Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Mary Dannie

Rate this book
Mary Dannie transports the reader into the lovely mountains of Southeastern Kentucky. It is a story of the struggles, simple joys and wisdom surrounding a young girl growing up in the 1940's in Appalachia.

238 pages, Paperback

First published November 19, 2010

273 people are currently reading
162 people want to read

About the author

Patricia Keil

1 book3 followers

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
392 (45%)
4 stars
273 (31%)
3 stars
142 (16%)
2 stars
41 (4%)
1 star
13 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
10 reviews
February 23, 2021
Picturesque, charming but quite short

Enjoyed this sweet story set in the Kentucky mountains in years gone by. Troubles me to see such a handful of grammatical errors, misspellings and the like. "My other brother's were talking about enlisting" for example. Doesn't the author know the correct usage of an apostrophe? Would've appreciated a bit more of a plot, but the writing itself was excellent, captivating. Enjoyable, simple read.
318 reviews4 followers
August 28, 2021
Family

Lovely story about a family living in the Holler.
My heart hurt and my tears ran freely when the Father passed. Real emotions and the quiet that death brings into a family. My Dad passed a few years ago... and I will never get over his death.
But, just as Mary Dannie and Sadie grieved, they also knew they would see him again.
Life was hard, but at the end of every day... they were Family and were rich in that knowledge.
#ReadThisBook
Profile Image for Monica.
8 reviews
December 12, 2020
The early life of a young woman living in the Kentucky Mountains

A interesting story narrated by tbe and oldest daughter of a mining family scraping by in the Kentucky mountains. I really enjoyed it/ Sadly the ending was rather abrupt. I would have enjoyed reading more about the young woman.
28 reviews
Read
January 16, 2021
I just loved reading this book. It was full of very difficult struggles to overcome the adversity of the great depression era. This was just before my time, but it was something that my parents experienced. As I read this book, I became very thankful for the comforts that I experience every day and I also reflected on some of the things my parents had shared about the depression years.
9 reviews
May 23, 2021
Mary Dannie

This story was my family so close to all that I remember from my life in coal city west Virginia, my cousins and aunts and uncles ,my grandmother on my daddy's side was Fannie, my grandmother on my mother's side was jewel ,this was just so meant to be ,I started and stayed with it to the end ,loved this book
13 reviews
May 28, 2021
Well worth reading, maybe more than once!

I did enjoy this book, it was written in a way that made you feel you were there with this family, through their heartaches and joys. How wonderful to be able to preserve your family history this way. The photos really helped to make it real. I don’t give 5 stars lightly, they were earned.
32 reviews1 follower
September 18, 2018
Precious memories

This book brings back memories of my own childhood in southeast Kentucky. Although Mary Dannies time was before mine, there is a lot of similarities. Still love these mountains in all their glory. Great book, highly recommended.
Profile Image for sharon murray.
176 reviews2 followers
March 31, 2020
Enjoyable read

I felt like I was right there in Mary Dannie ' s tiny cabin in that hollow. It was a story so well worth reading. It opened my eyes as to just how hard life was for some peop!e living in the mountains in the 1930s .
245 reviews
June 22, 2020
The Bluegrass of Home

ME Neil did a wonderful job of weaving the good times and the bad..The wonderful right knit family who didn't always agree but was always there for each other..
Profile Image for Janet Williams.
3 reviews1 follower
January 20, 2021
History and old stories. Warm, uplifting book about the trials of living in poverty.

I like reading stories of the poverty that mountain people lived.
Most of my family lived this poverty during the Great Depression.
59 reviews
June 14, 2021
Love and endurance.

