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My Old True Love
Sheila Kay Adams brings us a novel inspired by the ballads of the English, Scottish, and Irish. These long, sad stories of heartbreak and betrayal, violence and love, have been sung for generations by the descendents of those who settled the Appalachian mountains in the 1700s. As they raised their children, they taught them first to sing, for the songs told the children everything they needed to know about life.
So it was with the Stanton family living in Marshall, North Carolina, during the 1800s. Even Larkin Stanton, just a baby when his parents die and he's taken in by his cousin Arty, starts humming before he starts talking. As he grows up, he hungrily learns every song he can, and goes head-to-head with his cousin Hackley for the best voice, and, of course, the best attentions of the women. It's not long before the two boys find themselves pursuing the affections of the same lovely girl, Mary, who eventually chooses Hackley for her husband.
But, just as in the most tragic ballads, there is no stowing away of emotions. And when Hackley leaves his wife under his cousin's care in the midst of the Civil War, Larkin finds himself drawn back to the woman who's held his heart for years. What he does about that love defies all his learning of family and loyalty and reminds us that those mournful ballads didn't just come from the imagination, but from the imperfections of the heart.
So it was with the Stanton family living in Marshall, North Carolina, during the 1800s. Even Larkin Stanton, just a baby when his parents die and he's taken in by his cousin Arty, starts humming before he starts talking. As he grows up, he hungrily learns every song he can, and goes head-to-head with his cousin Hackley for the best voice, and, of course, the best attentions of the women. It's not long before the two boys find themselves pursuing the affections of the same lovely girl, Mary, who eventually chooses Hackley for her husband.
But, just as in the most tragic ballads, there is no stowing away of emotions. And when Hackley leaves his wife under his cousin's care in the midst of the Civil War, Larkin finds himself drawn back to the woman who's held his heart for years. What he does about that love defies all his learning of family and loyalty and reminds us that those mournful ballads didn't just come from the imagination, but from the imperfections of the heart.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 4, 2004
55 people are currently reading
3184 people want to read
About the author
Sheila Kay Adams
3 books42 followersSheila Kay Adams comes from a small mountain community in Madison County, North Carolina. For seven generation her family has maintained the tradition of passing down the English, Scottish and Irish ballads that came over with her ancestors in the mid 1700’s. Sheila learned these ballads from her older relatives, primarily from her great-aunt, Dellie Chandler Norton and cousin, Cas Wallin.
In performance, Sheila sings the traditional Appalachian ballads in the same style in which they were handed down to her – the same intensity, the same profound feeling for the ballad and in a powerful, strong voice.
Audiences love to hear Sheila tell stories about her childhood and the community in which she grew up. Under the direction of Lee Smith, Sheila compiled several of these stories that were published by the University of North Carolina Press. The book Come Go Home With Me was a 1997 winner of the North Carolina Historical Society’s award for historical fiction. The audio book, read by the Sheila, was released in September, 2005.
Sheila’s latest book, My Old True Love, (hardback by Algonquin Books, May, 2004; paperback by Ballantine Books, September, 2005) is a fictional novel based on a true family story. It was a finalist for the Southeastern Booksellers Association’s 2004 Book of the Year Award and a finalist for the Appalachian Writers Association’s 2004 Book of the Year Award. Kirkus Review states: “Deeply satisfying storytelling propelled by the desires of full-bodied, prickly characters, set against a landscape rendered in all its beauty and harshness.” Released at the same time was a CD titled All the Other Fine Things of fiddle tunes, ballads, and shape-note hymns that serves as a companion for the book.
In October 2007, Sheila released a CD anthology of stories and songs performed over a nine year period at the famed International Storytelling Festival in historic Jonesborough, Tennessee.
Sheila is a also known for her award winning accomplishments on the 5-string banjo. Sheila plays a clean drop-thumb style called clawhammer and has taught at numerous music camps throughout the country. She and her husband, Jim Taylor have several recordings which feature traditional fiddle tunes from the Civil War era.
She has been a featured performer in several documentary films, news and magazine articles, and was a technical advisor and singing coach for the award winning film, Songcatcher. Her three CD recordings, My Dearest Dear, Whatever Happened to John Parrish’s Boy? and All the Other Fine Things have been favorably reviewed by SING-OUT! and THE OLD-TIME HERALD magazines.
Traveling extensively, Sheila has performed at major festivals, colleges and universities. She also toured with the acclaimed “Sisters of the South” production and has toured England. After teaching seventeen years in the North Carolina Public School System, she decided to pursue a career writing and sharing the music, stories and heritage of her Appalachian culture.
She has three children and is passing the traditions to them. She is married to Jim Taylor, also a traditional musician and performer. She and her family still reside in the county in which she was born. In April, 1998, Sheila was chosen to receive the prestigious North Carolina Folklore Society’s Brown-Hudson Award in recognition of her valuable contributions to the study of North Carolina folklore. As her great-aunt once said, “She might not always know where she’s going, but she sure knows where she comes from.”
In performance, Sheila sings the traditional Appalachian ballads in the same style in which they were handed down to her – the same intensity, the same profound feeling for the ballad and in a powerful, strong voice.
Audiences love to hear Sheila tell stories about her childhood and the community in which she grew up. Under the direction of Lee Smith, Sheila compiled several of these stories that were published by the University of North Carolina Press. The book Come Go Home With Me was a 1997 winner of the North Carolina Historical Society’s award for historical fiction. The audio book, read by the Sheila, was released in September, 2005.
Sheila’s latest book, My Old True Love, (hardback by Algonquin Books, May, 2004; paperback by Ballantine Books, September, 2005) is a fictional novel based on a true family story. It was a finalist for the Southeastern Booksellers Association’s 2004 Book of the Year Award and a finalist for the Appalachian Writers Association’s 2004 Book of the Year Award. Kirkus Review states: “Deeply satisfying storytelling propelled by the desires of full-bodied, prickly characters, set against a landscape rendered in all its beauty and harshness.” Released at the same time was a CD titled All the Other Fine Things of fiddle tunes, ballads, and shape-note hymns that serves as a companion for the book.
In October 2007, Sheila released a CD anthology of stories and songs performed over a nine year period at the famed International Storytelling Festival in historic Jonesborough, Tennessee.
Sheila is a also known for her award winning accomplishments on the 5-string banjo. Sheila plays a clean drop-thumb style called clawhammer and has taught at numerous music camps throughout the country. She and her husband, Jim Taylor have several recordings which feature traditional fiddle tunes from the Civil War era.
She has been a featured performer in several documentary films, news and magazine articles, and was a technical advisor and singing coach for the award winning film, Songcatcher. Her three CD recordings, My Dearest Dear, Whatever Happened to John Parrish’s Boy? and All the Other Fine Things have been favorably reviewed by SING-OUT! and THE OLD-TIME HERALD magazines.
Traveling extensively, Sheila has performed at major festivals, colleges and universities. She also toured with the acclaimed “Sisters of the South” production and has toured England. After teaching seventeen years in the North Carolina Public School System, she decided to pursue a career writing and sharing the music, stories and heritage of her Appalachian culture.
She has three children and is passing the traditions to them. She is married to Jim Taylor, also a traditional musician and performer. She and her family still reside in the county in which she was born. In April, 1998, Sheila was chosen to receive the prestigious North Carolina Folklore Society’s Brown-Hudson Award in recognition of her valuable contributions to the study of North Carolina folklore. As her great-aunt once said, “She might not always know where she’s going, but she sure knows where she comes from.”
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August 24, 2019
"Some people is born at the start of a long hard row to hoe. Well, I am older than God’s dog and been in this world a long time and it seems to me that right from the git-go, Larkin Stanton had the longest and hardest row I’ve ever seen."
