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The Road from Gap Creek
One of America’s most acclaimed writers returns to the land on which he has staked a literary claim to paint an indelible portrait of a family in a time of unprecedented change. In a compelling weaving of fact and fiction, Robert Morgan introduces a family’s captivating story, set during World War II and the Great Depression. Driven by the uncertainties of the future, the family struggles to define itself against the vivid Appalachian landscape. The Road from Gap Creek explores modern American history through the lives of an ordinary family persevering through extraordinary times.
352 pages, Paperback
First published August 27, 2013
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About the author
Robert Morgan
282 books398 followersRobert Morgan is an American poet, short story writer, and novelist.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 243 reviews
December 23, 2015
Two and a half stars
I read Gap Creek many years ago and loved it, so I was excited to see a new book by Robert Morgan. This one starts with a sad event from World War two and then goes back in time as Annie, daughter of Hank and Julie, remembers incidents about her brother, growing up and relationships and The Great Depression. While I enjoyed the voice of the novel I found it rather like reading a stream of consciousness as it meandered around from one time to another. I have to admit I’m always a sucker for book with dogs in them and Old Pat ended up being my favourite character.
Not sure whether my reading taste has changed that much over the years, whether my expectations were too high or I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind but I found I was never that excited to get back to reading this book. While enjoyed the characters and setting I didn’t like the meandering way of telling the story. I felt like I was being dragged all over the place.
So while I enjoyed aspects of this book I was overall a bit disappointed that it did not live up to my expectations. If you are in the mood for a gentle read and don’t mind being whisked around from one time frame to another, then you may enjoy it more than I did.
I read Gap Creek many years ago and loved it, so I was excited to see a new book by Robert Morgan. This one starts with a sad event from World War two and then goes back in time as Annie, daughter of Hank and Julie, remembers incidents about her brother, growing up and relationships and The Great Depression. While I enjoyed the voice of the novel I found it rather like reading a stream of consciousness as it meandered around from one time to another. I have to admit I’m always a sucker for book with dogs in them and Old Pat ended up being my favourite character.
Not sure whether my reading taste has changed that much over the years, whether my expectations were too high or I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind but I found I was never that excited to get back to reading this book. While enjoyed the characters and setting I didn’t like the meandering way of telling the story. I felt like I was being dragged all over the place.
So while I enjoyed aspects of this book I was overall a bit disappointed that it did not live up to my expectations. If you are in the mood for a gentle read and don’t mind being whisked around from one time frame to another, then you may enjoy it more than I did.
January 19, 2014
I was eager to read Robert Morgan’s sequel to his 1999 novel “Gap Creek.” Though the plot was by now a dim memory, I recalled having liked the book very much. However, I’m guessing that this one will fade into oblivion rather quickly.
Annie Richards, daughter of Hank and Julie, protagonists of “Gap Creek,” is an appealing narrator: sympathetic, observant, honest. Her story covers about 25 years, beginning with the move from Gap Creek, SC, to Green River, NC, when she was five. Including the years of the Great Depression and World War II, Annie tells how these momentous events affected isolated and independent families leading hardscrabble lives in the Appalachians.
My issue with “The Road from Gap Creek” is the way Annie tells her story. It is episodic, zigzagging back and forth through time in a somewhat confusing fashion, and focusing on snippets of memory. These were often described in short bits that gave a flavor of the characters but at the same time kept them at a distance. Annie dwells mostly on her younger brother Troy, her mother Julie, and herself; inexplicably (to me), Troy’s dog Old Pat gets an awful lot of coverage, as does his selfish, emotional fiancee Sharon. Annie’s other siblings and father Hank are minor characters.
As a result of the mixed-up chronology, I found it hard to keep track of time in the novel. The reader was sometimes unaware that years had passed, as was the case with Annie’s search for love. Although she sprinkled reports of her frustrating and futile dating efforts throughout the narrative, I was shocked to learn she was 27 by the time she married. Also, I lost track of certain plot threads, only to realize later that they were just allowed to fray.
For me the most poignant description in the book was that of the war’s effect on Julie. This was Annie’s narration at its best: we learn about Julie’s nature, understand the causes, and watch sadly as she changes. I realized that other characters got short shrift in comparison.
I am struggling with my two-star rating; this sequel certainly had its touching aspects -- but I realize I wanted to like it so much more than I actually did.
Annie Richards, daughter of Hank and Julie, protagonists of “Gap Creek,” is an appealing narrator: sympathetic, observant, honest. Her story covers about 25 years, beginning with the move from Gap Creek, SC, to Green River, NC, when she was five. Including the years of the Great Depression and World War II, Annie tells how these momentous events affected isolated and independent families leading hardscrabble lives in the Appalachians.
My issue with “The Road from Gap Creek” is the way Annie tells her story. It is episodic, zigzagging back and forth through time in a somewhat confusing fashion, and focusing on snippets of memory. These were often described in short bits that gave a flavor of the characters but at the same time kept them at a distance. Annie dwells mostly on her younger brother Troy, her mother Julie, and herself; inexplicably (to me), Troy’s dog Old Pat gets an awful lot of coverage, as does his selfish, emotional fiancee Sharon. Annie’s other siblings and father Hank are minor characters.
As a result of the mixed-up chronology, I found it hard to keep track of time in the novel. The reader was sometimes unaware that years had passed, as was the case with Annie’s search for love. Although she sprinkled reports of her frustrating and futile dating efforts throughout the narrative, I was shocked to learn she was 27 by the time she married. Also, I lost track of certain plot threads, only to realize later that they were just allowed to fray.
For me the most poignant description in the book was that of the war’s effect on Julie. This was Annie’s narration at its best: we learn about Julie’s nature, understand the causes, and watch sadly as she changes. I realized that other characters got short shrift in comparison.
I am struggling with my two-star rating; this sequel certainly had its touching aspects -- but I realize I wanted to like it so much more than I actually did.
July 31, 2013
This is a true gentle read.
Morgan continues the family saga he began in Gap Creek : A Novel.
The Road From Gap Creek is narrated by the younger daughter of Julia, the heroine of Gap Creek. She tells the family story in a slow stream of memories. We begin the story with the death of the narrator's older brother in WWII. Annie weaves her childhood in with memories of family life as friends and relatives gather for the funeral. The book moves from the family's arrival at Gap Creek in the boom years of the twenties, through the Depression, WWII and the promise of post war prosperity. The characters are very real and down to earth. Morgan creates a realistic small southern town setting complete with rival churches, eccentric neighbors and even an exceptionally bright family dog.
