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Empty Places
It is 1932, in Harlan County, Kentucky. Times are tough in the mining community, especially for thirteen-year-old Adabel Cutler’s family. As they fight to survive, Adabel has to figure out her own identity while dealing with her volatile father, her dutiful sister, her defiant brother, and her mother’s disappearance, which she can’t seem to remember. This is a beautifully written and deeply felt coming-of-age novel by the acclaimed author of Like a River. Includes an author’s note, bibliography, and archival images.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published April 5, 2016
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122 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
March 3, 2016
An emotionally compelling coming-of-age story set in Great Depression-era Harlan County, Kentucky. A realistic, unsentimental depiction of impoverished Appalachian coal mining country.
April 20, 2016
I loved the story, learned a few things about coal mining camps and how people lived. very insightful! Looking for a sequel, did not want it to end.
August 28, 2020
Last year in sixth grade we read this book and it was really heartfelt and sad. this is a book I would really recommend if you like history and family love. also, this book can be read with someone and have a bonding experience. overall I really like this heart touching story (cried like 2 times) and how it shows you what it is like during the great depression.
April 12, 2016
Writers-in-training have certain writing principles drilled into their brains.
Hook your reader from the start
Show don't tell
Choose specific details to show characters and settings
Employ verbs as your muscle words
Use imagery and beautiful language to convey your story
Whenever I teach writing, I advocate learning how to write by reading good literature. Let's examine some excerpts from EMPTY PLACES to see what we can learn.
"If you'da rode into Harlan County, Kentucky, that June in a shiny new 1932 Packard, you'da seen hickories, oaks, and maples leafed out with the promise of shady places to rest and listen to birdsong.
If you'da got close enough to set in one of them shady spots, you'da heard the chug of engines pulling coal cars that squealed on aged tracks. You'da heard swear-words of miners and seen coal dust that clung to their faces, filled their pores, and caused their lungs to heave out deep, retching coughs.
But even if you'da been close as a tick on a dog, you wouldn'ta heard the secrets each body kept, secrets not even told in whispers--secrets about my mama.
Secrets and gossip spread through coal camps like Smoke Ridge the way a fever does, keeping folks talking. Until new gossip seeps into their lives. Old gossip, like stale bread, is all but forgotten when there's fresh bread to chew on." (p. 7)
Are you hooked? I was! Did you get a taste for Harlan County, Kentucky during the 30's? You probably could practically hear the trains chugging through town, feel the cool shade, and sense the whispering gossip. Kathy gets an "A+" for sensory details that pull the reader into the time and place. How many powerhouse verbs do you count in these four paragraphs? As for figurative language, the comparison of gossip to how fever is spread and to stale bread are both masterful. As the story plays out, both fever and stale bread are components in this authentic Appalachian story.
THE STORY
Pretty quickly the reader meets spunky, 13-year-old Adabel Cutler who is trying her darndest to keep her family from falling apart. Adabel's father is a coal miner who drinks too much and fights with her big brother, Pick. Her older sister, Raynelle, wants to marry the grocer's son to help keep food on their table. Her little sister Blissie has a "sweetness that makes folks smile and forgit she's a Cutler." (p. 10). But Adabel's biggest problem is that her mother disappeared seven years ago and Adabel is tormented by the fact that she can't remember her. "Mama was an empty place in my mind." (p. 17)
Like a detective, Adabel's relentless pursuit of the truth propels her through the story and into conversations with her family and neighbors. This dialogue transpires after Pick tells her about how their father sent the children away after their mama disappeared:
"Don't ya remember? When Mama first left, Daddy shunted us young'uns off. Me to Shovel's. Raynelle and Blissie to Granny Cutler's. And you...I cain't recall who he give you to. Was it Jane Louise's mama?"
"I don't recall none of that. I only remember living in the old house with y'all. Till we moved her last year. It's always been us. You, me, Raynelle, Blissie, and Daddy."
"Ya's lucky not to remember ever'thing. Some things is best forgot."
"Ya's wrong, Pick." A mind full of empty places was worse'n the awfulest memories a body could have. (p. 67)
Each conversation leads to the next. Adabel asks Jane Louise's mother:
"But ya recollect Mama leaving?"
"I just recollect how broke-hearted your daddy was. He loved your mama deep."
It was hard to think of Daddy loving anyone deep. (p. 77)
With each new conversation, Adabel begins to put together a picture of her past that is different than what she had previously believed.