Exceptional people come from everywhere. Even poor environments produce rich wonder talented people. Dirt poor has given us giants. The characters felt real and familiar
197 reviews
February 21, 2022
omg beautifully written

I had a very hard time putting this book down. Reading the hard ships of what these people endured and conquering so much more being a happy family. I absolutely loved this book
5 reviews
July 15, 2022
Amazing and very well written

Well written and heartfelt. I laughed and cried. Couldn't put it down. Sometimes I felt like I could feel exactly the intensity of Mary Dannie's experience's.
20 reviews1 follower
October 22, 2019
I was very surprised that this book had a four and a half star rating. I was super disappointed on the abrupt way the book just ended. I was enjoying the story one minute and the next it was over. No idea about what happened to any of the characters except the father. Really disappointing.
Profile Image for Elisabeth Brookshire.
528 reviews7 followers
December 2, 2019
Getting out

This book chronicles the life of a young woman longing to shed the hardships of her childhood and what decisions she made to make it happen. Good memoir.
5 reviews
April 22, 2020
I really enjoyed reading this book. Normally I read very intense books that can leave me somewhat drained. This book was very interesting and real. I loved meeting her family.
163 reviews
May 30, 2020
As time goes by

This was a nice story about a you ng girls life with her family back in the 1930's and 1940's
122 reviews1 follower
June 23, 2020
Interesting

Truth be told of a hard life in the hills. This story can be read by everyone. Hardship of days gone by.
Profile Image for Dawn O Watson.
Author 13 books13 followers
July 31, 2020
A Love Story

Poignant story filled with emotion. I'd love to know whom she married and what happened in Cincinnati! I'd purchase the sequel!
Well done!
Profile Image for Sandra Loflin.
3 reviews
August 22, 2020
Takes you back in time

The author did a good job making you feel like you were really living in the mountains and time period. Good read!
90 reviews
October 19, 2020
This story dipicts life in the impoverished mountainous coal country of southeastern Kentucky during the Post Depression Era, 1940's America. It was a hard-scrabble growing up time for Mary Dannie, third born but the eldest living of three girls and four boys, who were children of married couple, Jackson and Sadie Bullins. Of course, Jackson and Sadie were known lovingly as Daddy and Mamma. The àuthor's mother was Mary Dannie and, though this book is a work of fiction, she says it is based on actual stories told to her and events her mother was old enough to remember.*

The novel is a well-written accounting of Mary Dannie's life in the small mountain cabin of her teen years. The door to her parents' room was a blanket. Yes, they grew up poor with mainly cornbread and beans to eat...but they ate! Life was simple with lots of struggles and a small measure of fun and laughter. They had love in those spare times, as well.


I recommend this poignant story to anyone who would enjoy a simple tale of family life in times gone by. It will warm your heart so be on the lookout for that...



*note: Mary Dannie ànd her siblings mentioned within these chapters and stories were no longer living by the time this book was published nor were Sadie and Jackson Bullins, of course.
40 reviews
October 22, 2020
Mary Dannie

This was a wonderful story. It was s page turner for me. I would love a part 2 to see how Mary Dannie faired in Cincinnati.
2 reviews
November 14, 2020
Well told story.

The author draws you in from page one and keeps you hooked. Mary Dannie had a tough time of it growing up and by the end of the story you feel like you know her.
Profile Image for Brandi.
542 reviews2 followers
January 23, 2021
Good read.

I really enjoyed this book. I really wish we went farther into her life, but still a good book. I would recommend it.
Profile Image for Bridgette.
62 reviews1 follower
February 13, 2021
A Nice Story

I enjoyed this collection of memories. The pictures were a nice touch. The formatting and edits need a little work, but all in all a pleasant read.
1 review
February 25, 2021
Thought-Provokingly Beautiful Sory

Well written and humbling to realize how very poor they were in wordly goods, but rich in family loyalty and love.
229 reviews
March 24, 2021
Short and Sweet

This is an interesting little story wrapped in mountain sorrows. I've always Loved stories from Appalachia and this one does not disappoint.
980 reviews2 followers
May 19, 2021
An interesting story with no real purpose. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book
71 reviews
August 10, 2021
Engaging story

I quickly grew to like the characters and enjoyed reading the story of their lives. A nice summer day’s read.
23 reviews
September 6, 2021
I love this book

I loved everything about this book. It made me feel like I was with Mary Dannie as she told her story. I didn’t want the story to end
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.