I fell in love with Arty Norton Wallin’s voice right from the very first sentence. Arty is the narrator of this beautiful novel, and although she tells this tale as if it is Larkin’s, I really believe it is her story. She had her own tough row to hoe and did it with strength and determination and without ever losing compassion for others.
Arty is one of those women that I would bow down to if I could. Born in the mountains of North Carolina before the Civil War, Arty embodies the life of a woman with true Appalachian grit and spirit. How do I know this? Because Sheila Kay Adams has a gift of writing that leaves me with no doubt as to her character. Arty is wholly believable, and she comes alive on the page. From a young age, Arty becomes a surrogate mother to baby cousin, Larkin, who lovingly calls her ‘Amma.’ Her upbringing may not have been the same as mine, but she is so relatable. Her memories of childhood are cherished with a joy and sense of nostalgia that I often felt myself.
"Them were times that seemed almost magic – you know how it is when you remember your childhood. The sun is always shining or there’s a big pretty snow on the ground, and you’re young and never sick or tired, and everybody you ever loved is still living and your whole life is a big wide road stretched out in front of you just waiting for you to take that first step toward the living of it."
The regional dialect is used in both the narration and the dialogue. I could hear the voices which were like music in my ears, much like the sound of brother Hackley’s fiddle and the melodious notes of the old songs. Music and dancing were a large part of the lives of these mountain folk. They may have toiled by day, but often the nights were filled with the small pleasures of life.
Arty grows and learns about love and loss. Childhood, though a treasured memory, is just that… a memory. I love the way she described falling in love for the first time: "A rush of heat started in my stomach and streaked outward. A line from a love song raced through my head, the words changing and reshaping themselves into the version I would sing the rest of my life." Of loss, she speaks from experience: "When I think of all the folks that has died, been buried, and forgot about, it makes me know that our lives are but a flash in the pan and we really are a short time here and a long time gone." There are some love triangles – not the annoying young adult type, but the realistic, heartbreaking kind. Naturally, Arty finds herself right in the middle of it all, knowing that no one can really win in these tricky conditions of the heart.
No one is free from the hazards of war, and eventually the Civil War finds its way to Arty’s hometown. "The war come riding in for us on the hot breath of an early summer and the men went pouring out of Sodom like water through a sieve." We, as readers, don’t rush out onto the battlefield with the men in this book, however. Instead, we stay behind and see the real burden that is placed on the women who must bear everything without the extra hands and protection of their men. Loyalties are split and no one is safe from the pillaging and murdering rampant on both sides. The courage of the women, as well as that of Larkin who was initially too young to enter the war, amazed me. When the going got tough, these gutsy gals set aside their differences and stood up for one another. We could use a hefty dose of helping each other along in this day and age too.
There’s so much more I can say about this wonderful novel, but I’ll leave more for you to discover on your own. The prose is beautiful and lyrical, the characters well-rounded and crafted with love. Fans of Lee Smith’s writing and readers of southern fiction will admire this one. I often found myself thinking about Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain while reading this book as well. It’s something about the brave women that struck me. I cherished this one during my own little respite to the mountains for a few days this summer, and I am happy to have another one to adorn my favorites shelf.
"We are all women what has eaten us a big mess of life and I suspect they is more of it on our plates to eat before we leave this world. We need to try to help each other as we go along."
I fell in love with Arty Norton Wallin’s voice right from the very first sentence. Arty is the narrator of this beautiful novel, and although she tells this tale as if it is Larkin’s, I really believe it is her story. She had her own tough row to hoe and did it with strength and determination and without ever losing compassion for others.
Arty is one of those women that I would bow down to if I could. Born in the mountains of North Carolina before the Civil War, Arty embodies the life of a woman with true Appalachian grit and spirit. How do I know this? Because Sheila Kay Adams has a gift of writing that leaves me with no doubt as to her character. Arty is wholly believable, and she comes alive on the page. From a young age, Arty becomes a surrogate mother to baby cousin, Larkin, who lovingly calls her ‘Amma.’ Her upbringing may not have been the same as mine, but she is so relatable. Her memories of childhood are cherished with a joy and sense of nostalgia that I often felt myself.
"Them were times that seemed almost magic – you know how it is when you remember your childhood. The sun is always shining or there’s a big pretty snow on the ground, and you’re young and never sick or tired, and everybody you ever loved is still living and your whole life is a big wide road stretched out in front of you just waiting for you to take that first step toward the living of it."
The regional dialect is used in both the narration and the dialogue. I could hear the voices which were like music in my ears, much like the sound of brother Hackley’s fiddle and the melodious notes of the old songs. Music and dancing were a large part of the lives of these mountain folk. They may have toiled by day, but often the nights were filled with the small pleasures of life.
Arty grows and learns about love and loss. Childhood, though a treasured memory, is just that… a memory. I love the way she described falling in love for the first time: "A rush of heat started in my stomach and streaked outward. A line from a love song raced through my head, the words changing and reshaping themselves into the version I would sing the rest of my life." Of loss, she speaks from experience: "When I think of all the folks that has died, been buried, and forgot about, it makes me know that our lives are but a flash in the pan and we really are a short time here and a long time gone." There are some love triangles – not the annoying young adult type, but the realistic, heartbreaking kind. Naturally, Arty finds herself right in the middle of it all, knowing that no one can really win in these tricky conditions of the heart.
No one is free from the hazards of war, and eventually the Civil War finds its way to Arty’s hometown. "The war come riding in for us on the hot breath of an early summer and the men went pouring out of Sodom like water through a sieve." We, as readers, don’t rush out onto the battlefield with the men in this book, however. Instead, we stay behind and see the real burden that is placed on the women who must bear everything without the extra hands and protection of their men. Loyalties are split and no one is safe from the pillaging and murdering rampant on both sides. The courage of the women, as well as that of Larkin who was initially too young to enter the war, amazed me. When the going got tough, these gutsy gals set aside their differences and stood up for one another. We could use a hefty dose of helping each other along in this day and age too.
There’s so much more I can say about this wonderful novel, but I’ll leave more for you to discover on your own. The prose is beautiful and lyrical, the characters well-rounded and crafted with love. Fans of Lee Smith’s writing and readers of southern fiction will admire this one. I often found myself thinking about Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain while reading this book as well. It’s something about the brave women that struck me. I cherished this one during my own little respite to the mountains for a few days this summer, and I am happy to have another one to adorn my favorites shelf.
"We are all women what has eaten us a big mess of life and I suspect they is more of it on our plates to eat before we leave this world. We need to try to help each other as we go along."
July 8, 2019
This novel set in the second half of the 1800's in the NC mountains is just about perfect. There is never a false note in the ways and the dialect of the people, because the author is one of them. Some of the characters are based on real people, although their stories are not. The ballads and the music are very real, and can be heard on YouTube if you care to listen.
Arty is our narrator, and gets her spunk and backbone from Granny, who died early in the novel, but Arty carries on admirably.
"I want to be buried where I can see the whole cove and be able to watch my people light the lamps in the morning and blow 'em out at night. And bury me with my shoes on 'cause if theys any way to come back, I'm coming. And if I cant, then what better place than up there? There ain't no prettier place in the world".
Arty watches the ones she loves best make a mess of their lives, and tells us the story with a mixture of common sense and cynicism.
" Granny always said that most men could make pure-D fools of themselves in way less time than you could bring buttermilk in a churn".
The Civil War in the NC mountains did not have the romance and honor that the lower South fought for, since there were no slave-holders and most people had never even seen a black person. There were men on both sides, and men who switched sides depending on who was winning. Between the armies and the Home Guard, there were atrocities and near starvation dealt with by those left behind.