Not having memories of her mother haunts Adabel. When she finds out the reason for her poor memory she thinks, "Knowing didn't fix the empty places in my head, but having a reason for 'em being there made me feel a heap better about it." (p. 188)
Adabel's new found knowledge gives her courage and strength. I'm not going to spoil the ending for you--I hope you decide to read EMPTY PLACES yourself--but let's just say Adabel's detective work brings healing to her family and leaves the reader feeling hopeful for her future.
EMPTY PLACES will be a great classroom resource for middle school students studying the Depression, coal mining, and the Appalachian area.
- See more at: http://carolbaldwinblog.blogspot.com/...
June 26, 2016
You think you have problems? Read this book. It was so heart-wrenching at times, and definitely gave an appropriate view of The Great Depression. Fortunately, glimmers of hope and jaw-dropping secrets make for a great read.
June 8, 2017
Thirteen-year-old Adabel Cutler lives in Harlan, Kentucky in a mining community during the Great Depression. She and her siblings live with their volatile, alcoholic father and fend for themselves as best as they can. Their mother left the family six years earlier but people coninue to talk about it and Adabel gets mixed messages about why her mother left. Adabel can't remember any details like the others and knows she should remember. Now she's determined to find out the truth about her mother's disappearance to fill out the empty places.
The dialect, figurative language, and details in the book evoke a time, place, and community. I was truly transported to the Appalachian Mountains and to the coal mining way of life.
Young readers will appreciate the short chapters but will want to read just one more.
The dialect, figurative language, and details in the book evoke a time, place, and community. I was truly transported to the Appalachian Mountains and to the coal mining way of life.
Young readers will appreciate the short chapters but will want to read just one more.
November 30, 2017
Not actually my cup of tea, but it was relatively well-written. Just very bleak. Plot seemed a bit contrived, with people just leaving, and the secrets, and the lying. They didn’t even have a good reason for lying that we ever heard (I’m referring to Mamaw). Coal mining life was / is hard enough without adding Mamaw and secret babies and secret fevers. And I didn’t like the ending: there was no closure and all, no sense of what might come next. What was the point of reading it, then? And the only character you got to know as a person really was Adabel, because she was narrating. Just not my kind of book.
February 19, 2024
A quick read that felt quite grounded in it’s setting.
Adabel, a young teen girl in a depression-era mining town in Harlan County Kentucky searches for information about her mother who went missing several years ago. She had no memories of her mother, so she tries her best to piece together information through town gossip and her older siblings. The family struggles with hardship, hunger, and domestic violence stemming from their father’s alcoholism.
The use of dialect, while realistic, did take me out of the story somewhat. Overall, this was a nice little piece of well-researched historical fiction.
Adabel, a young teen girl in a depression-era mining town in Harlan County Kentucky searches for information about her mother who went missing several years ago. She had no memories of her mother, so she tries her best to piece together information through town gossip and her older siblings. The family struggles with hardship, hunger, and domestic violence stemming from their father’s alcoholism.
The use of dialect, while realistic, did take me out of the story somewhat. Overall, this was a nice little piece of well-researched historical fiction.
July 21, 2021
A somber story, painting a solid picture of an older time, and rough living in the mountains, in the coal mine, and the journey of the main character as she struggles to remember her past. I read this too long ago to do the book justice in a review. I do remember, I read it eagerly, drinking in the world Wiechman built. She did so much research. The photos at the end take you on a second journey through that research.
May 22, 2019
I loved this book. I was skeptical that her depictions of Harlan would be inaccurate, but was pleasently surprised. She did a good job of creating a visual image of early Harlan as well as nailed the Appalachian dialect. I did not want to put this book down!
November 27, 2017
historical fiction with a little mystery thrown in -- relies a little too heavily on colloquialisms
April 6, 2020
Really enjoyed this novel! Definitely an easy-read, page-turner that leaves the reader no doubt that true happiness comes from family, not material things.
February 25, 2017
As an adult who occasionally reads YA literature, I’m always looking for that “crossover appeal” in a novel that will endear it to its target audience while also holding the interest (at the very least) of more seasoned readers. By adding an aura of familial mystery to “Empty Places”, author Kathy Cannon Wiechman is able to do exactly that.
For a basic plot summary, “Empty Places” is set during the “hard times” of a Depression-era Kentucky mining community. Money is scarce, and most people are paid by scrips (basically credit) from their mining work. The story is told from the perspective of Adabel Cutler, a 13-year old girl whose father is one of those miners…and also a raging alcoholic with a hair-trigger temper. Basically, Adabel and her siblings run the home front and just try to keep out of their father’s way. Right away, we learn that Adabel’s mother left the family quite some time ago…or was it quite as simple as that? Adabel keeps getting conflicting reports about both why and where her mother went, finally deciding to push the issue and find out exactly what transpired.
