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That Bright Land
In the summer of 1866, Jacob Ballard, a former Union soldier and spy, is dispatched by the War Department in Washington City to infiltrate the isolated North Carolina mountain community where he was born and find the serial killer responsible for the deaths of Union veterans.
Based on true events, That Bright Land is the story of a violent and fragile nation in the wake of the Civil War and a man who must exorcise his own savage demons while tracking down another.
Based on true events, That Bright Land is the story of a violent and fragile nation in the wake of the Civil War and a man who must exorcise his own savage demons while tracking down another.
323 pages, Paperback
First published June 14, 2016
14 people are currently reading
1021 people want to read
About the author
Terry Roberts
43 books148 followersTerry Roberts is the author of seven celebrated novels: A Short Time to Stay Here (winner of the Willie Morris Prize for Southern Fiction and the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction); That Bright Land (winner of the Thomas Wolfe Literary Award, the James Still Award for Writing About the Appalachian South and the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction); and, The Holy Ghost Speakeasy and Revival (a finalist for the 2019 Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction), My Mistress’ Eyes are Raven Black (Finalist for the 2022 Best Paperback Original Novel by the International Thriller Writers Organization), The Sky Club (a finalist for the 2023 Thomas Wolfe Literary Award), The Devil Hath a Pleasing Shape, and In the Fullness of Time.
Roberts is a lifelong teacher and educational reformer as well as an award-winning novelist. He is a native of the mountains of Western North Carolina—born and bred. His ancestors include six generations of mountain farmers, as well as the bootleggers and preachers who appear in his novels. He was raised close by his grandmother, Belva Anderson Roberts, who was born in 1888 and passed to him the magic of the past along with the grit and humor of mountain story telling.
Roberts is the Director of the National Paideia Center and lives in Asheville, North Carolina with his wife, Lynn.
Roberts is a lifelong teacher and educational reformer as well as an award-winning novelist. He is a native of the mountains of Western North Carolina—born and bred. His ancestors include six generations of mountain farmers, as well as the bootleggers and preachers who appear in his novels. He was raised close by his grandmother, Belva Anderson Roberts, who was born in 1888 and passed to him the magic of the past along with the grit and humor of mountain story telling.
Roberts is the Director of the National Paideia Center and lives in Asheville, North Carolina with his wife, Lynn.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
March 27, 2016
3.5 The War between the States has ended a year back, but form some in the North Carolina mountains the war and its effects have not. Mothers lost sons, wives lost husbands, and many who returned were wounded or permanently maimed. In these mountains many fought on opposite sides, neighbors and even family members were so divided and one person is bent on revenge.
Jake Ballard was born in these mountains but after the death of his father, his mother burned everything they owned and took Jake and his sisters, moving North. Jake fought for the union army, was wounded and sent home. After working for Pinkerton for a few years he is asked by his uncle, the governor of North Carolina to find out who was killing Union sympathizers and ex-soldiers. Under cover as a agent sent to assess pension disability payments Jake returns to a place
he no longer feels ties to nor remembers.
There is quite a bit of history included in this book, the Shelton Laurel Massacre that took place in 1863, is one such event which sent me looking to Wiki. The experiences of the mountain people, what they lost and how the coped was authentically portrayed. Loved the characters, some real, some not but all true to the time period. Loved little Sammy and loved that there was some humor in this story despite the trying times, of course there was also sadness. The tone of the book was light, hard to do when relating such a terrible time in our country, but wonderful for those who like history but not the usual dark tone. The author did a fabulous job maintaining the sensitivity of the times while allowing his characters to grow, find their place again and maybe even a measure of peace. Second chances and love, a new direction.
Feel quite a responsibility when I am the first one to review a book, doesn't happen to often, but this is a worthy book, one I hope many will read.
ARC from publisher.
Jake Ballard was born in these mountains but after the death of his father, his mother burned everything they owned and took Jake and his sisters, moving North. Jake fought for the union army, was wounded and sent home. After working for Pinkerton for a few years he is asked by his uncle, the governor of North Carolina to find out who was killing Union sympathizers and ex-soldiers. Under cover as a agent sent to assess pension disability payments Jake returns to a place
he no longer feels ties to nor remembers.