I would recommend this novel to fans of Gap Creek and to anyone who wants a simple stress free summer read.
Morgan continues the family saga he began in Gap Creek : A Novel.
The Road From Gap Creek is narrated by the younger daughter of Julia, the heroine of Gap Creek. She tells the family story in a slow stream of memories. We begin the story with the death of the narrator's older brother in WWII. Annie weaves her childhood in with memories of family life as friends and relatives gather for the funeral. The book moves from the family's arrival at Gap Creek in the boom years of the twenties, through the Depression, WWII and the promise of post war prosperity. The characters are very real and down to earth. Morgan creates a realistic small southern town setting complete with rival churches, eccentric neighbors and even an exceptionally bright family dog.
I would recommend this novel to fans of Gap Creek and to anyone who wants a simple stress free summer read.
August 22, 2014
just finished reading The road from Gap Creek and Gap Creek, in that order. The descriptive writing in these books is supurb. I thoroughly enjoyed reading both and they gave me such insight as to what the lives of my grandparents and great grandparents must have been like. I know they ate their share of cornmeal mush and made their own jelly and bread and grew their own fruits and vegetables as did my grandparents and my father. I too have eaten my share of fried mush and it's something I still like to eat. I can't wait to read other books by Robert Morgan, whom I just discovered.
July 12, 2014
Full disclosure, Robert Morgan was my first creative writing professor and academic adviser in college. After the passage of many years, I met him at the Millbrook (NY) Literary festival. I had read Gap Creek and his collection of short stories, The Balm of Gilead Tree, and knew of his many other works that I hadn't read but should. I had long admired him for staking out and then exploring in minutest detail a specific literary and physical territory -- the Mountain South. The Road from Gap Creek continues the story started in Gap Creek and the exploration of how people subsisted "in the remote valleys, in hidden coves, or in clearings high on mountainsides" in the early 20th Century. The narrator, Annie Richards, recounts the story of her own life from girlhood to motherhood, at the same time telling the story of America as national and world events seep into the most isolated corners of the Mountain South. The story is told in a dialect that quickly begins to sound like music to the mind's ear. The images are vivid, even images of things a reader accustomed to the comforts of the the 21st Century may never have seen or heard about. (There are many.) The story is compelling -- grand events happening on a small scale. But what impressed me the most is that the book not only depicts a way of life but captures how a person reflects on her life.
September 21, 2013
I loved Gap Creek, except for the ending. This one picks up where that one left off, a few years later, and continues with the story of Julie and Hank, as told through the eyes of their daughter, Annie. This is so good I know I will read it over again in a few years. It tells so many of the domestic routines of a family trying to survive. It reminds me of stories I heard from my mother and grandmother. This goes in my top ten books!
April 15, 2016
Troy was an athlete, an artist, and a soldier. He had kin, brothers and sisters, his death brings grief upon the family concerned in this story. One sister in particular, the narrator of this tale in first person narrative, the wonderful Annie, her voice, her world view, the world according to her, her keen perspective on the world as we know it is the stuff that makes this such a great tale, by the end you feel you know Annie, you’ve learned of her through her coming of age and family trials, the authors characterisation and empathy crafted in this work was spot on and he depicts her with great skill in showing her to us in this wonderful story. The story was set in testing times the great depression and Pearl Harbour.
Though shall forever remember her, her journey, her love, her losses, her gains, and her struggle to find tears in a testing time that awaits its weeping in this tale.
From her naievty of youth to her wisdom of age you will love this walk that this capable author has immersed you in.
There is a presence of death and loss like that of his bestseller Gap Creek for me this novel had me hooked more than Gap Creek.
Read the excerpts and you can get a taste of the voice of Annie and her sometimes humorous understandings.
“Now when we got to the house, Papa walked straight to Mama where she set by the bread safe. He put his hand on her shoulder, but she didn’t even look up at him. I’d seen her do that before. She couldn’t stand to be comforted or show affection in front of anybody. He’d touch her, try to put his arm around her, and she’d just pay him no heed. I thought she was too shy to show her feelings when another person was looking. Maybe she thought her and Papa was too old to act intimate. But when she just set there paying no attention to Papa reaching out to her at that awful moment, I seen it was something else. She’d give her life to working for other people and caring for other people. She’d put up with Papas whims and rages, and all it had led to was this. She’d lived on grits and molasses when they was young down on Gap Creek. She’d give everything to raise her children, and she had lost her favorite child. She didn’t want to show no emotion anymore.”
“I never did understand why men was attracted to me. For I was never much attracted to them. Or I guess I was and I wasn’t. It was a kind of surprise when I was about thirteen and just beginning to show breasts and to have hips you could notice that I seen men watching me. It was a little scary to catch men and big boys always looking at my legs. My legs was just beginning to get their shape then. I was a skinny little thing when I was a girl, and the dresses we wore in those days went down to your ankles almost. But I’d see men looking at my ankles and calves. Men always look at a woman’s legs first. I reckon they can’t help it.
When you’re a little girl it don’t occur to you how fascinating a woman’s butt is to a man. And even if it did, you wouldn’t be able to talk about it. But it was shivery to find a man studying your behind, especially when you walked, like they couldn’t take their eyes off it. And if you caught them looking, most turned away, like they was ashamed of enjoying the sight of your rear end. But some didn’t care at all. They’d look you right in the eye and grin. The bold men was the scariest. They’d stare at you like they could see everything under your dress, like you didn’t have no clothes on at all.
There is a way in which men just seem like animals, compared to women. Most of the time all men think about is their bellies. The saying is that the way to a man’s heart is through his belly, and I reckon that’s true, as far as it goes. Men will set down at the table and eat like hogs, they will. And when nobody ain’t looking they’ll go out in the garden and eat four ripe tomatoes or half a watermelon that has cooled overnight and still has dew on it.”
“Oh, about fifty miles,” Papa said, and laughed.
The road went through a holler between thickets of laurel bushes deeper and deeper and I heard the roar of water. The noise of a waterfall is like a warning. It makes you shudder.
The road come out of the laurels beside a pool, and above the pool a long gray beard of water fell off the lip of rock and tumbled down a slope rough as a washboard. The roar by itself made you think it was something terrible, like the end of the world.
