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Ballad #6
The Songcatcher: A Ballad Novel
Capturing the enduring beauty of the Appalachian mountains where she sets her novels, Sharyn McCrumb's sixth Ballad Novel weaves a beautifully written, historically accurate tale of a song's passage through history-from the 1700s to the present, from the shores of Scotland to western North Carolina...where a folksinger longs to rediscover its haunting tune.
420 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2001
56 people are currently reading
1333 people want to read
About the author
Sharyn McCrumb
116 books1,127 followers
Sharyn McCrumb, an award-winning Southern writer, is best known for her Appalachian “Ballad” novels, including the New York Times best sellers The Ballad of Tom Dooley, The Ballad of Frankie Silver, and The Songcatcher. Ghost Riders, which won the Wilma Dykeman Award for Literature from the East Tennessee Historical Society and the national Audie Award for Best Recorded Books. The Unquiet Grave, a well-researched novel about West Virginia's Greenbrier Ghost, will be published in September by Atria, a division of Simon &Schuster.
Sharyn McCrumb, named a Virginia Woman of History by the Library of Virginia and a Woman of the Arts by the national Daughters of the American Revolution, was awarded the Mary Hobson Prize for Arts & Letters in 2014. Her books have been named New York Times and Los Angeles Times Notable Books. In addition to presenting programs at universities, libraries, and other organizations throughout the US, Sharyn McCrumb has taught a writers workshop in Paris, and served as writer-in-residence at King University in Tennessee, and at the Chautauqua Institute in western New York.
Sharyn McCrumb, an award-winning Southern writer, is best known for her Appalachian “Ballad” novels, including the New York Times best sellers The Ballad of Tom Dooley, The Ballad of Frankie Silver, and The Songcatcher. Ghost Riders, which won the Wilma Dykeman Award for Literature from the East Tennessee Historical Society and the national Audie Award for Best Recorded Books. The Unquiet Grave, a well-researched novel about West Virginia's Greenbrier Ghost, will be published in September by Atria, a division of Simon &Schuster.
Sharyn McCrumb, named a Virginia Woman of History by the Library of Virginia and a Woman of the Arts by the national Daughters of the American Revolution, was awarded the Mary Hobson Prize for Arts & Letters in 2014. Her books have been named New York Times and Los Angeles Times Notable Books. In addition to presenting programs at universities, libraries, and other organizations throughout the US, Sharyn McCrumb has taught a writers workshop in Paris, and served as writer-in-residence at King University in Tennessee, and at the Chautauqua Institute in western New York.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 194 reviews
March 6, 2009
This was a "good" book, but it could have been so much better. I was highly-motivated to read it -- I had loved McCrumb's "The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter," which was an engrossing, haunting, lyrical tale about a family tragedy and the goings-on of a community of people in the hills of Appalachia. "The Songcatcher" has the same setting and it tries to have that same haunting, lyrical style. However, I felt that it lacked focus with too many story threads.
Some of these story threads, taken separately, would make nice short stories or novellas, but they just didn't work well as a novel. For instance, I was captivated by the story of Malcolm McCourry, the young 18th-century Scottish boy who was kidnapped from his homeland and ended up in America years later. His story was well-written, engrossing, and tugged at your heart. I was sorry when the narrative shifted to his descendants, who were not nearly as interesting. More importantly, McCrumb's attempt to use a song to tie together all these people's stories through time didn't work very well.
Towards the end, when new characters are introduced and the story bounces back and forth between two plane wrecks and a silly, desperate search for the song, things unravel and the story loses energy and focus. In addition, the book is poorly titled. While there was mention of a songcatcher or two in the narrative, the book was not at all about a songcatcher (songcatchers were people, usually musicians or ethnomusicologists, who traveled around remote areas to record and capture folk songs that are being handed down orally from generation to generation).
In an Afterword, you learn that several of the central characters of the book were real, and that in fact, they were McCrumb's ancestors, and that was neat. There is a lot of heart in these stories. But as a novel, it just doesn't hold together very well.