The hallmark of this novel is its ability to weave a grand mystery into the more day-to-day events that transpire. The story is built on the people and hardships of Depression-era mining, there is no doubting that, and does a solid job of portraying the kind of poverty that these families had to endure. What gives all the proceedings more weight, however, is the ever-present mystery of what exactly happened to Adabel’s mother. That is why, even being well past this book’s intended audience, I kept turning the pages and caring.
“Empty Places” is written in the vernacular of the period and location, so there can be a little bit of a learning curve initially. However, once you get used to the ebb and flow of the language, you’ll just get used to it (it isn’t off-putting). Helping matters (especially for the younger crowd) are the super-short chapters (no more than 3-4 pages). I usually don’t enjoy the short-chapter approach, but in this case I didn’t mind it as much, maybe because it’s not like there is a big jump from chapter to chapter. More times than not, one chapter leads directly into the next one (basically, I think the chapters were done this way to appeal to younger readers and the process doesn’t really affect the overall narrative much).
Overall, this was an enjoyable work of historical fiction that covers enough themes (and contains enough mystery) to appeal to older readers as well.
For a basic plot summary, “Empty Places” is set during the “hard times” of a Depression-era Kentucky mining community. Money is scarce, and most people are paid by scrips (basically credit) from their mining work. The story is told from the perspective of Adabel Cutler, a 13-year old girl whose father is one of those miners…and also a raging alcoholic with a hair-trigger temper. Basically, Adabel and her siblings run the home front and just try to keep out of their father’s way. Right away, we learn that Adabel’s mother left the family quite some time ago…or was it quite as simple as that? Adabel keeps getting conflicting reports about both why and where her mother went, finally deciding to push the issue and find out exactly what transpired.
The hallmark of this novel is its ability to weave a grand mystery into the more day-to-day events that transpire. The story is built on the people and hardships of Depression-era mining, there is no doubting that, and does a solid job of portraying the kind of poverty that these families had to endure. What gives all the proceedings more weight, however, is the ever-present mystery of what exactly happened to Adabel’s mother. That is why, even being well past this book’s intended audience, I kept turning the pages and caring.
“Empty Places” is written in the vernacular of the period and location, so there can be a little bit of a learning curve initially. However, once you get used to the ebb and flow of the language, you’ll just get used to it (it isn’t off-putting). Helping matters (especially for the younger crowd) are the super-short chapters (no more than 3-4 pages). I usually don’t enjoy the short-chapter approach, but in this case I didn’t mind it as much, maybe because it’s not like there is a big jump from chapter to chapter. More times than not, one chapter leads directly into the next one (basically, I think the chapters were done this way to appeal to younger readers and the process doesn’t really affect the overall narrative much).
Overall, this was an enjoyable work of historical fiction that covers enough themes (and contains enough mystery) to appeal to older readers as well.
February 25, 2017
I liked this story because it was a good mystery especially for tweens. Adabel knows her mother left them six years ago but she does not know why. She doesn't even remember her mother and feels terrible about it. She wonders why everyone else remembers something about her mother but not her. Adabel goes on a mission to start finding out what happened to her mother especially since her father keeps coming home drunk every night. Adabel is surrounded by loving siblings but lives in a community that is poor. Everyone works in the coal mines and no one makes any money except those selling moonshine. Adabel is a strong character and is determined to help her family out. There are times she behaves older than 13 especially when she sits her father down to tell him to stop drinking. Adabel eventually finds out why her mother left, why she cannot remember and how to get her father to be a better person. There is another twist at the end of the story which adds to the happy ending.
May 31, 2016
Everyone is leaving and Adabel is trying to hold onto what is left. She can’t remember her mama who left when she was six and it really bothers her. Everyone remembers her mama including her siblings and the neighbor folk. Her daddy works in the mine, like many in town and is a drunk. He is a mean and ornery drunk and he is known around town for his drunkenness. Times are tough and everyone must pitch in. Adabel is trying to recover her memories of her mama, asking everyone she runs into what they remember about her mama and why they believe she ran off when she did. The rumors that Adabel hears about her mama start to have her question her family meanwhile her daddy continues to drink heavily affecting the household. A scuffle between her brother Pick and her daddy has Pick moving out of the house and tension in the house is high. There are more questions floating in the air than answers as Adabel scrambles to uncover the mystery of her mama. I really enjoyed how Adabel searched for answers to her question. It seemed like such a simple question but no one had a straightforward answer for her. She either heard rumors when she received an answer or she heard what others thought was the truth or Adabel discovered another questions that lead her on to search for more answers.