Being a woman was hard work, and if you happened to be an older daughter when pregnancy was a yearly event, from the age of 6 or 7 your childhood was over, as cooking and cleaning and caring for younger siblings was your way of life, until you married and started the cycle all over again.
But even in hard times, there was always singing and dancing and frolics. Those were free, in church or out, the moonshine was excellent, and of course, love was always blossoming. Ahhhh, love, that old curse and blessing. The cause of lots of joy, and just as much pain and tragedy.
If you like authenticity in your Appalachian literature, and a great story, this should be on your list. The music and the ballads are just icing on the cake.
Arty is our narrator, and gets her spunk and backbone from Granny, who died early in the novel, but Arty carries on admirably.
"I want to be buried where I can see the whole cove and be able to watch my people light the lamps in the morning and blow 'em out at night. And bury me with my shoes on 'cause if theys any way to come back, I'm coming. And if I cant, then what better place than up there? There ain't no prettier place in the world".
Arty watches the ones she loves best make a mess of their lives, and tells us the story with a mixture of common sense and cynicism.
" Granny always said that most men could make pure-D fools of themselves in way less time than you could bring buttermilk in a churn".
The Civil War in the NC mountains did not have the romance and honor that the lower South fought for, since there were no slave-holders and most people had never even seen a black person. There were men on both sides, and men who switched sides depending on who was winning. Between the armies and the Home Guard, there were atrocities and near starvation dealt with by those left behind.
Being a woman was hard work, and if you happened to be an older daughter when pregnancy was a yearly event, from the age of 6 or 7 your childhood was over, as cooking and cleaning and caring for younger siblings was your way of life, until you married and started the cycle all over again.
But even in hard times, there was always singing and dancing and frolics. Those were free, in church or out, the moonshine was excellent, and of course, love was always blossoming. Ahhhh, love, that old curse and blessing. The cause of lots of joy, and just as much pain and tragedy.
If you like authenticity in your Appalachian literature, and a great story, this should be on your list. The music and the ballads are just icing on the cake.
January 8, 2014
My Old True Love by Shield Kay Adams popped up in my recommendations from Good reads and I picked it as a January sort of wild card and I am very glad I did.
This novel is set in the mountains of North Carolina and narrated with the wonderful voice of Arty Norton, mother to a large family living in the mid-late 1800s around the time of the Civil War. The story is centred on Arty's family, of hardships, love, life and the appreciation of the simple things in life like family, nature, changing seasons and how in times of need families look out for one another.
"I must say that there is a certain peace in knowing that nature will move things in the direction they've been going for generation after generation"
I loved so much about this book it brings you right back in time and makes you appreciate our ancestors. The story itself is loosely based on relatives of the authors and the characters are richly and beautifully written and so believable of their time. I loved the character of Arty who is the narrator throughout the story and she brings a wonderful charm and wit to the book which could have been a sad read otherwise. The story conveys a wonderful sense of family and a great appreciation of the simple things in life like the coming together of family and neighbours at the time when music and songs were the only form of entertainment and yet people talked, sang, danced and enjoyed life even though they struggled from day to day with large families and wars and weather.
My brother was just a runner of women and that is all there is to say about it, really. I will have to say here that I do not understand this, as I have caught many babies in my lifetime and all of the equipment looks pretty much the same to me" (just one of Arty's witty observations which really made me laugh)
Interwoven into the story are the ballads of ancestors who settled in the mountains and who's music and songs are remembered throughout the story.
This is not a novel about the Civil War but a novel that gives us a wonderful window into eighteen century life in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina and how a family lived, loved in a time of civil war and how the war impacted on the lives of a people who were already struggling.
Really enjoyed this novel and spent a lot of time googling places mentioned in the book Made me want to pack my bags and take a trip to the Appalachian mountains. Maybe someday soon!
This novel is set in the mountains of North Carolina and narrated with the wonderful voice of Arty Norton, mother to a large family living in the mid-late 1800s around the time of the Civil War. The story is centred on Arty's family, of hardships, love, life and the appreciation of the simple things in life like family, nature, changing seasons and how in times of need families look out for one another.
"I must say that there is a certain peace in knowing that nature will move things in the direction they've been going for generation after generation"
I loved so much about this book it brings you right back in time and makes you appreciate our ancestors. The story itself is loosely based on relatives of the authors and the characters are richly and beautifully written and so believable of their time. I loved the character of Arty who is the narrator throughout the story and she brings a wonderful charm and wit to the book which could have been a sad read otherwise. The story conveys a wonderful sense of family and a great appreciation of the simple things in life like the coming together of family and neighbours at the time when music and songs were the only form of entertainment and yet people talked, sang, danced and enjoyed life even though they struggled from day to day with large families and wars and weather.
My brother was just a runner of women and that is all there is to say about it, really. I will have to say here that I do not understand this, as I have caught many babies in my lifetime and all of the equipment looks pretty much the same to me" (just one of Arty's witty observations which really made me laugh)
Interwoven into the story are the ballads of ancestors who settled in the mountains and who's music and songs are remembered throughout the story.
This is not a novel about the Civil War but a novel that gives us a wonderful window into eighteen century life in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina and how a family lived, loved in a time of civil war and how the war impacted on the lives of a people who were already struggling.
Really enjoyed this novel and spent a lot of time googling places mentioned in the book Made me want to pack my bags and take a trip to the Appalachian mountains. Maybe someday soon!
September 25, 2019
”These were the days that I would look back on once I’d married with such a longing in my heart. Them were times that seemed almost magic—you know how it is when you remember your childhood. The sun is always shining or there’s a big pretty snow on the ground, and you’re young and never sick or tired, and everybody you ever loved is still living and your whole life is a big wide road stretched out in front of you just waiting for you to take that first step toward the living of it.”
This story begins in 1845, as Arty Norton narrates her tale set in the Appalachian mountain community. Arty’s aunt dies in childbirth, leaving the infant Larkin to her care, although Arty is still a child, herself. Still, she does her best to keep him healthy, fed, warm and loved, and as he grows up, her refers to her as ‘Amma.’
”Some people is born at the start of a long hard road to hoe. Well, I am older than God’s dog and been in this world a long time and it seems to me that right from the git-go, Larkin Stanton had the longest and hardest row I’ve ever seen.”
As time passes, and the talk of war increases, the people who live there realize soon they will have to choose sides, even though they have no real interest in protecting slave owners, or the system, they will be left with no other option than to choose a side – and hope they come through alive.
And so the men leave, and the work to maintain this harsh and difficult life in the mountains is left to the women and children, sharing the work when needed, offering support even to those they might have held grudges against.
There is such an authentic aura about this story, and while this is somewhat based on the author’s family, I think the sprinkling of lyrics from old traditional ballads had me hearing both the music, and also the plaintive keening of these songs, creating an aura that held me spellbound. Add the lilt, the inflections in the language, expressions such as ”one day that was hot as Satan’s housecat” and I was happily enchanted, and in no rush to leave.
Many thanks to my goodreads friend Candi, whose review prompted me to add this one.
Candi’s review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
This story begins in 1845, as Arty Norton narrates her tale set in the Appalachian mountain community. Arty’s aunt dies in childbirth, leaving the infant Larkin to her care, although Arty is still a child, herself. Still, she does her best to keep him healthy, fed, warm and loved, and as he grows up, her refers to her as ‘Amma.’
”Some people is born at the start of a long hard road to hoe. Well, I am older than God’s dog and been in this world a long time and it seems to me that right from the git-go, Larkin Stanton had the longest and hardest row I’ve ever seen.”
As time passes, and the talk of war increases, the people who live there realize soon they will have to choose sides, even though they have no real interest in protecting slave owners, or the system, they will be left with no other option than to choose a side – and hope they come through alive.