Some of these story threads, taken separately, would make nice short stories or novellas, but they just didn't work well as a novel. For instance, I was captivated by the story of Malcolm McCourry, the young 18th-century Scottish boy who was kidnapped from his homeland and ended up in America years later. His story was well-written, engrossing, and tugged at your heart. I was sorry when the narrative shifted to his descendants, who were not nearly as interesting. More importantly, McCrumb's attempt to use a song to tie together all these people's stories through time didn't work very well.
Towards the end, when new characters are introduced and the story bounces back and forth between two plane wrecks and a silly, desperate search for the song, things unravel and the story loses energy and focus. In addition, the book is poorly titled. While there was mention of a songcatcher or two in the narrative, the book was not at all about a songcatcher (songcatchers were people, usually musicians or ethnomusicologists, who traveled around remote areas to record and capture folk songs that are being handed down orally from generation to generation).
In an Afterword, you learn that several of the central characters of the book were real, and that in fact, they were McCrumb's ancestors, and that was neat. There is a lot of heart in these stories. But as a novel, it just doesn't hold together very well.
September 11, 2019
Another good entry in the Ballad series by Sharyn McCrumb! I do love books where there are two different stories linked together, and few do it better than this author. In The Songcatcher, the two stories are of Folksinger Lark McCourry who is trying to track down a song that she has a vague memory of, and of her ancestor Malcolm MacQuarry, who has learned the song while being shanghaied aboard a ship as a child.
As always, there is a skillful blending of the two stories. Nora Bonesteel, the 70+ year old ex Sunday school teacher who stays out of people's business but who is always drawn in against her will is consulted. Nora is not only a keeper of local history and knowledge, but she has the ability to see ghosts and to know what has happened to people before her time.
One of my favorite things about McCrumb's series is the fact that each book has a traditional ballad associated with it (hence the “Ballad series” name). I love the old songs, and how McCrumb relates them to the story. So in this book, I really enjoyed the multiple old songs, and the fact that the sought after folk song is so integral to the story. As always, both story lines are satisfactorily wrapped up at the end. Very enjoyable!
As always, there is a skillful blending of the two stories. Nora Bonesteel, the 70+ year old ex Sunday school teacher who stays out of people's business but who is always drawn in against her will is consulted. Nora is not only a keeper of local history and knowledge, but she has the ability to see ghosts and to know what has happened to people before her time.
One of my favorite things about McCrumb's series is the fact that each book has a traditional ballad associated with it (hence the “Ballad series” name). I love the old songs, and how McCrumb relates them to the story. So in this book, I really enjoyed the multiple old songs, and the fact that the sought after folk song is so integral to the story. As always, both story lines are satisfactorily wrapped up at the end. Very enjoyable!
April 9, 2018
One of the best Ballad books, this one has a great feel for the Carolina area involved and Nora Bonesteel is a character not soon forgotten. Wonderfully spooky.
July 16, 2014
I read this book for my Celtic Women club's summer book. If not for the meeting, I would have ditched it after the first chapter. The set up for the book is laudable: Singer Lark McCourry wants to locate a song she had heard sung when she was a little girl. When she is called back home to see her dying father one last time, she decides to look for the song while she is there. In a hurry, she hires a small plane to fly her from a big airport to the small one near her hometown. The plane crashes and the pilot dies. Lark survives, and while people are looking for her, we are presented with other characters and their histories.
The only thing they have in common is the song. They all have a connection to it. Again, the idea is great, but the writing was dull. Many times I thought I was reading a report. McCrumb writes several pages of just telling the reader about someone. For example, when she writes about Lark's ancestor, Malcolm McCourry, she summarizes his actions: "We headed out a few weeks after the wedding, bound for the high country..." It would be nice if the author had added details about how they traveled. Did they ride horses, walk, go in a wagon pulled by oxen, horses, or mules? What possessions did they take with them? Though this is just one example of what frustrated me about her writing, she wrote like this throughout the novel. She did occasionally toss in a bone of showing the reader what was going on by inserting a dialogue between characters, but even then, a character's words sounded like he/she were reading from an encyclopedia.