There is quite a bit of history included in this book, the Shelton Laurel Massacre that took place in 1863, is one such event which sent me looking to Wiki. The experiences of the mountain people, what they lost and how the coped was authentically portrayed. Loved the characters, some real, some not but all true to the time period. Loved little Sammy and loved that there was some humor in this story despite the trying times, of course there was also sadness. The tone of the book was light, hard to do when relating such a terrible time in our country, but wonderful for those who like history but not the usual dark tone. The author did a fabulous job maintaining the sensitivity of the times while allowing his characters to grow, find their place again and maybe even a measure of peace. Second chances and love, a new direction.
Feel quite a responsibility when I am the first one to review a book, doesn't happen to often, but this is a worthy book, one I hope many will read.
ARC from publisher.
June 6, 2016
Terry Roberts has written another stunning novel set in the mountains of Western North Carolina. His deep passion for and knowledge of the history, people, and landscape of Southern Appalachia is reflected in a beautifully written story with well developed, believable characters. Like books by Ron Rash, Wilma Dykeman, and Wayne Caldwell, Roberts' novels give me a greater understanding of my own Appalachian ancestors and their stories.
June 11, 2016
That Bright Land is a book I won't soon forget. It is a story that gets under your skin and pushes the reader to consider a number of big ideas, including healing. Healing in the aftermath of the Civil War is central to the story in That Bright Land. One cannot help but see that today, 150 years after the conclusion of the war between the states, that our country remains divided on key issues. How do we continue to heal? How will we heal after the upcoming Presidential election which promises to be the most polarizing yet? Perhaps lessons learned from the characters in Terry Roberts' beautifully written novel will shed light on how to heal and how to recover from internal conflict in 2016.
March 28, 2017
I really enjoyed this! A little love, a little mystery, a little adventure, and a lot of history. I love reading books in the places they are set! While I didn't finish this until back in Knoxville, I started it in Hot Springs, and really loved reading it while looking out at the creek.
April 16, 2016
Set in the Southern Highlands of North Carolina the year after the end of the Civil War, That Bright Land, the new novel by Terry Roberts, is an absorbing and intense read.
Jake Ballard, a Pinkerton agent and investigator of claims for federal disability benefits, has been sent by Governor Zeb Vance to unravel the mystery of multiple killings of former Union soldiers who have returned after the war to their homes in the mountain coves and hamlets of Madison county, North Carolina.
Communities have been riven by opposing allegiances, and neighbors live with ongoing distrust. The experience of loss and wounds of all kinds to individuals, to families, to hope, caused by protracted civil war are shared by all the characters. Terry Roberts’ beautifully drawn setting and “people of the place” are seen through the eyes of Jake, who, though born in these mountains, is in some sense a newcomer. Over the course of time, he begins to recognize that “…the old ways hold sway in the night, when people lie asleep, and the tide of nature itself rises iridescent and resplendent. The moon and stars sweep through the sky, and all is as it should be…”, and awakens at home.
As the thriller and the love story unfold, the message is of hope and healing and renewal emerging from the ashes and the wounds of war.
Jake Ballard, a Pinkerton agent and investigator of claims for federal disability benefits, has been sent by Governor Zeb Vance to unravel the mystery of multiple killings of former Union soldiers who have returned after the war to their homes in the mountain coves and hamlets of Madison county, North Carolina.
Communities have been riven by opposing allegiances, and neighbors live with ongoing distrust. The experience of loss and wounds of all kinds to individuals, to families, to hope, caused by protracted civil war are shared by all the characters. Terry Roberts’ beautifully drawn setting and “people of the place” are seen through the eyes of Jake, who, though born in these mountains, is in some sense a newcomer. Over the course of time, he begins to recognize that “…the old ways hold sway in the night, when people lie asleep, and the tide of nature itself rises iridescent and resplendent. The moon and stars sweep through the sky, and all is as it should be…”, and awakens at home.
As the thriller and the love story unfold, the message is of hope and healing and renewal emerging from the ashes and the wounds of war.
March 31, 2016
The first sentence of this new novel grabs you with its offhand ferocity: “In the summer of 1866 I went down South to find and kill a man.” The speaker is Jacob Ballard, a wounded veteran of the union army who became a Pinkerton agent after having most of his hand blown off in battle. He has been sent to the Southern Appalachian Mountains in the summer after the civil war to solve a string of murders.
Without giving away too much, suffice it to say that the last sentence of this very suspenseful book has to do with life rather than death and healing rather than pain. But in order to get there, Jacob must confront his own pain and despair as well as the fear and anger that haunts the small mountain community to which he comes.