And so the men leave, and the work to maintain this harsh and difficult life in the mountains is left to the women and children, sharing the work when needed, offering support even to those they might have held grudges against.
There is such an authentic aura about this story, and while this is somewhat based on the author’s family, I think the sprinkling of lyrics from old traditional ballads had me hearing both the music, and also the plaintive keening of these songs, creating an aura that held me spellbound. Add the lilt, the inflections in the language, expressions such as ”one day that was hot as Satan’s housecat” and I was happily enchanted, and in no rush to leave.
Many thanks to my goodreads friend Candi, whose review prompted me to add this one.
Candi’s review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
July 1, 2019
Set in the turbulence of 1860s America, My Old True Love is a beautifully written, lyrical homage to the Appalachian area of North Carolina, its culture and its people. In her acknowledgements, Sheila Kay Adams cites Lee Smith, another remarkable Southern writer, as an influence, and that influence is obvious on every page. Adams, like Smith, knows the people she writes about as if she had lived with them. She captures their humanity and their struggles and transfers them from the paper they are written upon to the center of your heart.
The story is told from the perspective of Arty Wallin, a very strong female character with an extremely genuine voice. The story revolves around her brother, Hackley; her cousin, who is more like a son to her, Larkin; and their love for one woman, Mary. There is not a weak character in this novel. I was so in love with Granny and Larkin, but even the less loveable characters were completely human and understandable. Every one of them had flaws, and all were fighting their baser natures, so you couldn’t help pulling for everyone to make it out of the dilemma they were trapped inside, or that was trapped inside them.
The book is sprinkled with bits of wisdom and moments of poignance, that are never sappy or overly sentimental, and sometimes they are so perfectly visual that they startle.
The fog just draped itself on me as I moved, frothing my hair and brows with silver, and the ice crystals in the fog parted as I moved through and left my shape behind me. It looked like I’d walked through a tunnel until it filled itself back in.
“Maybe that’s what living is like,” I said. “Maybe Fee just moved on through and left his shape.” I knowed my voice was sad but could not help it, as that is how I felt.
There is love and joy in this novel, but much of it is set during the Civil War and in an area that required much of a man to even survive, so there is also an abundance of grief. What makes it so relatable is that the grief is the kind that still touches all our lives daily. For it is not a war story, although the war is there, it is a story of life and the cycle of life that includes losses of many kinds.
"Then in the most pitiful voice he said, "It feels like a hole has opened up in my life, Amma. Will it ever go away?"
And though I hated to say it, I surely had to, because again I could only tell him the truth. "It won't go away, honey," I said. "You will just have to figure out how to live your life around it.
I have experienced enough loss to know the truth of that statement and I believe if you live long enough you are riddled with such holes.
Adams delves masterfully into the heart and soul of these people. She shows us how they love, sometimes with too much of themselves; how they grieve for the losses they cannot avoid and the ones they cause; and how they pour themselves into the mountains, the family, the people and the songs with which they are raised. Some people have the gift of the storyteller--they can draw you in and make you feel both the happiness and the sadness of another person--Sheila Kay Adams is one of those gifted few. So, I can now close my eyes and hear the fiddle music, see the cocky tilt of the head of Hackley as he plays, smell the lilacs in the rainwater, see a handsome man coming across a mountain ridge and know it is Larkin, and hear the steady rock of Granny’s chair. I accept the gift, Sheila Kay, and I thank you for it.
The story is told from the perspective of Arty Wallin, a very strong female character with an extremely genuine voice. The story revolves around her brother, Hackley; her cousin, who is more like a son to her, Larkin; and their love for one woman, Mary. There is not a weak character in this novel. I was so in love with Granny and Larkin, but even the less loveable characters were completely human and understandable. Every one of them had flaws, and all were fighting their baser natures, so you couldn’t help pulling for everyone to make it out of the dilemma they were trapped inside, or that was trapped inside them.
The book is sprinkled with bits of wisdom and moments of poignance, that are never sappy or overly sentimental, and sometimes they are so perfectly visual that they startle.
The fog just draped itself on me as I moved, frothing my hair and brows with silver, and the ice crystals in the fog parted as I moved through and left my shape behind me. It looked like I’d walked through a tunnel until it filled itself back in.
“Maybe that’s what living is like,” I said. “Maybe Fee just moved on through and left his shape.” I knowed my voice was sad but could not help it, as that is how I felt.
There is love and joy in this novel, but much of it is set during the Civil War and in an area that required much of a man to even survive, so there is also an abundance of grief. What makes it so relatable is that the grief is the kind that still touches all our lives daily. For it is not a war story, although the war is there, it is a story of life and the cycle of life that includes losses of many kinds.
"Then in the most pitiful voice he said, "It feels like a hole has opened up in my life, Amma. Will it ever go away?"
And though I hated to say it, I surely had to, because again I could only tell him the truth. "It won't go away, honey," I said. "You will just have to figure out how to live your life around it.
I have experienced enough loss to know the truth of that statement and I believe if you live long enough you are riddled with such holes.
Adams delves masterfully into the heart and soul of these people. She shows us how they love, sometimes with too much of themselves; how they grieve for the losses they cannot avoid and the ones they cause; and how they pour themselves into the mountains, the family, the people and the songs with which they are raised. Some people have the gift of the storyteller--they can draw you in and make you feel both the happiness and the sadness of another person--Sheila Kay Adams is one of those gifted few. So, I can now close my eyes and hear the fiddle music, see the cocky tilt of the head of Hackley as he plays, smell the lilacs in the rainwater, see a handsome man coming across a mountain ridge and know it is Larkin, and hear the steady rock of Granny’s chair. I accept the gift, Sheila Kay, and I thank you for it.
April 2, 2013
Rating Clarification: 4.5 Stars
Two things straight off:
1. The next time I get on my soapbox complaining about the quality of new release books verses those oldies which I so dearly love and champion, I need to remind myself of this unbearably beautiful and (almost) perfect novel. Had the last 15 pages played out in a slightly different way, had I not felt the end was rushed, anticlimatic and "tacked on", it would without any doubt be the best fiction I've read all year (and in a long time, to boot).
2. This book should also serve as a stop check for when I'm working on convincing myself that non-fiction is better than fiction, because when a novel like this one comes along in your reading world, and the writing is so brilliant, you as a reader begin to think of these fictional characters as real: as breathing and talking and loving and suffering and all the things you feel. You grow attached. You laugh with them. You cry with them. They are as REAL as The Velveteen Rabbit...
:)
Yes people, it was that kind of awesome .
My Old True Love is a simple yet powerfully written story of family ties, love, struggle, pain, war, loss and redemption set in the Appalachian mountains of mid-19th century North Carolina. Author Sheila Kay Adams creates a truly authentic reading experience through her characters and their “voice”, the plot woven among the setting and time period, and the old folk ballads that are sprinkled throughout the story. Our narrator through it all is Arty Wallin, a strong and opinionated mountain woman who is the real heart and soul of the book. Here is where Adams’ writing brilliance and understanding of the region and culture really shines. As a native North Carolinian, I've met people like Adams has created, I've heard some of these songs, and use some of the expressions, idioms and slang. The authenticity found throughout the pages resonated very deeply and personally with me. Adams is a true storyteller in the old style – she has done her mountain ancestors proud.
Along a similar vein, I would recommend Sharyn McCrumb’s The Ballad of Tom Dooley. McCrumb's story isn’t as strong IMO, and the characters are almost all unlikable, but there is a similarity of sorts between the two. Adams, however, wins the Appalachian-ballad-loving-mountineer-saga hands down.