How does McCrumb get so much praise for writing like this? The characters are boring. I felt no emotional connection to any of them. They seemed very one dimensional: mean or cold or selfish or troubled. Every creative writing class I ever took stressed that a writer show rather than tell the reader what's going on so that the reader can participate in the story. In other words, create an emotional space for the reader to live within so that the story is emotionally alive to them. I don't see McCrumb doing much of this.
For the historical chapters, she told and told and told. I didn't see much story going on there either. Anyone could have researched this information and made a report too. She filled these chapters with very few historical details. It seems a lazy way to write historical fiction. I have read many historical fiction novels and the authors are careful to include details that really make the period come alive.
Finally, I think this novel gives hope to struggling writers. It tells them that if they want to be published, they can just write a mediocre story and it can get published. People will love it.
The only thing they have in common is the song. They all have a connection to it. Again, the idea is great, but the writing was dull. Many times I thought I was reading a report. McCrumb writes several pages of just telling the reader about someone. For example, when she writes about Lark's ancestor, Malcolm McCourry, she summarizes his actions: "We headed out a few weeks after the wedding, bound for the high country..." It would be nice if the author had added details about how they traveled. Did they ride horses, walk, go in a wagon pulled by oxen, horses, or mules? What possessions did they take with them? Though this is just one example of what frustrated me about her writing, she wrote like this throughout the novel. She did occasionally toss in a bone of showing the reader what was going on by inserting a dialogue between characters, but even then, a character's words sounded like he/she were reading from an encyclopedia.
How does McCrumb get so much praise for writing like this? The characters are boring. I felt no emotional connection to any of them. They seemed very one dimensional: mean or cold or selfish or troubled. Every creative writing class I ever took stressed that a writer show rather than tell the reader what's going on so that the reader can participate in the story. In other words, create an emotional space for the reader to live within so that the story is emotionally alive to them. I don't see McCrumb doing much of this.
For the historical chapters, she told and told and told. I didn't see much story going on there either. Anyone could have researched this information and made a report too. She filled these chapters with very few historical details. It seems a lazy way to write historical fiction. I have read many historical fiction novels and the authors are careful to include details that really make the period come alive.
Finally, I think this novel gives hope to struggling writers. It tells them that if they want to be published, they can just write a mediocre story and it can get published. People will love it.
July 30, 2021
Not the best of Sharyn McCrumb's ballad novels but still good. There is alternating stories here: the mystery part is the quest for an old family folk song by a Nashville singer, raised in the North Carolina mountains but alienated from her difficult father. Book seems like a historical novel with the story of Malcolm McCourry, the singer's distant ancestor, who was kidnapped from Scotland at the age of 7 and wound up late in life raising a family in Appalachia. That story came from McCrumb's research into her own family history. I really enjoyed the Appalachian setting and characters.
7/30/2021 I'm on an "Appalachia" reading jag now after a recent vacation in the Smokies. I very vaguely remembered this book from 8 years ago; enjoyed reading it again and perhaps saw some additional themes in it ("cultural appropriation" -- some of the song collectors of the early 20th century copyrighted the Appalachian folk songs). Will eventually track down some of the other novels in the "Ballad series".
7/30/2021 I'm on an "Appalachia" reading jag now after a recent vacation in the Smokies. I very vaguely remembered this book from 8 years ago; enjoyed reading it again and perhaps saw some additional themes in it ("cultural appropriation" -- some of the song collectors of the early 20th century copyrighted the Appalachian folk songs). Will eventually track down some of the other novels in the "Ballad series".
September 21, 2007
Someone recommended this, but it probably isn't really my preferred "style" of book. Had a hard time finishing. Wavers somewhere between "historical fiction" and "mystery." Lark is a country singer who uses the music of her childhood to further her career, but simultaneously is isolated from her aging father and community roots. She must find her way back while searching for the "lost" folk-song that is her family's legacy. It doesn't sound all that interesting, and it really isn't. Quite a few storylines that peter out (a little busy what with past and present generations to consider). Probably would have been ok beach-reading, but it's about a month too late for that.
February 13, 2010
One of the best things about the Appalachian region is it's rich history of music. You can hear the scotch/irish melodies woven through many of the songs which were not even written down until a couple of decades ago. Sharyn McCrumb's story captures the beauty of the mountains, its colorful inhabitants and folklore. I live in these mountains and you can find music in almost any place you look any night of the week. This is one of the best books I've read about this amazing place; certainly one of McCrumb's best.