Beyond the falls the road wound on around the hill and plunged down again so steep Papa had to pull on the wagon brake and you could hear the wheel scrubbing on the wood of the brake. My knees got sore from going down the steep hill.
Finally we come to a field and the road run along the edge of the field and dropped into the river. Papa stopped the horse right at the bank. He told Velmer to tie the cows rope to the back of the wagon. Then he pointed up the river to a foot log and told us to cross there.
Now I’d crossed little foot logs over Gap Creek that bounced and swayed but wasn’t too long. But this was a big foot log high up over the river. There was a handrail to hold on to, but I stepped up on the end of the log and stopped. The swirl of water far below made me dizzy.
I watched Effie walk across the swaying log and my knees felt weak. Leaves floated by on the water below. Birch trees and maple trees leaned out over the river. I thought of getting down and crawling across the log. Papa had already drove the wagon across the ford and stopped on the other side.”
“I DON’T RECKON anybody could see the Depression coming on, unless it was the preachers. Preachers kept saying the world was coming to an end or coming to a terrible punishment for the sins that people had done. It was a terrible time of bootlegging and gangsters and wild parties in the cities, and girls that cut off nearly all their hair and acted like they’d gone crazy, wearing lipstick and rouge and smoking cigarettes in public. But preachers talk that way, don’t they? Preachers always sec doom and tribulation. That’s how they get people to come up to the altar and get saved and join their church and give their money to the collection. They get them scared and then they keep them scared.
But nobody I knew could tell what was going to happen when we heard the stock market way up north crashed and people jumped out of windows. I thought a stock market was a place where they sold horses and cattle. It sounded like a whole building that had burned and fell down. I was in my last year of high school and everybody seemed to be talking about the Wall Street Panic.”
“When we got outside and walked down the steps the sunlight was almost blinding. It was not a sunny day, but the light in the clouds was glaring. It seemed almost strange to me to come out of the church and see the trees and feel the wind. I was almost surprised to see the road and the fields, the parked cars and cattle in the pasture, and the gray and blue mountains, and everything going on about its business, like nothing had happened in the church, nothing had been said. There seemed little connection between the words inside the church and what went on outside. But the strangeness was not bad. In fact it was comforting, to see the peacefulness of the shrubbery and parking lot, going on in time as always. It was both good and scary to see that time didn’t stop for nothing. We might all be getting older, and a dear one was gone, but life and time went on, no matter about the talk of hell and heaven, sin and getting saved.”
Review also @ http://more2read.com/review/road-gap-creek-robert-morgan/
Though shall forever remember her, her journey, her love, her losses, her gains, and her struggle to find tears in a testing time that awaits its weeping in this tale.
From her naievty of youth to her wisdom of age you will love this walk that this capable author has immersed you in.
There is a presence of death and loss like that of his bestseller Gap Creek for me this novel had me hooked more than Gap Creek.
Read the excerpts and you can get a taste of the voice of Annie and her sometimes humorous understandings.
“Now when we got to the house, Papa walked straight to Mama where she set by the bread safe. He put his hand on her shoulder, but she didn’t even look up at him. I’d seen her do that before. She couldn’t stand to be comforted or show affection in front of anybody. He’d touch her, try to put his arm around her, and she’d just pay him no heed. I thought she was too shy to show her feelings when another person was looking. Maybe she thought her and Papa was too old to act intimate. But when she just set there paying no attention to Papa reaching out to her at that awful moment, I seen it was something else. She’d give her life to working for other people and caring for other people. She’d put up with Papas whims and rages, and all it had led to was this. She’d lived on grits and molasses when they was young down on Gap Creek. She’d give everything to raise her children, and she had lost her favorite child. She didn’t want to show no emotion anymore.”
“I never did understand why men was attracted to me. For I was never much attracted to them. Or I guess I was and I wasn’t. It was a kind of surprise when I was about thirteen and just beginning to show breasts and to have hips you could notice that I seen men watching me. It was a little scary to catch men and big boys always looking at my legs. My legs was just beginning to get their shape then. I was a skinny little thing when I was a girl, and the dresses we wore in those days went down to your ankles almost. But I’d see men looking at my ankles and calves. Men always look at a woman’s legs first. I reckon they can’t help it.
When you’re a little girl it don’t occur to you how fascinating a woman’s butt is to a man. And even if it did, you wouldn’t be able to talk about it. But it was shivery to find a man studying your behind, especially when you walked, like they couldn’t take their eyes off it. And if you caught them looking, most turned away, like they was ashamed of enjoying the sight of your rear end. But some didn’t care at all. They’d look you right in the eye and grin. The bold men was the scariest. They’d stare at you like they could see everything under your dress, like you didn’t have no clothes on at all.
There is a way in which men just seem like animals, compared to women. Most of the time all men think about is their bellies. The saying is that the way to a man’s heart is through his belly, and I reckon that’s true, as far as it goes. Men will set down at the table and eat like hogs, they will. And when nobody ain’t looking they’ll go out in the garden and eat four ripe tomatoes or half a watermelon that has cooled overnight and still has dew on it.”
“Oh, about fifty miles,” Papa said, and laughed.
The road went through a holler between thickets of laurel bushes deeper and deeper and I heard the roar of water. The noise of a waterfall is like a warning. It makes you shudder.
The road come out of the laurels beside a pool, and above the pool a long gray beard of water fell off the lip of rock and tumbled down a slope rough as a washboard. The roar by itself made you think it was something terrible, like the end of the world.
Beyond the falls the road wound on around the hill and plunged down again so steep Papa had to pull on the wagon brake and you could hear the wheel scrubbing on the wood of the brake. My knees got sore from going down the steep hill.
Finally we come to a field and the road run along the edge of the field and dropped into the river. Papa stopped the horse right at the bank. He told Velmer to tie the cows rope to the back of the wagon. Then he pointed up the river to a foot log and told us to cross there.
Now I’d crossed little foot logs over Gap Creek that bounced and swayed but wasn’t too long. But this was a big foot log high up over the river. There was a handrail to hold on to, but I stepped up on the end of the log and stopped. The swirl of water far below made me dizzy.
I watched Effie walk across the swaying log and my knees felt weak. Leaves floated by on the water below. Birch trees and maple trees leaned out over the river. I thought of getting down and crawling across the log. Papa had already drove the wagon across the ford and stopped on the other side.”
