The Eternal Hills

by Donna Spooner Tanney

The autobiography of Phebe Eudocia Hills in 19th century rural upstate New York (Brookfield, Madison County). When James and Chloe built their little Cape Cod cottage in the narrow Beaver Creek Valley they hoped to raise several strong sons to carry on the family name but instead they had five daughters; Lucy, Frances, Sarah Ann, Phebe Eudocia and Amelia. Jimmy then bragged that it wasn't every man who could have five darn good looking girls and he looked forward to the day when he would have five strong sons-in-law to help him in the fork factory.

217 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Roberta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book on the "Local" shelf at the used book store. I read just enough to see that it wasn't about my town and I intended to put it back on the shelf but found myself reading a couple more pages. I decided if I couldn't put it down then I should probably buy it.

I was really surprised by how well written this story was and how absorbing it turned out to be. The author wrote this biography as if it were an autobiography of Phoebe Eudocia Hills (Dosh, for short) living in 19th century Madison County in upstate New York. The author admits in the Preface that there were blanks in what she knew about the life of Miss Hill but she bridged those gaps with careful research. There were a lot of ups and downs in her life and for members of her family and the story is told so well that I felt like they were people I knew.

There are several pages of photographs in the book.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely don't want to judge this book by its cover--old book with what looks like brown paper bag for a cover! Written by a town historian in upstate New York, her families history told in a fictional format, but based on her aunt's life. Very good.