March 5, 2024
Story of a n.carolina hill family and the history of a song. Interesting facts and lineage back to 1700's.
August 5, 2013
Tracing an ancestor back to his roots gave the author some fascinating factual fodder that brightens this book about a search for an old ballad.
The author’s own family stories prove that truth is often stranger than fiction. One of the key characters is Malcolm, a member of the author’s family tree, who was kidnapped from a beach in the Scottish Isles to work on shipboard when he was less than ten years old. On the ship he worked hard but also learned songs, including the fictional one that is the subject of the book.
Once grown, he left the sea to study law on the dry land of New Jersey, participated in the Revolutionary War, and became a respected pillar of the community. At the ripe old age of 50, however, he abandoned his family and career, resettled in the less populated Appalachian Mountains and started a new family, while passing on his songs.
The book ties together many different eras by weaving together the stories of other family members, some fictional, some real, who passed the song from generation to generation until the present day.
Along the way readers learn a bit about the way that many traditional ballads were created and gathered by historians, for profit as well as posterity.
Some of the characters converse with ghosts or act on intuitions so strong they could be labeled precognition, but this isn’t a story of the supernatual. It is the story of the continuity of family as well as the ghosts of family ties that haunts each of us and quite a good read.
Highly respected Appalachian author Sharyn McCrumb's next Ballad novel, King's Mountain, will be published on September 17 2013 by St. Martins Press.
The author’s own family stories prove that truth is often stranger than fiction. One of the key characters is Malcolm, a member of the author’s family tree, who was kidnapped from a beach in the Scottish Isles to work on shipboard when he was less than ten years old. On the ship he worked hard but also learned songs, including the fictional one that is the subject of the book.
Once grown, he left the sea to study law on the dry land of New Jersey, participated in the Revolutionary War, and became a respected pillar of the community. At the ripe old age of 50, however, he abandoned his family and career, resettled in the less populated Appalachian Mountains and started a new family, while passing on his songs.
The book ties together many different eras by weaving together the stories of other family members, some fictional, some real, who passed the song from generation to generation until the present day.
Along the way readers learn a bit about the way that many traditional ballads were created and gathered by historians, for profit as well as posterity.
Some of the characters converse with ghosts or act on intuitions so strong they could be labeled precognition, but this isn’t a story of the supernatual. It is the story of the continuity of family as well as the ghosts of family ties that haunts each of us and quite a good read.
Highly respected Appalachian author Sharyn McCrumb's next Ballad novel, King's Mountain, will be published on September 17 2013 by St. Martins Press.
May 12, 2011
This was the first book in the Ballad series that I ever read - actually the first Sharyn McCrumb book in general that I've read and I just finished re-reading it for my bid to read the entire series in order from start to the end.
This book made me fall in love with Sharyn McCrumb. While it doesn't match the beauty of She Walks These Hills or The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, (I'm beginning to think that none can) it's still a wonderful work. I love how McCrumb takes one historical story and several contemporary plot threads and shows the same themes throughout otherwise unrelated threads. In this case, it's the concept of "home", or perhaps "you can't go home again".
While you can read each of these as a stand alone, reading this as part of a series helps you appreciate some of the plot threads better - especially that of the two deputies and Nora. IT was even better on the re-read with already knowing the background for some of these characters than when I read it the first time.
McCrumb does get a bit more preachy in this book than is her usual; there's a debate on the proper pronunciation of "Appalachian" and the types of people who don't conform to the local pronunciation, and several ideas like ballad collecting (and then copyrighting) being akin to strip mining. It's noticeable, but thankfully not very intrusive and rather thought provoking.
This book made me fall in love with Sharyn McCrumb. While it doesn't match the beauty of She Walks These Hills or The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, (I'm beginning to think that none can) it's still a wonderful work. I love how McCrumb takes one historical story and several contemporary plot threads and shows the same themes throughout otherwise unrelated threads. In this case, it's the concept of "home", or perhaps "you can't go home again".