“I DON’T RECKON anybody could see the Depression coming on, unless it was the preachers. Preachers kept saying the world was coming to an end or coming to a terrible punishment for the sins that people had done. It was a terrible time of bootlegging and gangsters and wild parties in the cities, and girls that cut off nearly all their hair and acted like they’d gone crazy, wearing lipstick and rouge and smoking cigarettes in public. But preachers talk that way, don’t they? Preachers always sec doom and tribulation. That’s how they get people to come up to the altar and get saved and join their church and give their money to the collection. They get them scared and then they keep them scared.
But nobody I knew could tell what was going to happen when we heard the stock market way up north crashed and people jumped out of windows. I thought a stock market was a place where they sold horses and cattle. It sounded like a whole building that had burned and fell down. I was in my last year of high school and everybody seemed to be talking about the Wall Street Panic.”
“When we got outside and walked down the steps the sunlight was almost blinding. It was not a sunny day, but the light in the clouds was glaring. It seemed almost strange to me to come out of the church and see the trees and feel the wind. I was almost surprised to see the road and the fields, the parked cars and cattle in the pasture, and the gray and blue mountains, and everything going on about its business, like nothing had happened in the church, nothing had been said. There seemed little connection between the words inside the church and what went on outside. But the strangeness was not bad. In fact it was comforting, to see the peacefulness of the shrubbery and parking lot, going on in time as always. It was both good and scary to see that time didn’t stop for nothing. We might all be getting older, and a dear one was gone, but life and time went on, no matter about the talk of hell and heaven, sin and getting saved.”
Review also @ http://more2read.com/review/road-gap-creek-robert-morgan/
November 14, 2013
I'm not sure why I kept pushing through this book, but I was able to finish it. There was nothing wrong with the writing. I think Robert Morgan is a wonderful writer, however, I hated the way this book was put together. It was so dis-jointed! It went back and forth, back and forth, back and forth- through the whole book. It was so hard to tell which time it was in and it wasn't chronological either. So, it is written with the main character Annie remembering the life of herself and her brother. But sometimes she would remember things that happened, for instance, when she was a teenager and then the next chapter she would be a young child. There were also a lot of stories involving the family dog which I loved, but again, she would remember a story about when she was a 2 year old dog and then the next one it would be about when she was a puppy or when they first got her! It just seemed to have no order. I just don't have the time to sit and read a book from cover to cover and when you have to come back to a book and go, ok, now where was I? It was really hard to tell because it jumped all over the place. I blame the editors for this. I think it could have been put together a lot better. To me it was written almost like it was her diary, only not even that, because there would have been some order to a journal. It needed some dates at the top of the chapters or even a year, so you had some reference or something. I did enjoy the ending when it finally caught up to present day and just stayed there for the last couple of chapters. Had I been the editor I would have started the book there and had Annie reminisce about her life, but do it in order. I don't know, maybe other people wouldn't have had that hard of a time with it, but I sure did. Also, the title implies that this is the story of how Julie and Hank make it from Gap Creek. It's not!
March 1, 2016
I remember reading "Gap Creek" several years ago. I would recommend for anyone that has not read this novel to not continue on with this review since there are details that are included which would spoil you on the preceding work.
When I read "Gap Creek" several years ago and was instantly transported into Julie's world. I remember crying at certain points in the novel and hoping for Julie's sake that the rest of her life would not be filled with as much sorrow as it had been to that point.
This sequel, "The Road from Gap Creek" picks up the tale of the Richards family told through the eyes of Julie and Hank's daughter, Annie.
I want to say first that I really loved the writing in this novel. Mr. Morgan seems to have the dialect down for pre-War World II South Carolina. I usually cannot stand to see patois in books but in this novel I honestly never noticed it or when I did it did not hamper my ability to read the novel.
That said I really didn't enjoy this novel as much as I did "Gap Creek" due to the chronology of the story and how we really don't get to revisit Julie except through the eyes of her daughter.
Mr. Morgan chose to tell the novel out of order. We have Annie starting towards the end in providing significant details on her family. Then we jump back, jump to the middle, go back to the beginning, jump forward, etc. Since it was told out of order that way I really did not feel as affected as I should have with some of the storylines in this novel. It could be because Mr. Morgan chose to let us know the outcome of several important storylines right away so as a reader I was less invested when we have Annie going back in time and providing details on things such as her brother when we find out fairly early what his fate will be.
Also though I did enjoy Annie's "voice" in this novel I still missed Juile. We really don't get to see except for a few select passages how she is affected by things. Due to Annie being more focused on being an actress, boys, her brother, etc. we only really get a few peeks into the lives of her parents which made me sad. I really wanted to know how about the years immediately after Hank and Julie left Gap Creek and if she was happy that she had other children that grew up and lived.
Please note that I received this novel via the Amazon Vine Program.
When I read "Gap Creek" several years ago and was instantly transported into Julie's world. I remember crying at certain points in the novel and hoping for Julie's sake that the rest of her life would not be filled with as much sorrow as it had been to that point.
This sequel, "The Road from Gap Creek" picks up the tale of the Richards family told through the eyes of Julie and Hank's daughter, Annie.
I want to say first that I really loved the writing in this novel. Mr. Morgan seems to have the dialect down for pre-War World II South Carolina. I usually cannot stand to see patois in books but in this novel I honestly never noticed it or when I did it did not hamper my ability to read the novel.
That said I really didn't enjoy this novel as much as I did "Gap Creek" due to the chronology of the story and how we really don't get to revisit Julie except through the eyes of her daughter.
Mr. Morgan chose to tell the novel out of order. We have Annie starting towards the end in providing significant details on her family. Then we jump back, jump to the middle, go back to the beginning, jump forward, etc. Since it was told out of order that way I really did not feel as affected as I should have with some of the storylines in this novel. It could be because Mr. Morgan chose to let us know the outcome of several important storylines right away so as a reader I was less invested when we have Annie going back in time and providing details on things such as her brother when we find out fairly early what his fate will be.
Also though I did enjoy Annie's "voice" in this novel I still missed Juile. We really don't get to see except for a few select passages how she is affected by things. Due to Annie being more focused on being an actress, boys, her brother, etc. we only really get a few peeks into the lives of her parents which made me sad. I really wanted to know how about the years immediately after Hank and Julie left Gap Creek and if she was happy that she had other children that grew up and lived.