Two things straight off:
1. The next time I get on my soapbox complaining about the quality of new release books verses those oldies which I so dearly love and champion, I need to remind myself of this unbearably beautiful and (almost) perfect novel. Had the last 15 pages played out in a slightly different way, had I not felt the end was rushed, anticlimatic and "tacked on", it would without any doubt be the best fiction I've read all year (and in a long time, to boot).
2. This book should also serve as a stop check for when I'm working on convincing myself that non-fiction is better than fiction, because when a novel like this one comes along in your reading world, and the writing is so brilliant, you as a reader begin to think of these fictional characters as real: as breathing and talking and loving and suffering and all the things you feel. You grow attached. You laugh with them. You cry with them. They are as REAL as The Velveteen Rabbit...
:)
Yes people, it was that kind of awesome .
My Old True Love is a simple yet powerfully written story of family ties, love, struggle, pain, war, loss and redemption set in the Appalachian mountains of mid-19th century North Carolina. Author Sheila Kay Adams creates a truly authentic reading experience through her characters and their “voice”, the plot woven among the setting and time period, and the old folk ballads that are sprinkled throughout the story. Our narrator through it all is Arty Wallin, a strong and opinionated mountain woman who is the real heart and soul of the book. Here is where Adams’ writing brilliance and understanding of the region and culture really shines. As a native North Carolinian, I've met people like Adams has created, I've heard some of these songs, and use some of the expressions, idioms and slang. The authenticity found throughout the pages resonated very deeply and personally with me. Adams is a true storyteller in the old style – she has done her mountain ancestors proud.
Along a similar vein, I would recommend Sharyn McCrumb’s The Ballad of Tom Dooley. McCrumb's story isn’t as strong IMO, and the characters are almost all unlikable, but there is a similarity of sorts between the two. Adams, however, wins the Appalachian-ballad-loving-mountineer-saga hands down.
September 9, 2013
This is why readers read. It is why we slog through a sea of mediocre to good books. It is for the pure joy that comes from reading an exquisite book like this one, one that draws you in completely, one you can't put down, one where you savor every word and feel, as if it were your own, the joy and sorrow of those characters who inhabit the book.
Open this book to any page and you will find writing that is pitch perfect in capturing the cadences and vocal patterns of the people it portrays, writing that is deeply rooted in a particular time and place, writing that you will want to let wash over you with its beauty, humor and pathos.
Take, for example, the opening paragraph: "Some people is born at the start of a long hard row to hoe. Well, I am older than God's dog and been in this world a long time and it seems to me that right from the git-go, Larkin Stanton had the longest and hardest row I've ever seen."
I'm sure that it doesn't hurt that this book is set in a part of the North Carolina mountains that I know and love and includes a healthy dose of the ballad singing that the early settlers brought over from the British Isles. But even if this book had been set in a place with which I was unfamiliar, I would have been completely won over by its lyric quality; its beautifully told story of love, loss, human frailty; its ability to capture what war (here the Civil War)does to those left behind and the non-combatants who have the misfortune to live in a war zone; its tribute to resilience; and its loving treatment of the culture of those in North Carolina's section of Appalachia.
It did not surprise me to learn that the author was born in the area she describes; but being from a place does not guaranty the quality of writing and storytelling found here. As I reflect on it, the story Ms. Adams tells, has the feel (in tone and the depth of its narrative) of the very ballads that she builds this tale around. In fact, I can easily imagine the story Ms. Adams tells here in prose instead being put to song and passed from generation to generation in the a cappella rendering so much a part of the people of Madison County and of Sodom Laurel and Shelton Laurel in particular. I cannot say it strongly enough, give yourself a treat and read this book.
Open this book to any page and you will find writing that is pitch perfect in capturing the cadences and vocal patterns of the people it portrays, writing that is deeply rooted in a particular time and place, writing that you will want to let wash over you with its beauty, humor and pathos.
Take, for example, the opening paragraph: "Some people is born at the start of a long hard row to hoe. Well, I am older than God's dog and been in this world a long time and it seems to me that right from the git-go, Larkin Stanton had the longest and hardest row I've ever seen."
I'm sure that it doesn't hurt that this book is set in a part of the North Carolina mountains that I know and love and includes a healthy dose of the ballad singing that the early settlers brought over from the British Isles. But even if this book had been set in a place with which I was unfamiliar, I would have been completely won over by its lyric quality; its beautifully told story of love, loss, human frailty; its ability to capture what war (here the Civil War)does to those left behind and the non-combatants who have the misfortune to live in a war zone; its tribute to resilience; and its loving treatment of the culture of those in North Carolina's section of Appalachia.
It did not surprise me to learn that the author was born in the area she describes; but being from a place does not guaranty the quality of writing and storytelling found here. As I reflect on it, the story Ms. Adams tells, has the feel (in tone and the depth of its narrative) of the very ballads that she builds this tale around. In fact, I can easily imagine the story Ms. Adams tells here in prose instead being put to song and passed from generation to generation in the a cappella rendering so much a part of the people of Madison County and of Sodom Laurel and Shelton Laurel in particular. I cannot say it strongly enough, give yourself a treat and read this book.
July 22, 2019
4+ stars - ‘My Old True Love’ by Sheila Kay Adams brought back a lot of my childhood’s musical memories. From Madison County, North Carolina, Adams, is a storyteller, and balladeer of old folk songs handed down for several generations. It seems Arty, Adam’s main character, is based on the author, for Arty loves the old songs and ballads. Her Granny teaches them to her as well as the old sayings that infiltrate Arty’s mind and soul, filtering down into her unconscious to guide her thoughts and behaviors. When Arty’s Aunt Polly dies in childbirth, Arty becomes like a mother to Polly’s baby boy, Larkin. Arty’s brother, Hackley, chooses the name, Larkin, for the baby. Hackley is five and Arty, just a young girl of eight or nine, already taking care of younger siblings, and now, this baby cousin. At fourteen years of age, Arty meets and marries Zeke Wallin, the love of her life. Even though this story is told in Arty’s wonderful narrative voice, it is a story that belongs to Larkin, Hackley, and their love of the beautiful Mary. Arty’s love of Larkin as a son is always there, a wistful and warmhearted melody in the background. Larkin is the singer, no other voice can compare to his; Hackley is the fiddle player from age five and also sings, although his voice is not as good as Larkin’s; Mary is the red-haired beauty. A beautiful undertaking, the triangular love relationship as told Appalachain mountain style with ballads sounding all the melancholy notes that will strike your heart like chords from on high.
As the story progresses, the timeline enters the civil war era. Without giving away much of the plot, this becomes an event that makes an indelible mark on all the lives of the main characters. Adams will show how men that had been brothers and neighbors went to fight on different sides, and how, sometimes, they changed sides. The women, children, and boys too young to fight were left at home to survive as best they could. Soldiers would arrive without notice and commandeer produce, pigs, whatever was needed, leaving families on the edge of starvation. In her acknowledgments, Adams cites books like ‘The Heart of Confederate Appalachia: Western North Carolina in the Civil War by John C. Inscoe and Gordon B. Mckinney and Bushwhackers: The Civil War in North Carolina: The Mountains by William R. Trotter as well as other books for providing her with information that adds to the book’s credibility. The Confederate Home Guard was supposed to defend the home front as well as round up deserters. Many of the mountain families had no true allegiances, so for them, deserting had nothing to do with honor.