While you can read each of these as a stand alone, reading this as part of a series helps you appreciate some of the plot threads better - especially that of the two deputies and Nora. IT was even better on the re-read with already knowing the background for some of these characters than when I read it the first time.
McCrumb does get a bit more preachy in this book than is her usual; there's a debate on the proper pronunciation of "Appalachian" and the types of people who don't conform to the local pronunciation, and several ideas like ballad collecting (and then copyrighting) being akin to strip mining. It's noticeable, but thankfully not very intrusive and rather thought provoking.
October 5, 2013
The Songcatcher by Sharyn McCrumb (2001, 321 pages). Subtitled “A Ballad Novel”, McCrumb’s book traces the connections between a traditional ballad and the McCourry family. The story begins in 1751 with Malcolm McCourry, a Scot kidnapped as a child, who is later brought to North Carolina. The plot alternates between Malcolm’s life story and the quest of Lark McCourry, a contemporary country singer, who is trying to track down the ballad she remembers from her childhood. Both stories are intriguing and complement each other nicely. If you have interest in traditional ballads or Appalachia, you should find plenty here to like.
July 14, 2008
This is mystery a bit, not murder mystery. I like that there are four plots that are all intertwined. The author used some of her own background/genealogy for this. The plot involves a folksinger looking for the perfect ballad, a Vietnam vet, and the first McCoury to come from Scotland to America in the 1700's. I also like that Spenser Arrowood and Nora Bonesteel from the author's Ballad of Frankie Silver are in this book as well.
June 6, 2011
I really enjoy Sharyn McCrumb's books set in the Appalachians. I learn something new with each book, about people. This story evolves around a song that the first McCourry, a child kidnapped from Scotland in 1759 and who eventually ends up in western North Carolina, remembers. There is a story set in the present along with chapters about the family through the centuries. A touch of the supernatural gives it an enjoyable edge.
October 7, 2011
This is a boring book. The story jumps back and forth between an estranged father and daughter, and one of their ancestors in the mid 1700's. Then it also includes random characters along the hiking trails and tiny towns of the Appalachian mountains. At the halfway point of this book, I counted 4 separate story lines, none of them engaging, and there was no hint of how these story lines would be eventually tied together. I have permanently shelved the book.
October 29, 2012
I have changed this book's rating between 3 and 4 stars several times. I really enjoy McCrumb's Ballad series, and this is another strong entry. She does a good job of weaving together a current story with a historical storyline, this time mining her own family's history.
It also had some interesting things to say about the way that we choose to pronounce place names, and the politics of doing so. It was definitely food for thought.
It also had some interesting things to say about the way that we choose to pronounce place names, and the politics of doing so. It was definitely food for thought.
June 17, 2023
This is a re-read and my favorite of the Ballad novels. Like many of The Ballad novels, this one also has two stories going on with one being flashback. Then a side story of a plane crash a few decades before the present similar to the demise of Patsy Cline. All the ballad novels have a touch mystical realism and this one doesn’t disappoint.
January 29, 2022
Sharyn McCrumb's ballad series delves deep into Appalachian culture and folklore. I really enjoyed the character of Nora Bonesteel.
September 15, 2020
It has been many years since I read Sharyn McCrumb's books prior to this one. It may be that I wasn't ready for the intensity and slight melancholy of the extraordinary Appalachian people and their diverse history of migration. The year this book came out and for the subsequent 13 years, I was engaged in overseeing my dad's health issues, and it's possible I just didn't have the requisite excess sensibility. However, in the year of COVID19, removing my thoughts to history was a perfect panacea.
The Songcatcher is a marvelous link between the present day and the mid 1700s as it jogs among stories linking McCourry family members througout their history. It began when the obdurate 83-year-old John Walker, whose mother had been a McCourry, began to talk to old friends who were long since deceased. Though it was not always evident to the reader in his actions and conversation, his caregiver, the emotionless and self involved Becky Tilden found both this and his newfound lack of obstinance troubling, so she summoned home his famous musician daughter, Lark McCourry. Walker had always been critical of and disinterested in Lark (Linda Walker), and as a result, she could hardly stand the thought of being around him. Still, she headed home to Hamelin, Tennessee, a fictional town on the Tennesse side of the mountain over the North Carolina border, but this time with the additional purpose of finding an old song she vaguely remembered hearing in her childhood that kept eluding her.