Please note that I received this novel via the Amazon Vine Program.
February 2, 2014
I read Morgan's earlier book, Gap Creek, during the summer. I read my way into the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and North Carolina, into the lives of those living there in the early 20th century, especially Julie and Hank Richards. Written through the voice of Julie, this book lulled me into the everyday-ness of their lives, the good days and the very bad days. The book was lyrical, poetic at times and thoroughly engrossing.
The Road from Gap Creek is new and an equally satisfying sequel. We return to the mountains, this time to the Richard family's life in the North Carolina Blue Ridges during the Depression years and WWII. Now Annie, Julie and Hanks daughter is telling the story in the same lyrical, calm voice that her mother spoke. The book begins during the war, but her stories take us back and forth through the years until we get a clear view of the Richards family, of Annie's girlhood, of their beloved dog Old Pat, of her brothers and her sister. We live in their community, within their church, in the mountains, and we experience life as it was then, as beautiful and difficult as life can be today.
There is an unfolding in both of these books. They are not books with exciting plot lines or terrifying conclusions. They are books about life, about family, about real people. The plot is simply that of people living their lives with choices to make, with the happiness and sadness that comes to all. As one looking in on the Richards family, the reader learns to love these people and to make them one's own.
Fast paced this book is not. Gentle, real, moving, lovely. When this poem ends, it is quiet, calm, and hopeful. I hope Robert Morgan will take us back to Carolina and the next generation who came over from Gap Creek.
The Road from Gap Creek is new and an equally satisfying sequel. We return to the mountains, this time to the Richard family's life in the North Carolina Blue Ridges during the Depression years and WWII. Now Annie, Julie and Hanks daughter is telling the story in the same lyrical, calm voice that her mother spoke. The book begins during the war, but her stories take us back and forth through the years until we get a clear view of the Richards family, of Annie's girlhood, of their beloved dog Old Pat, of her brothers and her sister. We live in their community, within their church, in the mountains, and we experience life as it was then, as beautiful and difficult as life can be today.
There is an unfolding in both of these books. They are not books with exciting plot lines or terrifying conclusions. They are books about life, about family, about real people. The plot is simply that of people living their lives with choices to make, with the happiness and sadness that comes to all. As one looking in on the Richards family, the reader learns to love these people and to make them one's own.
Fast paced this book is not. Gentle, real, moving, lovely. When this poem ends, it is quiet, calm, and hopeful. I hope Robert Morgan will take us back to Carolina and the next generation who came over from Gap Creek.
November 15, 2013
The best book I’ve read this year. Actually, the best book I’ve read in several years. While it is historical fiction about the Great Depression and WWII, it isn’t action and adventure and thrilling tales. It’s a quiet tale of ordinary people trying to make a living and survive in rural North Carolina. And it includes a wonderful dog story – “Old Pat” was a little like Lassie, Rin-Tin-Tin and Old Yeller rolled into one extremely smart German Shepherd.
The book starts with an army official coming to let the Richards family know that their youngest son, Troy, has been killed in WWII. As the book continues, Annie, Troy’s sister, reminisces about her younger brother’s life. As the book unfolds, you come to understand what a good, decent young man Troy was and how great the loss was to Annie and her family. Robert Morgan has such a gift in describing everyday occurrences – a summer hail storm, swimming and fishing in the river, the changing seasons.
This is Robert Morgan’s second novel about the Richards family. (Not necessary to read the first book, Gap Creek, though. These are completely stand-alone novels.) In both books, he uses a female narrator, and it’s hard to believe he can so accurately capture a woman’s voice and feelings. I’m hoping there may be a third novel about this family in the future.
The book starts with an army official coming to let the Richards family know that their youngest son, Troy, has been killed in WWII. As the book continues, Annie, Troy’s sister, reminisces about her younger brother’s life. As the book unfolds, you come to understand what a good, decent young man Troy was and how great the loss was to Annie and her family. Robert Morgan has such a gift in describing everyday occurrences – a summer hail storm, swimming and fishing in the river, the changing seasons.
This is Robert Morgan’s second novel about the Richards family. (Not necessary to read the first book, Gap Creek, though. These are completely stand-alone novels.) In both books, he uses a female narrator, and it’s hard to believe he can so accurately capture a woman’s voice and feelings. I’m hoping there may be a third novel about this family in the future.
January 1, 2015
This story is the sequel to Gap Creek, told by the viewpoint of Hank and Julie's daughter Annie. The story opens as they receive the news that the youngest son of the family, Troy, has been killed in action overseas. As the family deals with their loss, Annie reflects back over the years since her family left Gap Creek,, from the 1920's, throughout the Great Depression, and the early years of World War II, and how the events of history touched their lives in the Appalachian region of North Carolina.
Even though this is a sequel, it totally works as a stand alone story, but I highly recommend reading Gap Creek first, the story of the early years of Hank and Julie's marriage, for a richer reading experience.
I really enjoyed this story; many of the characters were based on people in the authors own family, and the love he had for his parents and grandparents really shine through in this story with the richly drawn characters.
I won a free paperback copy of this book from Library Thing; I was not required to give it a positive review, only an honest one, but I can honestly say, this book is awewome!
Even though this is a sequel, it totally works as a stand alone story, but I highly recommend reading Gap Creek first, the story of the early years of Hank and Julie's marriage, for a richer reading experience.
I really enjoyed this story; many of the characters were based on people in the authors own family, and the love he had for his parents and grandparents really shine through in this story with the richly drawn characters.
I won a free paperback copy of this book from Library Thing; I was not required to give it a positive review, only an honest one, but I can honestly say, this book is awewome!
April 25, 2023
What a fantastic book! Truly hits the spot in me that enjoys reading and listening to the bygone era. I grew up listening to both of my parents talking about life on their parents farms in Appalachia (Kentucky and Ohio) I never tired of hearing about coal mining, tobacco raising, moonshine (and running moonshine!) and putting up your own food. Too much to relate in my review of how much this book reminded me of my parents background. Robert Morgan is one of my favorite authors.
May 25, 2018
A book that is sad and so hopeful about the future. So much lost in the mountains of North Carolina where the book is set, but The Great Depression and the Second World War changes the people of the mountains forever and life continues despite the hardships.
November 20, 2016
This book was OK, but not great. The Richards family are poor, but honest, hardworking, good Christian people. They are emotionally undemonstrative and seem to have almost no inner lives or thoughts. Their lives are just one damn thing after another. This doesn't make for a compelling story. I just couldn't get interested in the narrator, Annie Richards, whose name we don't learn until well into the book, and although the central plot point in the book is the family tragedy of the death of favorite brother, Troy, in World War II, I just didn't find myself moved by Troy's loss in the same way that the characters are. The narration is focused much more on events than on people. The descriptions of the characters are sparse to the point that I couldn't really form a picture of any of them but Muir, and although they live in one of the most beautiful places on the planet, there is very little description of their surroundings.
I recently read another book about poor white rural people -- "The Memory of Old Jack" by Wendell Berry, which was a richer, more interesting story that was much more beautifully written. Even "Hillbilly Elegy" by JD Vance, although a memoir that was written with a very different purpose than this book, is a stronger piece of writing with fascinating characters who jumped off the page and pulled me in. I suppose that most people lead prosaic lives, but the Berry and Vance books show that even uneducated people who get up in the morning sometimes wondering if they will have enough to eat can have lives with spark and color that make them interesting subject matter for a book.
I recently read another book about poor white rural people -- "The Memory of Old Jack" by Wendell Berry, which was a richer, more interesting story that was much more beautifully written. Even "Hillbilly Elegy" by JD Vance, although a memoir that was written with a very different purpose than this book, is a stronger piece of writing with fascinating characters who jumped off the page and pulled me in. I suppose that most people lead prosaic lives, but the Berry and Vance books show that even uneducated people who get up in the morning sometimes wondering if they will have enough to eat can have lives with spark and color that make them interesting subject matter for a book.
November 1, 2013
Robert Morgan's "Road from Gap Creek" will please those who love his depictions of Appalachian people who survive the onslaught of changes foisted upon them by national and international events. Or who are forever changed because of forces beyond their control. The novel shares characters from the old "backwoods" Gap Creek community forced by circumstance to move closer to the amenities and employment they need for survival. It is still an Appalachian culture, but it is like all rural cultures, being invaded by economic change as small farms are no longer viable, population invasion from outsiders seeking mountain "getaways," national economic depression and international war.
Once past the narrator's determined insertion of every imaginable grammatical error ever imagined as coming from a mountain girl's mouth, I found parts of the novel beautiful and effective. Morgan "sneaks" in some opinions about regional circumstances and practices, and invasive populations of the time through the voice of Annie, his narrator.
When he allows himself the leisure of his own beautiful voice, which I wish he'd used more often, the book just sings with his knowledge of a lifetime from the past, a people with courage, and, especially, with his understanding of the richness of his own homeward landscape.
Once past the narrator's determined insertion of every imaginable grammatical error ever imagined as coming from a mountain girl's mouth, I found parts of the novel beautiful and effective. Morgan "sneaks" in some opinions about regional circumstances and practices, and invasive populations of the time through the voice of Annie, his narrator.
When he allows himself the leisure of his own beautiful voice, which I wish he'd used more often, the book just sings with his knowledge of a lifetime from the past, a people with courage, and, especially, with his understanding of the richness of his own homeward landscape.
June 12, 2014
This book centered on an interesting concept, but the writing fell flat. The narrator, Annie, tells a simple, but moving story of life in the North Carolina mountains during World War II and the Great Depression. The reader follows Annie and her family and friends through decades of hard times and their struggles to maintain an existence. Annie starts the tale as a young girl living in a simple cabin but the story quickly ends when Annie is around 30. Annie returns many times to certain events and the reader begins to think she is a feeble old woman who cannot remember what part of the story she has already told. The jumping back and forth from the different times did not work well. Many events focused on a younger brother, Troy, and his dog, Old Pat. Morgan attempted to write the language as the people, but the nuances were not captured. As usual, I like to learn something new, which I did. I learned about the “dog days of summer”.
January 1, 2025
I would have finished this one way faster if I weren't self-isolated with my whole family!! This book is written from the point of view of a woman who tells the stories of her family. There is no real chronology evident. But the characters and the place come to life on the page. I love stories that are set in the south, especially if they use the dialect correctly. This one was set very close to where I grew up and I could hear the dialog coming from the mouths of my friends and family - if we were living in the 1920s. I loved that this story felt like it was an oral history transcribed exactly as the author heard it from his great grandma. If you have trouble with books using improper grammar - this book ain't for you. But if you want to know what life was like in real rural North Carolina during the depression, set a spell and have a listen.
August 23, 2016
I read Gap Creek years ago and fell in love with the setting, the characters, the plot. The entire novel was absolutely amazing and I was thrilled that Morgan decided to extend the characters into a second novel. Although not an entrancing as the first, it was still an absolute wonderful read with highly developed characters and a gripping plot. Morgan is a gifted storyteller who will grab hold of you and make you become part of the novel.
May 23, 2019
I really liked this book. The story drew me in quickly and held my attention. Somewhere about the middle the story changed and instead of a story, seemed more like random pages from a journal, or memories that weren't always in the right place on the timeline of the story. That being said, I still really enjoyed the book and I look forwarded to reading more from this author.
In my opinion, the random memories that did not stay true to the timeline kept it from being a five star book.
In my opinion, the random memories that did not stay true to the timeline kept it from being a five star book.
October 25, 2013
This would have been more like 3 1/2 stars if Goodreads allowed halfs........good story, not much action. Narrative kept flipping back between the present time and the death of Troy, the golden child, in WWII, and the memories of the past. Good story, just wanted a little more to happen.
May 3, 2014
Morgan captures the region well - and I resonated with memories liked the canned peaches and coconut cake for dessert. The writing was good, but I wanted a bit more plot movement. The audio is read very well.
February 4, 2015
I really liked this book because it felt like a walk back in time with a family member. I could just picture my aunt telling this story about her life - very familiar and comfortable. I especially liked the Old Pat scenes - what a dog!
November 5, 2021
I read a few hours, but really couldn’t get engaged with this as a whole book. Well enough written, but the structure was disjointed.
May 4, 2018
The vernacular in this story is essential to the mood it creates for the reader. Both the character dialog and the narration, which in in first person, talk using the vernacular of country folk in the middle of the twentieth century. This aspect of the story could make or break it for the reader. It could very easily come off as annoying and some people might even see it as artificial. However, the dialect created a very relaxed mood for me when I was reading it, and allowed me to easily imagine myself back at my grandparents’ house in rural, Appalachian connecticut. On top of that, it really helps the reader understand the characters, especially the main character, because this area is where she was born and raised, and this culture is the only one she knows.