I love the language of ‘My Old True Love’ for it is the language of my grandparents. What I wouldn’t give to hear my grandmother smack her knee and cry “They law” or “I swanee.” When people didn’t act just right or as if they were mildly insane, my grandmother would declare, “They’re just quair.” That was one of her favorites because she was surrounded by the mildly insane. ‘My Old True Love’ brought me back to the language of my childhood and spending the night with my grandparents as well as listening to my grandfather ‘Poppy’s’ low rumbling songs. He loved gospel hymn, as did my Dad. While the music I grew up with was old church hymns as opposed to Adam’s ballads, I had a set of cousins who were very musically inclined and sang songs like ‘I gave my love a cherry’ and ‘He’s my rock, my sword, my shield.’
My favorite character was Granny because she reminded me of my own grandmother. The author’s home county is only a few counties over from where I have lived all my life, and she captures the essence of mountain dialect or what it used to be in this part of the world. There’s a world of emotion captured in the dialect as well as the unique metaphors of mountain folk. A beautiful story full of love, longing, and melancholy, the title song ‘My Old True Love’ also known as ‘10,000 Miles’ pops up in just the right place. Mary Chapin Carpenter sings it in the movie ‘Fly Away Home.’ Highly recommended!
As the story progresses, the timeline enters the civil war era. Without giving away much of the plot, this becomes an event that makes an indelible mark on all the lives of the main characters. Adams will show how men that had been brothers and neighbors went to fight on different sides, and how, sometimes, they changed sides. The women, children, and boys too young to fight were left at home to survive as best they could. Soldiers would arrive without notice and commandeer produce, pigs, whatever was needed, leaving families on the edge of starvation. In her acknowledgments, Adams cites books like ‘The Heart of Confederate Appalachia: Western North Carolina in the Civil War by John C. Inscoe and Gordon B. Mckinney and Bushwhackers: The Civil War in North Carolina: The Mountains by William R. Trotter as well as other books for providing her with information that adds to the book’s credibility. The Confederate Home Guard was supposed to defend the home front as well as round up deserters. Many of the mountain families had no true allegiances, so for them, deserting had nothing to do with honor.
I love the language of ‘My Old True Love’ for it is the language of my grandparents. What I wouldn’t give to hear my grandmother smack her knee and cry “They law” or “I swanee.” When people didn’t act just right or as if they were mildly insane, my grandmother would declare, “They’re just quair.” That was one of her favorites because she was surrounded by the mildly insane. ‘My Old True Love’ brought me back to the language of my childhood and spending the night with my grandparents as well as listening to my grandfather ‘Poppy’s’ low rumbling songs. He loved gospel hymn, as did my Dad. While the music I grew up with was old church hymns as opposed to Adam’s ballads, I had a set of cousins who were very musically inclined and sang songs like ‘I gave my love a cherry’ and ‘He’s my rock, my sword, my shield.’
My favorite character was Granny because she reminded me of my own grandmother. The author’s home county is only a few counties over from where I have lived all my life, and she captures the essence of mountain dialect or what it used to be in this part of the world. There’s a world of emotion captured in the dialect as well as the unique metaphors of mountain folk. A beautiful story full of love, longing, and melancholy, the title song ‘My Old True Love’ also known as ‘10,000 Miles’ pops up in just the right place. Mary Chapin Carpenter sings it in the movie ‘Fly Away Home.’ Highly recommended!
September 3, 2019
This book follows the life of Arty Norton. She tells us of her life in the Appalachians of North Carolina before, during and after the Civil War. Ending in 1920, we follow her from her childhood to her eighties. It is peppered with folk songs, births, marriages and deaths and the war. The devastation wrought by the Civil War is its central focus. It is about what the women were left to deal with when the men went off to war. Their load was equally heavy as the burdens carried by their men. The book speaks of the strength of women, the futility of war and the joy music can give.
Kate Forbes gives an absolutely tremendous narration of this tale. She impeccably intones the dialect of the Appalachian mountain folk. She beautifully sings the folk songs of which many stud the tale. She captures wonderfully Arty Norton’s personality as she tells us the story of her life.
I have not given this more stars simply because I find it rather conventional. It is a story that has been told before. I like it, it’s good, but nothing exceptional.
*******************
Outstanding Southern Novels and Authors:
(It was difficult picking just five. All I have given five stars!)
*Sounder by William H. Armstrong
*The Memory of Old Jack by Wendell Berry
*The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers
*The Hard Blue Sky by Shirley Ann Grau
*A Parchment of Leaves by Silas House
Kate Forbes gives an absolutely tremendous narration of this tale. She impeccably intones the dialect of the Appalachian mountain folk. She beautifully sings the folk songs of which many stud the tale. She captures wonderfully Arty Norton’s personality as she tells us the story of her life.
I have not given this more stars simply because I find it rather conventional. It is a story that has been told before. I like it, it’s good, but nothing exceptional.
*******************
Outstanding Southern Novels and Authors:
(It was difficult picking just five. All I have given five stars!)
*Sounder by William H. Armstrong
*The Memory of Old Jack by Wendell Berry
*The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers
*The Hard Blue Sky by Shirley Ann Grau
*A Parchment of Leaves by Silas House
January 1, 2025
I'll be reading this book again soon, for a more complete review, but for this 2024 read, I suffice it to say I have purchased my copy (not so easy to find), and will be back. A burst of interest in romance and 'true love' has raised up in my TBR and affected my responses. . .change ever happens so I'm going with the flow. Have been having a grand time youtubing all things Sheila Kay Adams. . . as an old shape note singer, old time ways of music are ever appealing to me.
Set in the Appalachian mountains are two families - the Stantons and the Nortons - a web of them stretched over the hills and valleys like a quilt thrown, caught and laid over, tucking all underneath in a place to spread and grow.
Arty Norton, a young girl of big opinions has no doubt that she is the one who should raise her new born cousin Larkin Stanton when he has no parents left to care for him. No matter that she is not yet a teenager. She is willing and she claims him as her own, and he reciprocates. The story from there is one of the very best I've ever read.
Set in the Appalachian mountains are two families - the Stantons and the Nortons - a web of them stretched over the hills and valleys like a quilt thrown, caught and laid over, tucking all underneath in a place to spread and grow.
Arty Norton, a young girl of big opinions has no doubt that she is the one who should raise her new born cousin Larkin Stanton when he has no parents left to care for him. No matter that she is not yet a teenager. She is willing and she claims him as her own, and he reciprocates. The story from there is one of the very best I've ever read.
May 8, 2018
This is a book that speaks to the heart so deeply that it will remain there...as some experiences in life touch you...it has risen to the top as one of my favorites. I listened to the audio version and felt as if I was sitting at the feet of a woman who had the gift of being a very rich storyteller sharing her life with me...she is able to put into words feelings that all of us have had at some time in our lives when we have not only been speechless but unable to bare our own feelings even to ourseleves,,,
August 27, 2019
I have always had a great love for all thing related to folklore, particularly the stories and songs that were passed down from one generation to the next, crossing the ocean from Scotland and England to the mountains of Appalachia. These songs and stories are a vibrant part of Sheila Kay Adams' novel based the lives of her ancestors. Adams, herself a renowned folksinger, has woven the scant bits and pieces passed down to her from the past into a rich tapestry that mixes joy and sorrow, laughter and pain. The folk songs of her ancestors are a key part of the story that serve to breathe life into it. I particularly enjoyed looking up and listening to the songs on YouTube, often sung by Sheila herself. Here are her renditions of Fine Sally and Barbary Allen.
My thanks to Lynn and the other fine folks at the On the Southern Literary Trail group for giving me the opportunity to read and discuss this and many other fine books.
My thanks to Lynn and the other fine folks at the On the Southern Literary Trail group for giving me the opportunity to read and discuss this and many other fine books.