The McCourry story started in 1751 with nine-year-old Malcolm McCourry who lived on the seafaring island of Islay off the coast of Scotland. On the day of his birth, the midwife made the prophesy, "The sea will take him." Malcolm's mother believed it, and he had spent his entire life humoring her by carrying a small white rock as a talisman against being taken by the sea. He didn't drown, as everyone had feared. Instead, he was kidnapped off of the beach and began the second of his four lives as a sailor. His next two phases of life were as one of the Scots who came to America and to Appalachia bringing stories, songs, and culture. From this point, the chronicles of other members from other generations of McCourrys form a history that links directly with the sought after song, The Rowan Stave, as well as with John Walker's detachment from his daughter.
The Songcatcher is a marvelous link between the present day and the mid 1700s as it jogs among stories linking McCourry family members througout their history. It began when the obdurate 83-year-old John Walker, whose mother had been a McCourry, began to talk to old friends who were long since deceased. Though it was not always evident to the reader in his actions and conversation, his caregiver, the emotionless and self involved Becky Tilden found both this and his newfound lack of obstinance troubling, so she summoned home his famous musician daughter, Lark McCourry. Walker had always been critical of and disinterested in Lark (Linda Walker), and as a result, she could hardly stand the thought of being around him. Still, she headed home to Hamelin, Tennessee, a fictional town on the Tennesse side of the mountain over the North Carolina border, but this time with the additional purpose of finding an old song she vaguely remembered hearing in her childhood that kept eluding her.
The McCourry story started in 1751 with nine-year-old Malcolm McCourry who lived on the seafaring island of Islay off the coast of Scotland. On the day of his birth, the midwife made the prophesy, "The sea will take him." Malcolm's mother believed it, and he had spent his entire life humoring her by carrying a small white rock as a talisman against being taken by the sea. He didn't drown, as everyone had feared. Instead, he was kidnapped off of the beach and began the second of his four lives as a sailor. His next two phases of life were as one of the Scots who came to America and to Appalachia bringing stories, songs, and culture. From this point, the chronicles of other members from other generations of McCourrys form a history that links directly with the sought after song, The Rowan Stave, as well as with John Walker's detachment from his daughter.
October 2, 2024
Folk singer Lark McCourry vaguely remembers a song she heard long ago during her childhood in the Great Smokies. She believes it is a very old ballad and she would love to recover it and add it to her repertoire. Just as she’s thinking about that, she receives news that her father, with whom she has had an estranged relationship for many years, is dying and she must return to her childhood home in the mountains.
When the little plane she’s chartered to take her home crashes and the pilot is killed, Lark is trapped in the plane with only her cell phone as a lifeline. The story takes place in the early 2000s – apparently before phone tracing technology became common – so the rescuers are racing against phone battery life to rescue her. Lark becomes convinced that she will live if someone can find her lost song.
The author takes the reader through several sub-plots alongside the search for Lark. A local policeman decides to take a solo hike for his birthday and is trapped beneath the wreckage of a previous plane crash. The rescuer Lark talked to on the phone enlists a local wise woman to track down the song. And the story of Lark’s ancestors – who knew the song well – forms another subplot.
It felt like too much for me. And most of the subplots didn’t connect to each other in any meaningful way. Supposedly, there is a sort of curse in the McCourry family where parents never love their firstborn child. But there is no obvious reason for that, and it doesn’t connect to the song in any way that I could tell. And the policeman who went on a hike is completely superfluous to everything else.
A very readable book with interesting characters. I especially liked Lark’s ancestor Malcom. But there was no real theme that held this book together, just a bunch of unconnected subplots.
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Author of The Saint's Mistress
When the little plane she’s chartered to take her home crashes and the pilot is killed, Lark is trapped in the plane with only her cell phone as a lifeline. The story takes place in the early 2000s – apparently before phone tracing technology became common – so the rescuers are racing against phone battery life to rescue her. Lark becomes convinced that she will live if someone can find her lost song.