This story indirectly characterizes it’s main character, Annie, by having her describe the people around her during her life, mostly family members. She starts out by describing her mother, who she is a mirror image of in many ways. In particular, Annie talks about how her mother reacted when she got the news that her youngest son had been killed in World War 2. This was one of many times that Annie’s mother showed her colors as someone who never felt sorry for herself and never made excuses that something was too hard. This kind of mindset is seen all around Annie, and through this, and the nonchalaunt way she describes things like the Great Depression, that makes it very obvious the type of person that Annie is. The way that the author describes Annie this way, makes the reader feel like they’ve really know her all their life, because they experience who she is instead of being told.
Another important way the author characterizes Annie is how he tells the story of her life through a series of very interesting flashbacks. The flashbacks themselves were definitely entertaining, but what was most interesting was the structure of the flashbacks. They has a sort of episodic nature to them. She would be telling a story from her life, and at some point as the story was being wrapped up, she would seamlessly transition from one character or event being described to tell another story involving that same character or event. This story telling method allowed the author to keep the mood serene and relaxed, in order to keep the reader easily feeling like they are in the peaceful Appalachian valley, while making the, at times, low action plot gripping. The story stays entertaining because the reader is trying to better understand Annie’s character, and because the individual stories are all connected in showing her life story.
People who enjoyed the TV show “Little House on the Prairie” would love this book. They have very obvious similarities, like the setting, which is why I think that fans of one would like the other. They both do a great job at using, not only their setting, but also their style of storytelling to transport the audience to where the characters. They also both tell stories focused around showcasing and developing their stories.
This story indirectly characterizes it’s main character, Annie, by having her describe the people around her during her life, mostly family members. She starts out by describing her mother, who she is a mirror image of in many ways. In particular, Annie talks about how her mother reacted when she got the news that her youngest son had been killed in World War 2. This was one of many times that Annie’s mother showed her colors as someone who never felt sorry for herself and never made excuses that something was too hard. This kind of mindset is seen all around Annie, and through this, and the nonchalaunt way she describes things like the Great Depression, that makes it very obvious the type of person that Annie is. The way that the author describes Annie this way, makes the reader feel like they’ve really know her all their life, because they experience who she is instead of being told.
Another important way the author characterizes Annie is how he tells the story of her life through a series of very interesting flashbacks. The flashbacks themselves were definitely entertaining, but what was most interesting was the structure of the flashbacks. They has a sort of episodic nature to them. She would be telling a story from her life, and at some point as the story was being wrapped up, she would seamlessly transition from one character or event being described to tell another story involving that same character or event. This story telling method allowed the author to keep the mood serene and relaxed, in order to keep the reader easily feeling like they are in the peaceful Appalachian valley, while making the, at times, low action plot gripping. The story stays entertaining because the reader is trying to better understand Annie’s character, and because the individual stories are all connected in showing her life story.
People who enjoyed the TV show “Little House on the Prairie” would love this book. They have very obvious similarities, like the setting, which is why I think that fans of one would like the other. They both do a great job at using, not only their setting, but also their style of storytelling to transport the audience to where the characters. They also both tell stories focused around showcasing and developing their stories.
January 27, 2018
Excellent read!! Robert Morgan is my new favorite author. His character Annie, gives rich depth and life to the characters she is involved with. I read Gap Creek a few years ago and remember her mother’s storytelling and they are not much different from each other, other than Annie is a little bit more spirited. She watches and endures much suffering in her family and friends, but still has a sense of endurance and peace. She was an observer and gained wisdom from these observations. Although she was married to a preacher and her mama and papa were faithful Christians, she seemed to have a question about her faith. One of her observations in particular that really struck me was after her brother Troy passed on in the war:
“The preacher stepped into the kitchen but didn’t set down. “I just came to say how awful sorry I am,” he said, holding his hat in front of him. “Won’t you have a sweet tater?” I said. Last thing I wanted to do was discuss Troy’s death with the preacher. And I guess mom and papa felt the same way. For when a preacher comes to comfort you it always makes you feel worser. I don’t know why that is, but a preacher’s kind words make you feel more miserable. Maybe I shouldn’t say that, being married to preacher. But a preacher’s words always seem faraway. You know what he’s going to say and what he has to say. And somehow the fact that he goes ahead and says them makes you even sadder. For the preacher will say God’s ways are mysterious and beyond our understanding. What seems unbearable to humans must be part of a plan. If something bad is an accident it’s bad, but if it’s part of a plan that’s much worse. I’ve never understood why preachers think that is comforting. They make you feel so hopeless and stupid. For they remind you there’s nothing you can do. Your suffering is all part of God’s plan. You don’t have control over nothing, no matter what you do. It makes you feel weak and sick in your bones, the way a bad fever does. “ ~ Quote from The Road to Gap Creek
Robert Morgan does a fantastic job of describing the surroundings of her home, it is obvious that he is familiar with the Appalachians. I look forward to reading more of his books!
“The preacher stepped into the kitchen but didn’t set down. “I just came to say how awful sorry I am,” he said, holding his hat in front of him. “Won’t you have a sweet tater?” I said. Last thing I wanted to do was discuss Troy’s death with the preacher. And I guess mom and papa felt the same way. For when a preacher comes to comfort you it always makes you feel worser. I don’t know why that is, but a preacher’s kind words make you feel more miserable. Maybe I shouldn’t say that, being married to preacher. But a preacher’s words always seem faraway. You know what he’s going to say and what he has to say. And somehow the fact that he goes ahead and says them makes you even sadder. For the preacher will say God’s ways are mysterious and beyond our understanding. What seems unbearable to humans must be part of a plan. If something bad is an accident it’s bad, but if it’s part of a plan that’s much worse. I’ve never understood why preachers think that is comforting. They make you feel so hopeless and stupid. For they remind you there’s nothing you can do. Your suffering is all part of God’s plan. You don’t have control over nothing, no matter what you do. It makes you feel weak and sick in your bones, the way a bad fever does. “ ~ Quote from The Road to Gap Creek
Robert Morgan does a fantastic job of describing the surroundings of her home, it is obvious that he is familiar with the Appalachians. I look forward to reading more of his books!