Adabel’s family is falling apart and being twelve-years old, she is the individual who is being taught to run the household. This is a big responsibility and one that Adabel feels she is not ready for. Her daddy tries to sober up, he makes serious attempts to be good father but alcoholism is a disease which can come back anytime without a warning and rear its ugly face.
I really enjoyed reading this novel with its Southern dialect. Written in the 1930’s during the Great Depression, you feel the hardships that this family is facing as they go about their day. Father’s depression, his work in the mine and his need for drink consumes his day and you see how his children fear him, this becomes their routine. Adabel is searching to find what happened to her mother and while doing so, she finds other truths within their small community. She was persistent in her search and I liked how she questioned the information that she received. She looked at everything and tried to put it all together. Looking at the cover of this novel, I don’t think it is a good reflection of what this novel entails. The story is about hardships, about family and about secrets. I really enjoyed it.
Adabel’s family is falling apart and being twelve-years old, she is the individual who is being taught to run the household. This is a big responsibility and one that Adabel feels she is not ready for. Her daddy tries to sober up, he makes serious attempts to be good father but alcoholism is a disease which can come back anytime without a warning and rear its ugly face.
I really enjoyed reading this novel with its Southern dialect. Written in the 1930’s during the Great Depression, you feel the hardships that this family is facing as they go about their day. Father’s depression, his work in the mine and his need for drink consumes his day and you see how his children fear him, this becomes their routine. Adabel is searching to find what happened to her mother and while doing so, she finds other truths within their small community. She was persistent in her search and I liked how she questioned the information that she received. She looked at everything and tried to put it all together. Looking at the cover of this novel, I don’t think it is a good reflection of what this novel entails. The story is about hardships, about family and about secrets. I really enjoyed it.
October 17, 2016
This is an emotionally gripping coming of age story set in my home state of Kentucky. The time period is around the Great Depression. The town is in Harlan County Kentucky which is a small county in no-where Kentucky. It is an extremely realistic, unapologetic depiction of Appalachian country. The people in this story are dirt poor as were most people during this time.
When everyone is getting out of dodge little Adabel is despreately trying to keep her family together and hold on to whatever hope she can muster up. Her mama left her when she was just the tender age of six and as you can imagine that really hurts her. She can't remember much of anything about her mama, but everyone else can. Her dad works in the local mine, unfortunately he is the town drunk. His alcoholism turns him mean and borderline abusive at times.
Because times are rough and money is beyond tight everyone in the family is expected to pitch in. While Adabel is desperately trying to remember her mother, she sets out on a mission to find out. She asks everyone about her. Which is a bad thing to do in a small old town. Eventually she finds out somethings that change everything. It seems she has opened a can of worms.
Her family is falling apart, she is trying to figure out who she is, while being forced to be a parent. Her dad does attempt to become sober and be the father figure she desperately needs. Unfortunately it isn't always successful, and battling any disease is hard.
I thought it was a great book for being middle grade / YA. Regardless of how much your life sucks this book will make you beyond grateful for what you do have. This gives you an eye opening account of what was like when hope was lost. It is an incredible read.
Disclaimer: I received this book for free from Boyds Mill Press in exchange for an honest and completely unbiased review. All thoughts are my own.
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When everyone is getting out of dodge little Adabel is despreately trying to keep her family together and hold on to whatever hope she can muster up. Her mama left her when she was just the tender age of six and as you can imagine that really hurts her. She can't remember much of anything about her mama, but everyone else can. Her dad works in the local mine, unfortunately he is the town drunk. His alcoholism turns him mean and borderline abusive at times.
Because times are rough and money is beyond tight everyone in the family is expected to pitch in. While Adabel is desperately trying to remember her mother, she sets out on a mission to find out. She asks everyone about her. Which is a bad thing to do in a small old town. Eventually she finds out somethings that change everything. It seems she has opened a can of worms.
Her family is falling apart, she is trying to figure out who she is, while being forced to be a parent. Her dad does attempt to become sober and be the father figure she desperately needs. Unfortunately it isn't always successful, and battling any disease is hard.
I thought it was a great book for being middle grade / YA. Regardless of how much your life sucks this book will make you beyond grateful for what you do have. This gives you an eye opening account of what was like when hope was lost. It is an incredible read.
Disclaimer: I received this book for free from Boyds Mill Press in exchange for an honest and completely unbiased review. All thoughts are my own.