The author takes the reader through several sub-plots alongside the search for Lark. A local policeman decides to take a solo hike for his birthday and is trapped beneath the wreckage of a previous plane crash. The rescuer Lark talked to on the phone enlists a local wise woman to track down the song. And the story of Lark’s ancestors – who knew the song well – forms another subplot.
It felt like too much for me. And most of the subplots didn’t connect to each other in any meaningful way. Supposedly, there is a sort of curse in the McCourry family where parents never love their firstborn child. But there is no obvious reason for that, and it doesn’t connect to the song in any way that I could tell. And the policeman who went on a hike is completely superfluous to everything else.
A very readable book with interesting characters. I especially liked Lark’s ancestor Malcom. But there was no real theme that held this book together, just a bunch of unconnected subplots.
Like my reviews? Check out my blog
Author of The Saint's Mistress
October 3, 2021
Another interesting tale based on the Appa-latch I remember from my childhood, but focused more towards the Tennessee-North Carolina area than my home place. It wraps history in a believable mix of stories about a family, based out of the Scottish Highlands, then into the Colonies of what would become the United States.
One of the things that attracts me to these stories is the Sight possessed by a recurring character, Nora Bonesteel, as well as the fact that MccCrumb does not write in such a way as her most likeable characters do not look down on anyone. For the most part they tend to be family centered, people that would not necessarily get along with everyone, but whose stories are understandable.
In this a young boy leaves Scotland and an old man dies in North Carolina. It winds through his life and that of his descendants with a sorrowful twist that only a reader would understand. Well done, if a trifle heavy on the descriptions.
One of the things that attracts me to these stories is the Sight possessed by a recurring character, Nora Bonesteel, as well as the fact that MccCrumb does not write in such a way as her most likeable characters do not look down on anyone. For the most part they tend to be family centered, people that would not necessarily get along with everyone, but whose stories are understandable.
In this a young boy leaves Scotland and an old man dies in North Carolina. It winds through his life and that of his descendants with a sorrowful twist that only a reader would understand. Well done, if a trifle heavy on the descriptions.
October 27, 2022
Being a Janeite, I am accustomed to the age gaps and marrying of cousins, but I have a hard time respecting a middle-aged character who leaves his wife and family (and even refers to her hairy chin while lusting after a child)…just to *shudders* marry the child and start a new life. And this was years since lusting after an 8 year old as a young, but grown and very experienced, man. Gross.
As for the rest of the story, it is very difficult to stay engaged. Too many new characters introduced at random and too late in the story. Characters are one-dimensional and the storytelling is weak, almost immature.
The plot lacks focus. The weaving together of the characters through a song at random is cheesy and I often felt I was reading “well below my age group”.
I’ll muster through the second half and edit my review if necessary…though, from what I’ve read about the end, I don’t hold much hope.
As for the rest of the story, it is very difficult to stay engaged. Too many new characters introduced at random and too late in the story. Characters are one-dimensional and the storytelling is weak, almost immature.
The plot lacks focus. The weaving together of the characters through a song at random is cheesy and I often felt I was reading “well below my age group”.
I’ll muster through the second half and edit my review if necessary…though, from what I’ve read about the end, I don’t hold much hope.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 31, 2018
I just finished this little gem. It was a goodwill find of my mom’s. I was drawn to it because the author is from N.C. She even went to Chapel Hill which I happen to live in the same county, only 15 minutes away.
McCrumb writes a series of books that follows a folk song handed down from the mountain folk of the Appalachia. Oddly enough my grandfather’s family are from Mt Rogers.
She goes through a century and a half of family genealogy, tracing the steps of the song. Filling in gaps of the history with fiction. She even mentioned fairystones and I got so excited because I’m from VA and grew up only 25 miles from Fairystone state park.
It’s a good ole country folk read with a great story. Especially if you are interested in the Appalachia, Scotland, history and just plain eeriness of Seers. Seems like every book I read has a seer in it some place. 🤷♀️
McCrumb writes a series of books that follows a folk song handed down from the mountain folk of the Appalachia. Oddly enough my grandfather’s family are from Mt Rogers.