December 24, 2024
When we left Hank and Julie at the end of Gap Creek (published in 2000), they were leaving Gap Creek and heading back up the mountain to begin anew. Having survived a very rough first year of marriage, they were full of hope and love and the future seemed bright. And, indeed, the future does seem to have been good to them. In this sequel, narrated by Annie, one of their daughters, some 25 years after the events in Gap Creek, Hank and Julie have created a family, are financially stable, and overall seem to have been doing well in the years since we last saw them. How did they get there? Don't ask me.
Here is what we learn about those years: after leaving Gap Creek, Hank and Julie at some point moved back there, and then left again, when Annie was about 5 years old; Hank was able to find steady work in the '20s by building summer cottages for rich people; with steady work, he gained confidence; and they have 4 children. Why did they return to Gap Creek? Why did they leave again? Dunno. I suppose the stories must not be very interesting, since the only family lore Annie seems to know are things that happened when her parents were newlyweds - in other words, stories we already know if we read Gap Creek. A sequel doesn't have to describe every detail that we've missed in the lives of the characters, but it's almost as though Morgan's imagination just totally failed him and he just doesn't know what happened to his characters in those 25 years. In which case, quite frankly, this book needed a different title, because the road from Gap Creek is not at all the story it tells.
That being said, the writing is, of course, beautiful and evocative of Appalachia in the late 1930s and into WWII. As a stand-alone book, this would have been a lovely read. As a sequel, it just doesn't hold up.
Here is what we learn about those years: after leaving Gap Creek, Hank and Julie at some point moved back there, and then left again, when Annie was about 5 years old; Hank was able to find steady work in the '20s by building summer cottages for rich people; with steady work, he gained confidence; and they have 4 children. Why did they return to Gap Creek? Why did they leave again? Dunno. I suppose the stories must not be very interesting, since the only family lore Annie seems to know are things that happened when her parents were newlyweds - in other words, stories we already know if we read Gap Creek. A sequel doesn't have to describe every detail that we've missed in the lives of the characters, but it's almost as though Morgan's imagination just totally failed him and he just doesn't know what happened to his characters in those 25 years. In which case, quite frankly, this book needed a different title, because the road from Gap Creek is not at all the story it tells.
That being said, the writing is, of course, beautiful and evocative of Appalachia in the late 1930s and into WWII. As a stand-alone book, this would have been a lovely read. As a sequel, it just doesn't hold up.
April 12, 2018
A tough life, filled with back breaking work, heart breaking loss and natural disasters, Morgan's first book, Gap Creek gave readers a look a life in the Applachian area, at the turn of the century. We met Julie and Hank Richards, followed them through the first year and half of their marriage. Julie was a strong character that readers longed to hear from again. Fast forward to 2015, Morgan revisits his beloved couple...well sort-of...The Road to Gap Creek is told through the eyes (and voice) of the Richards' daughter, Annie. While she may be her mother's daughter, she's certainly not the storyteller her mother was. While the characters are likeable enough, they just aren't "deep". It's hard to have a vested interest in people when the story jumps back and forth repeatedly throughout. Also, several of the main plot elements are laid out in the early pages of the book, leaving only the details to be filled in later. It's a good read. I've read worse for sure. But, it is disappointing.
This is the "follow up" to Morgan's novel Gap Creek, which I thought was a good book However, I felt being selected as an Oprah Book Club Book is what pushed it onto the best seller self.
This is the "follow up" to Morgan's novel Gap Creek, which I thought was a good book However, I felt being selected as an Oprah Book Club Book is what pushed it onto the best seller self.
October 2, 2021
It's a beautiful story and I enjoyed it, but it is not in the same league as Gap Creek; hence the 3 stars instead of 5.
I really enjoyed Annie and Muir's story, but I wasn't that interested in Troy's story so I skimmed through most of that.
It's been so long since I read Gap Creek that it wasn't until near the end that I realized it was actually a sequel and not an entirely new set of characters. That was quite off putting to me because Gap Creek is a novel whose scenes are burned into my brain and I hate it that I wasn't able to capture that because Mama and Papa in their older years were too different from the Hank and Julie I had grown to love.
It's a good story. Worth the read. As a homegrown Appalachian gal, I appreciate authors who are able to capture this landscape and its people and Morgan is one of the best Appalachian writers out there. More than anything, I feel that it is my own brain flaws that made this less enjoyable than Gap Creek.
I really enjoyed Annie and Muir's story, but I wasn't that interested in Troy's story so I skimmed through most of that.
It's been so long since I read Gap Creek that it wasn't until near the end that I realized it was actually a sequel and not an entirely new set of characters. That was quite off putting to me because Gap Creek is a novel whose scenes are burned into my brain and I hate it that I wasn't able to capture that because Mama and Papa in their older years were too different from the Hank and Julie I had grown to love.
It's a good story. Worth the read. As a homegrown Appalachian gal, I appreciate authors who are able to capture this landscape and its people and Morgan is one of the best Appalachian writers out there. More than anything, I feel that it is my own brain flaws that made this less enjoyable than Gap Creek.
December 2, 2023
Having just finished "Gap Creek," and readying myself for a quick road trip I decided to followup with RFGC. Despite my three star review of GC I was interested to see how the story evolved as well as to check out RM's development as a writer (the main reason for the three star review).
On the positive: Loved the descriptive settings. Characters were all well developed and relatable. Story line progressed decently (considering the social mores of the time period).
For me, RM's use of "he said," "she said," "I said," was GC's biggest flaw. It was annoying and distracting. As a writer, I thought RM could've done better. With "RFGC," I THINK there was improvement. I am not sure if I was becoming immune to the offense, or he actually had reduced the amount annoyances. Could be either Mind you, the poor grammar is totally acceptable as I believe it only reflected the character's speaking style.
Regardless, he get's an additional star for this one.
On the positive: Loved the descriptive settings. Characters were all well developed and relatable. Story line progressed decently (considering the social mores of the time period).
For me, RM's use of "he said," "she said," "I said," was GC's biggest flaw. It was annoying and distracting. As a writer, I thought RM could've done better. With "RFGC," I THINK there was improvement. I am not sure if I was becoming immune to the offense, or he actually had reduced the amount annoyances. Could be either Mind you, the poor grammar is totally acceptable as I believe it only reflected the character's speaking style.
Regardless, he get's an additional star for this one.
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