolina, Lydia Moore married Mark McQueen. The Civil War had finally arrived on their doorstep but because of their conflicting views, Mark went to fight with the Union and Lydia's father and brother joined up with the Confederates. They left the women and children to survive as best as they could.
Hardship affected their food supply but nothing was worse than when Sarah Moore, Lydia's mother, was abused by rough riders late one night. At the same time Lydia became aware that she was pregnant. With Mark now gone, she moved back home to care for everyone. Shortly after, her spinster Aunt Tildy came to live with them and assisted with the birth of David McQueen.
This book continued with the dark days following the war after the men returned. Mark had been held captive in Andersonville, Georgia; probably the worse prison the Confederates had. Paul came home after losing an arm. Depression affected everyone in different ways.
The story covered over forty years giving the reader glimpses of the Reconstruction Period. Lydia dealt as best as she could with Mark's moodiness but he was still anxious and unsettled. (This was long before we knew anything about PTSD.) They had more children and Lydia found purpose with the responsibilities of family life. Above all, she wanted their children to be given an opportunity for a free education.
Lydia ended up letting Mark head out west with a friend. She knew if she held him back her marriage would crumble. Roughly two years passed and Lydia not only survived, she prospered. When Mark finally returned home, it was for good.
Wilma Dykeman used actual moments in history and mixed them with drama to bring Lydia's story to life. Simple folk that lived by simple rules. Many people were dirt-poor but thought nothing of sharing with others. Some may consider this Christian fiction but I didn't, though it was packed with ole-time religion. What small-town community back then wasn't affected by it?
THE TALL WOMAN was a period piece of women's fiction. It was first published in 1962, and for some, it will come across as sexist. This historical narrative reflected a specific era in US history that was not glorified. But I still enjoyed it. Life, death, marriages, children, and neighbors formed various fellowships. With her family always present, Lydia worked her best to bring the community of Thickety Creek together.
Hardship affected their food supply but nothing was worse than when Sarah Moore, Lydia's mother, was abused by rough riders late one night. At the same time Lydia became aware that she was pregnant. With Mark now gone, she moved back home to care for everyone. Shortly after, her spinster Aunt Tildy came to live with them and assisted with the birth of David McQueen.
This book continued with the dark days following the war after the men returned. Mark had been held captive in Andersonville, Georgia; probably the worse prison the Confederates had. Paul came home after losing an arm. Depression affected everyone in different ways.
The story covered over forty years giving the reader glimpses of the Reconstruction Period. Lydia dealt as best as she could with Mark's moodiness but he was still anxious and unsettled. (This was long before we knew anything about PTSD.) They had more children and Lydia found purpose with the responsibilities of family life. Above all, she wanted their children to be given an opportunity for a free education.
Lydia ended up letting Mark head out west with a friend. She knew if she held him back her marriage would crumble. Roughly two years passed and Lydia not only survived, she prospered. When Mark finally returned home, it was for good.
Wilma Dykeman used actual moments in history and mixed them with drama to bring Lydia's story to life. Simple folk that lived by simple rules. Many people were dirt-poor but thought nothing of sharing with others. Some may consider this Christian fiction but I didn't, though it was packed with ole-time religion. What small-town community back then wasn't affected by it?
THE TALL WOMAN was a period piece of women's fiction. It was first published in 1962, and for some, it will come across as sexist. This historical narrative reflected a specific era in US history that was not glorified. But I still enjoyed it. Life, death, marriages, children, and neighbors formed various fellowships. With her family always present, Lydia worked her best to bring the community of Thickety Creek together.
April 21, 2015
A forgotten book, that is no longer in print, that should be considered a classic with the best of the Southern Literary greats.
March 2, 2017
I loved this book. I love reading about how people lived in years gone by. I've often thought I'd like to have lived back then. I like the simplicity of speech that contained a wealth of meaning, the integrity of the characters, and the joy they had over things that are commonplace for us. If my daughter reads this, you are my "tall woman with a long shadow", and I love you dearly.
July 27, 2008
This book is in my top three favorite books of all times!
March 12, 2024
Quite literally the best book I’ve read in 2 years. Dykeman’s writing and characters made me feel like I was living up on the mountain with them! I had dreams about these people and this place! I cried when it was over! Phenomenal!!!
December 24, 2024
Made me want to move to the mountains and live there :)
August 5, 2013
I LOVED this book! It is one of my all-time favorites - Lydia McQueen was a strong woman who lived a hard mountain life.
November 15, 2010
This will move to one of my top 10 books ever.
January 27, 2013
One of my all time favorites; an important book for me personally
February 15, 2020
I learned about this book from the CrimeReads newsletter--they called it rural noir.
I call it a saga, following a woman, her family, and her community from the Civil War to late 19th century. Interesting to me that it takes place in that time period, written in mid-20th century, and I'm reading it now, and so much rings true. This is my kind of book.
I call it a saga, following a woman, her family, and her community from the Civil War to late 19th century. Interesting to me that it takes place in that time period, written in mid-20th century, and I'm reading it now, and so much rings true. This is my kind of book.
July 14, 2022
This book is the 1962 Wilma Dykeman Classic that has a devoted following but is unknown to thousands of readers who would really enjoy reading it. I only learned of it myself in the last few years.
"The Tall Woman" is Lydia McQueen, a remarkable woman of faith and vision. Set in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, a hardscrabble world. in the years following the Civil War. The historical divide and hostility is still very much alive.
What kind of woman is Lydia? Well, when she walked along a frozen mud lane and passed a half-deaf old man hauling a wagonload of wood. "She set her mind to thinking how it might feel to be deaf. This was a boon she had learned long ago when she was just a child working endless rows in the field, this putting of her thoughts on something else so that her mind did not share her body's labor. Now she would think of deafness. Immediately all the common sounds around rushed into her consciousness: a creek in the distance splashing over pebbles and boulders, the stirring of a slight wind in the trees beside the road, the thud and clash of a cow's hoofs as they rose and fell and struck a frequent stone. There was the rustling and scurrying of a hundred unseen feet and wings in the woods and fields through which she passed. Often before she had listened to these whispers of little hidden lives going forward with no need or knowledge of the man-world all around, and the thought pleased her. Under fallen leaves and bits of bark and log, through tufts of weeds in the fields and over pads of moss in the woods, their tiny feet scampered, their noses sniffed, they ate and sheltered themselves and bore young and fought and died."
In the Civil War, husband Mark went to fight with the Union and Lydia's father and brother joined up with the Confederates. This added post-war strife to the family, and yet...
"I've seen men go out into that dark a-screaming for their mammies or their wives," Mark broke n harshly. "Was there somebody out there to meet them?"
No one spoke. Then:
"There was the love of God, and Jesus," Sarah Moore said, but her voice seemed small against the terror of his question.
Finally Jesse Moore said, "Yes, I've seen them and heard them, too, Mark. Men on my side of the line, in butternut suits, and men I did not know, on the other side, wearing blue-- all dying the same way under their different-colored cloth."
And all at once the two men who had been to war were bound together in a world none of the others could enter, isolated in memories of shattered bones and severed limbs, blood turning a stock pond red on some farm in Virginia or Tennessee and soaking the ground soggy on some forgotten field. Lydia sensed their closeness at such moments, even though they had fought so far apart, and she was thankful there was someone in the house who could share this world of Mark's that she would never know."
Lydia and Mark must create a sustainable life for their children and pull together a community against great odds. One of the most powerful developments was Lydia's insistence that they build and open a school for the children. This provides much of the drama but, in the end, Lydia pursues her dream until everyone is won over and it is realized.
Many readers have found inspiration in the strength and courage of this homespun, hard-working pioneer, wife and mother and chronicles her amazing life.
"The Tall Woman" is Lydia McQueen, a remarkable woman of faith and vision. Set in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, a hardscrabble world. in the years following the Civil War. The historical divide and hostility is still very much alive.
What kind of woman is Lydia? Well, when she walked along a frozen mud lane and passed a half-deaf old man hauling a wagonload of wood. "She set her mind to thinking how it might feel to be deaf. This was a boon she had learned long ago when she was just a child working endless rows in the field, this putting of her thoughts on something else so that her mind did not share her body's labor. Now she would think of deafness. Immediately all the common sounds around rushed into her consciousness: a creek in the distance splashing over pebbles and boulders, the stirring of a slight wind in the trees beside the road, the thud and clash of a cow's hoofs as they rose and fell and struck a frequent stone. There was the rustling and scurrying of a hundred unseen feet and wings in the woods and fields through which she passed. Often before she had listened to these whispers of little hidden lives going forward with no need or knowledge of the man-world all around, and the thought pleased her. Under fallen leaves and bits of bark and log, through tufts of weeds in the fields and over pads of moss in the woods, their tiny feet scampered, their noses sniffed, they ate and sheltered themselves and bore young and fought and died."
In the Civil War, husband Mark went to fight with the Union and Lydia's father and brother joined up with the Confederates. This added post-war strife to the family, and yet...
"I've seen men go out into that dark a-screaming for their mammies or their wives," Mark broke n harshly. "Was there somebody out there to meet them?"
No one spoke. Then:
"There was the love of God, and Jesus," Sarah Moore said, but her voice seemed small against the terror of his question.
Finally Jesse Moore said, "Yes, I've seen them and heard them, too, Mark. Men on my side of the line, in butternut suits, and men I did not know, on the other side, wearing blue-- all dying the same way under their different-colored cloth."
And all at once the two men who had been to war were bound together in a world none of the others could enter, isolated in memories of shattered bones and severed limbs, blood turning a stock pond red on some farm in Virginia or Tennessee and soaking the ground soggy on some forgotten field. Lydia sensed their closeness at such moments, even though they had fought so far apart, and she was thankful there was someone in the house who could share this world of Mark's that she would never know."
Lydia and Mark must create a sustainable life for their children and pull together a community against great odds. One of the most powerful developments was Lydia's insistence that they build and open a school for the children. This provides much of the drama but, in the end, Lydia pursues her dream until everyone is won over and it is realized.
Many readers have found inspiration in the strength and courage of this homespun, hard-working pioneer, wife and mother and chronicles her amazing life.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 173 reviews