She goes through a century and a half of family genealogy, tracing the steps of the song. Filling in gaps of the history with fiction. She even mentioned fairystones and I got so excited because I’m from VA and grew up only 25 miles from Fairystone state park.
It’s a good ole country folk read with a great story. Especially if you are interested in the Appalachia, Scotland, history and just plain eeriness of Seers. Seems like every book I read has a seer in it some place. 🤷♀️
September 13, 2019
My least favorite of the Ballad novels so far, even though it featured Nora Bonesteel, who is my favorite character by far. Maybe because it was based on a song that isn't really a ballad? You could tell that the author had learned information about things (like muskets) and added it in so obviously. The parts after the explanations didn't really need them. I felt like Nora listening to Virgil Swift. The whole novel felt disjointed and the parts really didn't come all together in the end:
I did get a chill the second time the Wolfe woman came to Nora's house.
But no matter, Sharyn McCrumb is still agreat author and I always enjoy her books, this one just not as much as the others.
I did get a chill the second time the Wolfe woman came to Nora's house.
But no matter, Sharyn McCrumb is still agreat author and I always enjoy her books, this one just not as much as the others.
September 22, 2023
I liked this book in the Ballad series, but it wasn't my favorite. Sheriff Arrowood does not really have a strong role in this story, but instead the reader hears more from Deputy Joe LaDonne, Nora Bonesteel and several other new characters, including Lark McCourry, a fictional country/bluegrass singer who heads home to see her estranged father as he is dying. She is seeking a song that came over to the western Carolina mountains with Malcolm McCourry many years ago. I found the intermittent stories about him and his descendants to be the most interesting parts of the book. And he was a real person. There was also some genealogy involved as Nora Bonesteel researches the old families from the area to find the song for Lark.
September 9, 2017
I enjoyed reading this book (my first by the author) and reflecting on the writing as I processed the construction of the various story lines. Although the relay between characters, time periods, and events was interesting, the handling of the conversations about the missing song became somewhat repetitive. The Afterward explained the author's sources, but it also repeated some of the novel's words--perhaps because the author was using such personal material in the narrative.
My principal enjoyment lay in the author's love for her Appalachian setting; I share ancestry, experiences, and a sense of awe for the mountains of North Carolina.
My principal enjoyment lay in the author's love for her Appalachian setting; I share ancestry, experiences, and a sense of awe for the mountains of North Carolina.
July 13, 2024
This left me largely unimpressed and dissatisfied. I had hoped for better things from this book, but I was mostly bored by its historical meanderings. There are just too many living people talking to dead people in this book to suit me. I find that whole scenario both ridiculous and unproductive. Admittedly, the author does good things here in encouraging, indirectly at least, genealogical research. That's not something I've ever been able to get my head around, so it was another strike against the book from here. As I wrote above, the writing style is beautiful, but there's just too much interaction with dead people to suit me.
October 24, 2018
Several stories in one book. Most of the Ballad series are set in Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee. Since I live in this area and are familiar with the people and the places she writes about, I find all these books very interesting. The book starts in Scotland in the early 1700's and ends in present day Tennessee. One of the characters is a retired lawyer, who is estranged from his country singer daughter. His home is also home to his housekeeper, who is an illiterate native of the area. If you are interested in genealogy and this particular area, then you should read this book.
January 31, 2020
My favorite part of this book was reading the Afterword and finding out that it was based on Sharyn McCrumb's own history. Until then I had assumed that the story was fiction. There was lots of history here starting in 1751 in Scotland and taking us to the mountains of North Carolina...following the characters and their descendants and of course the old ballads. I liked the theme of passing on your heritage and memories....
October 23, 2017
Interesting and loose account of the author's family history in flowing, engaging fiction-style storytelling. Sharyn McCrumb includes historical information about the events surrounding the lives populating The Songcatcher in the backdrop of the beautiful Appalachian Mountains. A nice narrative full of engaging characters.
March 30, 2018
I am glad that, after a handful of very good police procedurals, McCrumb had the courage to write a multi-generation family novel. Yes, the Hamelin police department are there, and there’s even a mystery solved (in one of the backstories), but at its heart this is a book about the McCourry family and its travails across two continents and three centuries.
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