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July 16, 2016
This book made me really realize the sacrifice coal families of the 1930s made on a day to day basis. Miners are subject to cave-ins, Black Lung, and living on a meager salary. This book followed the life of the Ada Cutler. Her dad worked in the coal mines in Harlan County, Kentucky. She lived with her dad, brother, and two sisters in a coal mining shanty. Her mother left their family suddenly and she tries to find out more about her, while her family copes without her. This is only a small snippet of what happens in the book.
Sex: Some adult situations discussed.
Violence: Abusive, violent behavior
Language: None (that I can remember)
Sex: Some adult situations discussed.
Violence: Abusive, violent behavior
Language: None (that I can remember)
December 9, 2016
Adabel Cutler is wanting to remember her mother, yet there are empty places in her memory and she can't quiet the need to find the answer to why her mama left the family seven years ago.
Set in the Kentucky mining area of Harlan County during the lean times of The Depression, author Kathy CannonWeichman provides a rich portrait of a young girl and her family struggling against hard times and poverty.
Adabel's voice and her persistence to find the truth is strong and aptly presented in the dialect of the area. The author's research adds to the realism of the story and provides insights about the coal mining community that is beneficial to students studying The Great Depression.
Set in the Kentucky mining area of Harlan County during the lean times of The Depression, author Kathy CannonWeichman provides a rich portrait of a young girl and her family struggling against hard times and poverty.
Adabel's voice and her persistence to find the truth is strong and aptly presented in the dialect of the area. The author's research adds to the realism of the story and provides insights about the coal mining community that is beneficial to students studying The Great Depression.
April 25, 2016
This is the story of a young girl during the depression in a coal mining town in Kentucky as she struggles to learn about her family and survive the hard times of he present. She longs to learn the secrets of a mother who disappeared when she was a child. She struggles with a father caught in alcoholism and the despair in the community. Secrets become revealed as the pieces start to cone together.
Well written by a local author here in Cincinnati. For the older juvenile reader, teens and adults.
Well written by a local author here in Cincinnati. For the older juvenile reader, teens and adults.
June 16, 2016
You'll be hooked from the very first page. Adabel Cutler tells us her story of survival during the depression. Her mama's gone, she don't know why... empty place. Her daddy was a drunk, she don't know why... empty place. Her older sister takes up with the grocer's son, she don't know why... empty place. Her brother takes off, she don't know why... empty place. Seemingly alone, Adabel Cutler does everything she can to fill those empty places by getting answers to all her questions. What she learns helps her make her family whole again.
May 14, 2016
An easy read that tells of Hard Times in Kentucky's Eastern coalfields during the Depression. The author's use of the dialect is genuine which surprised me. I bought the book because the author is my friend's Aunt. I'm glad I did, and I plan to share it with a cousin who lived much of her life in Kentucky.
June 2, 2021
Love the language
I love the author's use of Mountain dialect. The story line quickly grabbed my attention and held it to the very end. The characters are realistic and true to the time frame of the story. Tough times make tough people who can and
did survive these hard times. Easy and enjoyable read.
I love the author's use of Mountain dialect. The story line quickly grabbed my attention and held it to the very end. The characters are realistic and true to the time frame of the story. Tough times make tough people who can and
did survive these hard times. Easy and enjoyable read.
June 8, 2016
Great exploration of the Depression as it hit a coal mining community. Loved the 13-year-old main character and how she uncovered her past throughout the story, as well as the Kentucky hill town dialect used throughout.
December 30, 2023
This was a book club pick and a familiar story similar to much of the Appalachian literature that I have read before. At times it seemed a little stereotyped without showing the complexity of the culture, but it could be a nice story for younger readers as I believe it is intended.
August 20, 2016
Gritty family drama set in Depression Era coal-country Kentucky about the secrets that can tear a family apart and cause all sorts of empty places...at the table, in the heart, and in the mind
February 26, 2020
This book was absolutely riveting. I read it all in a few hours. It was fascinating to read about the young girl's life with so much of her memory lost.
March 8, 2022
I forgot how much there was to unpack in this book. Really good, though.
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September 12, 2017Another great one from Kathy. Read this to learn how to express dialect.
January 1, 2018
While at Cincinnati's Books By the Banks, I purchased this book from the author. What a story! The resilience of these characters is humbling. It is important that we understand the struggles faced by these mining families, and so many others, who fought day-by-day to survive during the years of the depression. Through the yes of Adabel, we see the determination and loyalty that help her piece together her family's full story, filling her empty places with answers and hope. These characters are unapologetically real and imperfect, which made me love them (MOST of them) even more.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews