Move Over, Mountain

by John Ehle

When first published in 1957, "Move Over, Mountain" was considered to be the first book written by a white novelist that portrayed African-Americans without stereotype. It received positive reviews from several major publications, but was shunned by segregated bookstores and libraries. There was only one US printing of "Move Over, Mountain." The following year it was published by Hodder and Stoughton of London, England. A story of personal and social struggle, the New York Times said of John Ehle in 1957, "It is quite obvious that he writes from a deep knowledge of his subject, and an understanding of technique rare in a first novelist."

276 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

John Ehle (1925-2018) grew up the eldest of five children in the mountains of North Carolina, which would become the setting for many of his novels and several works of nonfiction. Following service in World War II, Ehle received his BA and MA at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he met the playwright Paul Green and began writing plays for the NBC radio series American Adventure. He taught at the university for ten years before joining the staff of the North Carolina governor Terry Sanford, where Ehle was a “one-man think tank,” the governor’s “idea man” from 1962 to 1964. (Sanford once said of Ehle: “If I were to write a guidebook for new governors, one of my main suggestions would be that he find a novelist and put him on his staff.”) Ehle was the author of eleven novels, seven of which constitute his celebrated Mountain Novels cycle, and six works of nonfiction. He had one daughter, actress Jennifer Ehle, with his wife Rosemary Harris, also an actress.

Reviews

[Darcy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was marvelous, as is everything I have read by this author. I honestly did not know how it was going to end, and the characters were so real and came to matter so much to me, and I was so worried about what would happen to them, that I kept having to take breaks to calm down. A wonderful book, highly recommend.