December 21, 2018
I don't understand how 'Romance' could possibly be listed as one of the genres for this book - there is nothing romantic about it. Sentimental maybe. A good bit of "naturing" (Appalachian euphemism for sex - yes, people back then had 6, 8, 10 kids so something was certainly going on). But this is not a romance novel. It is Southern fiction at its finest, in my world of reading anyway. Sheila Kay Adams is a powerful storyteller who knows firsthand the place of which she writes. This is all about the voice and people and ballads and customs of Appalachia, particularly Western North Carolina, in the mid 1800's. It's about simple, peaceful folk getting caught up, unwillingly, in the Civil War and the aftershocks of that nightmare. It's about "the fever" and coffin logs; frolics and molasses making; retribution and redemption; kin and hunger and choices and love. Arty Norton Wallin is the unforgettable narrator of this story, bless her heart. Married at 14 with 7 children by age 25, she is spunky, funny, intelligent and strong, and she reeled me in with her very first sentence: "Some people is born at the start of a long hard row to hoe." I loved every single page of this book. It is authentic, moving and pitch perfect.
"So fare you well, my old true love,
So fare you well for a while,
If I go I'll come again,
If I go ten thousand miles."
"So fare you well, my old true love,
So fare you well for a while,
If I go I'll come again,
If I go ten thousand miles."
August 8, 2019
As the narrator ages and matures so does the book. It took me a few chapters/pages to be fully engaged but it all came together to be a wonderful book true to Appalachian literature. So many quotes to remember, but I think this one from Chapter 15 is quite good, "Vernon Lewis ought to have been shot a long time ago for being a fool, but if we start shooting folks for being fools then we'd be shooting right up till the end of time."
January 26, 2012
A poignant story, both frank and tender, told in an Appalachian voice that rings true—that is My Old True Love: A Novel. Arty Norton Wallin (the narrator) is “mountain,” way down to the marrow of her bones, and I can’t help but think that Sheila Kay Adams is, as well. As I read, I was taken back to a time of Appalachian life and culture even older than the one that I recall—but not without the strong flavor of some Smoky Mountain kin that I do recall. Long review: The story is set in North Carolina, but within spitting distance of Tennessee. It takes place in the Civil War era, but is not just a Civil War story. Rather, it tells of the impact that an outside War had on a mountain people who knew little of the War’s cause until they were inexorably caught up in it. When the heavily foreshadowed tragedy finally plays out, it is very like a ballad of the lives of two cousins, closer than brothers, Hackley and Larkin. The ballad is spoken, not sung, in a voice that is true Appalachia. Arty’s own voice and spirit, in turn, reflect the salt-pepper-and-molasses spirit of a frank-spoken old granny—her grandmother, mentor, and friend. Granny made me laugh and cry. Arty’s dialect is thick, but I had only to search my mind for a real memory of someone whose voice became, for me, Arty’s voice—and from there on out, I “heard” the story in soft and silver tones that rang true. Of molasses, Arty says, “Now them was some of the best I ever put in my mouth” (134). I’ve heard that said many, many times (though usually of greens, biscuits, or dumplings). “I swan,” she says (122). And when I read the interjection, “They law” (84), I had to stop reading and simply marvel at it. It was almost as if my old great aunt was right there in the room with me. The people seemed very real to me. Highly recommended to all still living who watched Appalachia vanish before their very eyes—and further recommended to all who would like a taste of what it once was.
August 4, 2019
An Appalachian tale of a families love and hardships before and through the Civil War. Told with humor and spunk by the main character, Arty, complete with mountain dialect and ballads. I was not blown away by My Old True Love. Can’t deny that this was a good book and solidly written. Just was hard for me to get enrolled in the story.
My rating - 3.5 stars.
March 24, 2017
Listening to this book brought me back to when I was a little girl listening to my grandparents chatting. The phrases and or sayings that are used in this story are phrases/sayings that I have heard all of my life but never thought too much about them until someone brings attention to it. I never thought too much about where some of these phrases originated from. The songs too, I can hear my grandma Ruby singing and whistling these same sounds. Some of the sayings in this story had me laughing out loud. This story gave me a little look at where the songs, stories and sayings of my family may have started. I have been researching my family roots for awhile now. This story brought to life my ancestors that were living in this very area during the setting and time period of this book.
I absolutely loved Ms. Forbe's performance! Her voice transformed me to the very place and time of the story. She really made the story and without her this story just wouldn't have been right.
I loved Granny and cried a little when she died. Such a strong beautiful woman, that the whole family looked to for comfort, answers and love. I have women like this in my family that she reminds me of. Which I suppose is the reason I felt emotional when she died.
The book is well written in my opinion. It gives you a real incite on the feelings and hard times of a good deal of the people living in that area during the Civil War era.
I absolutely loved Ms. Forbe's performance! Her voice transformed me to the very place and time of the story. She really made the story and without her this story just wouldn't have been right.
I loved Granny and cried a little when she died. Such a strong beautiful woman, that the whole family looked to for comfort, answers and love. I have women like this in my family that she reminds me of. Which I suppose is the reason I felt emotional when she died.
The book is well written in my opinion. It gives you a real incite on the feelings and hard times of a good deal of the people living in that area during the Civil War era.
February 4, 2017
One of the most beautiful novels I have ever read- the reader is transported to North Carolina in the mid to late 1800's to a rural community deep in the mountains of Appalachia. We meet Arty, as real a person as I've ever met, who shares her joys and struggles from her teen years onward. Arty marries well and raises a large family on a struggling farm, but the Civil War and heartbreak touch her and her surrounding community. Family connections and music play an integral part in the story, and the author makes you feel as though you are on the front porch with Arty and her family listening to her sing beautiful traditional ballads. This story would be perfect for book clubs, and is an absolute favorite of mine.
May 8, 2015
A beautiful book rich with imagery, prose and music of the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina. The first person pov was excellently crafted with humor and observation which sucked me right in. I am a bit disappointed that the author has just one other book to offer, I am hoping that there will be other books in the future. This book was simply magical and the storytelling was stellar which left me wanting for more.
May 22, 2017
Amazing. A beautifully written story about life, relationships, birth, loss, and death. I found it to be deeply spiritual without being the least bit religious. Poetic descriptions of nature and the world, and the effect of the Civil War on families. The songs were heartfelt, poignant, heartbreaking. I very rarely say this, but wouldn't this make a wonderful movie? Just a thought.
October 11, 2018
I remember many of these old songs from my childhood in Ohio. And the names, Roxyanna and Rosalie are names from my family. The story also familiar, and full of love and tragedy, just a wonderful tale.
April 16, 2024
Loved every word of this, in audio.
May 1, 2010
AAAHHH! I stayed up until 1:00am finishing this book because I was loving it so much...but then, THE ENDING RUINED IT. It was such a disappointment. The last few books I've read have all been great reads until the last quarter- I don't know what is up with that! Anyways, this book was like a fantastic mix between "These is my words" and "Cold Mountain." The heroine is full of life and humor and I really enjoyed her wit, and you feel like you KNOW her. But the plot weakened as the climatic ending approached...it was a great build up (with tragedy intermingled in a very authentic Shakespearean way) that just fell absolutely flat.
So close, yet so far away. Three stars for sure.
So close, yet so far away. Three stars for sure.
April 18, 2017
Oh how I adored this book! Like the tragic love songs of Europe that were carried over to Appalachia (and for which Sheila Kay Adams is well-known as a singer and historian of this dying art) her book is a tragic love song in itself. Beautifully written! The reader feels like she is sitting with the old woman Arty hearing about her life and the lives of her loved ones in a fireside telling. Anyone who loves the history of the south, especially Appalachia, and for those who enjoy wonderfully written stories that carry you along with the characters through the years of their lives, this book is a must-read. It touches the heart deeply. My Old True Love is a gem!
June 11, 2023
Loved this book! Old ballads, Civil War, heartbreaking, family connections, love, etc. The writing style took some getting used to but I mostly really enjoyed it. It made me slow down and really soak it in. There were a few parts that felt a little forced but overall, I loved this book.
October 22, 2011
Plucked right off my local library's shelves came this book and I am so glad that it caught my eye. This is the kind of book that you need to read a few times because you just know that there are so many depths to it that you couldn't possibly have caught them all the first time through.
My Thoughts:
I absolutely loved this book, but to tell the truth I had a minor love/hate relationship with it, especially in the beginning. I loved the story, I loved the characters, I loved the setting, and I loved the feeling I got from reading it. The only part that was difficult was how it was written and this is certainly nothing against the author. I think she did her job beautifully, and she could not have done better in celebrating her family history and heritage through it. The dialect was thick, but it was appropriate. The difficult part was that I haven't read something written this way in a while so I struggled.
Set in Appalachian North Carolina during the Civil War, the story is told through the eyes of an old Arty as she tells the story of her "son" Larking and brother Hackley. Their story is that of so many families during that time and it is really humbling to hear it.
Growing up very close to Appalachian Mountains, going to college there, and having a husband born and raised there have all put this area of the country very close to my heart. Some of my favorite books are set here...and we visit a few times a year so my interest in the area has grown and grown. Not only is it one of the most beautiful places on earth, it has also produced some of the most beautiful music ever.
I am a sucker for all things Appalachian, mountain, and music and this novel had all of that. The story was a tribute to the author's family and the Appalachian mountain ballads and it absolutely did that amazingly. The mountain ballads were such an beautiful part of this novel, I highly encourage you to check out more information on them at the end of the post, they are a type of music that needs more appreciation.
I think one of the most interesting parts of this book for readers is how very real the characters were and one of the great qualities of this novel was its characters and their story. I am always amazed at the stories of strength and perseverance that are found in women during this time period and this novel did not disappoint in that area.
The story wasn't an on the edge-of-your-seat, but it did keep me guessing...and after the first 50 pages it really got going. You wanted to find out what happened to Larkin, Hackley, and Arty...and the supporting characters along the way were just as engaging as the main ones.
My Thoughts:
I absolutely loved this book, but to tell the truth I had a minor love/hate relationship with it, especially in the beginning. I loved the story, I loved the characters, I loved the setting, and I loved the feeling I got from reading it. The only part that was difficult was how it was written and this is certainly nothing against the author. I think she did her job beautifully, and she could not have done better in celebrating her family history and heritage through it. The dialect was thick, but it was appropriate. The difficult part was that I haven't read something written this way in a while so I struggled.
Set in Appalachian North Carolina during the Civil War, the story is told through the eyes of an old Arty as she tells the story of her "son" Larking and brother Hackley. Their story is that of so many families during that time and it is really humbling to hear it.
Growing up very close to Appalachian Mountains, going to college there, and having a husband born and raised there have all put this area of the country very close to my heart. Some of my favorite books are set here...and we visit a few times a year so my interest in the area has grown and grown. Not only is it one of the most beautiful places on earth, it has also produced some of the most beautiful music ever.
I am a sucker for all things Appalachian, mountain, and music and this novel had all of that. The story was a tribute to the author's family and the Appalachian mountain ballads and it absolutely did that amazingly. The mountain ballads were such an beautiful part of this novel, I highly encourage you to check out more information on them at the end of the post, they are a type of music that needs more appreciation.
I think one of the most interesting parts of this book for readers is how very real the characters were and one of the great qualities of this novel was its characters and their story. I am always amazed at the stories of strength and perseverance that are found in women during this time period and this novel did not disappoint in that area.
The story wasn't an on the edge-of-your-seat, but it did keep me guessing...and after the first 50 pages it really got going. You wanted to find out what happened to Larkin, Hackley, and Arty...and the supporting characters along the way were just as engaging as the main ones.
August 19, 2017
"These were the days that I would look back on once I'd married with such a longing in my heart. Them were times that seemed almost magic--you know how it is when you remember your childhood. The sun is always shining or there's a big pretty snow on the ground, and you're young and never sick or tired, and everybody you ever loved is still living and your whole life is a big wide road stretched out in front of you just waiting for you to take that first step toward the living of it."
My Old True Love is a lovely historical fiction piece embodying a time of tragedy and hardship in North Carolina during the Civil War. Sheila Kay Adams tells a passionate and simple tale of life, love, and loss based largely on family history and traditional ballads passed down in the area. Throughout this book, there are times of warmth, love, and you truly feel sad as you read these characters and see them change and cope with life's changes. The characters are fleshed out and meet these changes on their own terms. I found the story very relate-able with strong characters and very beautiful scenery. The story is sad and nostalgic for a time that defined North Carolina and the families who once lived there. The primary criticisms I would direct at this piece are that the writing style is quite simple and there were passages of the book that I found long-drawn and redundant. Otherwise, I would strongly encourage Adams to continue writing as she is adept at painting emotion and beauty.
***
My Old True Love is a lovely historical fiction piece embodying a time of tragedy and hardship in North Carolina during the Civil War. Sheila Kay Adams tells a passionate and simple tale of life, love, and loss based largely on family history and traditional ballads passed down in the area. Throughout this book, there are times of warmth, love, and you truly feel sad as you read these characters and see them change and cope with life's changes. The characters are fleshed out and meet these changes on their own terms. I found the story very relate-able with strong characters and very beautiful scenery. The story is sad and nostalgic for a time that defined North Carolina and the families who once lived there. The primary criticisms I would direct at this piece are that the writing style is quite simple and there were passages of the book that I found long-drawn and redundant. Otherwise, I would strongly encourage Adams to continue writing as she is adept at painting emotion and beauty.
***
January 25, 2014
3.5/4
What I loved: the setting, the ballads, the character development. The family. I wish I could have heard the music.
What I didn't: the massive foreshadowing the author kept hitting me over the head with. Language and some sexuality that just didnt feel necessary and sometimes jarred me from what I was reading. I would not say the book was filled with it by any means, but it seemed to stand out to me rather than flow with the story.
Lovely story, though. Wonderful characters and I loved that the author didnt feel like they had to all be perfect. Usually when you read a story set in the civil war period you are right in the action. I enjoyed seeing it from Arty's viewpoint.
Funny: for the first chapter or so I thought arty was a man! I kept getting confused until she married zeke!
What I loved: the setting, the ballads, the character development. The family. I wish I could have heard the music.
What I didn't: the massive foreshadowing the author kept hitting me over the head with. Language and some sexuality that just didnt feel necessary and sometimes jarred me from what I was reading. I would not say the book was filled with it by any means, but it seemed to stand out to me rather than flow with the story.
Lovely story, though. Wonderful characters and I loved that the author didnt feel like they had to all be perfect. Usually when you read a story set in the civil war period you are right in the action. I enjoyed seeing it from Arty's viewpoint.
Funny: for the first chapter or so I thought arty was a man! I kept getting confused until she married zeke!
January 9, 2025
The five stars are for the audiobook. I would guess this might have been four stars if I had just read it, but hearing the folk songs sung was great, and the reading was perfect.
May 18, 2012
I am a collector of Appalachian literature and this book moves to the top on my favorites list. Taking places before, during and shortly after the Civil War this story is a portrayal of mountaineers and how they were victims of the war. They had no interest in any of the issues, did not want to take either side and could only suffer great loss, which they did. Mountaineers are strong, independent , hard working folks and they were represented as such in this book. I loved he lyrical, poetic rhythm of Adams writing. She also wove heritage and history though ballads and songs of old to tie together the story and to enhance the beauty. I found this book to be quite lovely and very moving.
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