That Bright Land is at once a murder mystery—you will not want to put it down--and a deep study of what it means to be wounded, whether in heart or mind. As if in response to the horrors of war, it also asks how might healing come to pass, whether for an individual, a family, or a whole community.
This is a love story as well as a war story. And although it is set almost exactly 150 years ago, this novel speaks directly to our own troubled and volatile times.
Terry Roberts' latest novel will take you back in time, and in doing so, reveals much about our lives in the here and now.
Without giving away too much, suffice it to say that the last sentence of this very suspenseful book has to do with life rather than death and healing rather than pain. But in order to get there, Jacob must confront his own pain and despair as well as the fear and anger that haunts the small mountain community to which he comes.
That Bright Land is at once a murder mystery—you will not want to put it down--and a deep study of what it means to be wounded, whether in heart or mind. As if in response to the horrors of war, it also asks how might healing come to pass, whether for an individual, a family, or a whole community.
This is a love story as well as a war story. And although it is set almost exactly 150 years ago, this novel speaks directly to our own troubled and volatile times.
Terry Roberts' latest novel will take you back in time, and in doing so, reveals much about our lives in the here and now.
Read
July 12, 2016Terry had me on page one. His language is beautiful, his style admirable, his characters believable folks I would like to know. Thanks for another great one, Terry.
M. Z. Thwaite, author of Tidewater Rip
M. Z. Thwaite, author of Tidewater Rip
April 21, 2025
This book by Terry Roberts has one of the best opening sentences I've read in a while: "In the summer of 1866 I went down South to find and kill a man." That'll wet a reader's whistle.
As with the other two Roberts' books I've read, this novel's setting and the history therein are meticulously researched and fitted in unobtrusively. (Roberts' afterword explains that the massacre mentioned did happen. The rest of the plot is fiction, compelling fiction.) The characters are interesting and nuanced, the exceptions being, perhaps, the hard-core Confederates. Though, as a resident of western North Carolina, where the novel is set, I have to admit there are still folks around who haven't thrown in the towel on that national heartache. But, here, the sons (and daughter) of the South verge on cartoonish.
The book is well-paced, and Roberts' writing sparkles:
"Thoughts that in the past might have meant comfort or even heat left me cold now. Left me all the more alone in the dark territory I'd come to."
"That was it, I suddenly realized. That was the word that had been sticking in my craw. Colony. I'd never heard it used except to describe the invasion of a superior race in heathen territory. Hell,
hadn't we just fought off the British in order to stop being colonies?"
"Something was rotten in this place I had come to, the hands on the clock and the pages from the calendar ripped off. Whatever it was seemed half buried in the minds of those all around me and yet still out of my reach."
As with the other two Roberts' books I've read, this novel's setting and the history therein are meticulously researched and fitted in unobtrusively. (Roberts' afterword explains that the massacre mentioned did happen. The rest of the plot is fiction, compelling fiction.) The characters are interesting and nuanced, the exceptions being, perhaps, the hard-core Confederates. Though, as a resident of western North Carolina, where the novel is set, I have to admit there are still folks around who haven't thrown in the towel on that national heartache. But, here, the sons (and daughter) of the South verge on cartoonish.
The book is well-paced, and Roberts' writing sparkles:
"Thoughts that in the past might have meant comfort or even heat left me cold now. Left me all the more alone in the dark territory I'd come to."
"That was it, I suddenly realized. That was the word that had been sticking in my craw. Colony. I'd never heard it used except to describe the invasion of a superior race in heathen territory. Hell,
hadn't we just fought off the British in order to stop being colonies?"
"Something was rotten in this place I had come to, the hands on the clock and the pages from the calendar ripped off. Whatever it was seemed half buried in the minds of those all around me and yet still out of my reach."
April 25, 2023
The unexpected love story between Jacob Ballard and Sarah Freeman at the heart of this Southern gothic murder mystery is its best part. Terry Roberts also knows rural North Carolina, and so his evocation of Warm Springs and the land around it right after the Civil War impressed me. But the book reads unevenly, veering between lyricism and brutality. I don't think Roberts hit his stride as a novelist until after this effort.
November 15, 2021
Exciting plot and twists with old fashioned moral values. Some sexual situations intimately described. Otherwise religious values are well written of and characters are written like real people (not superstars). Narrator is excellent and adds to the story. 3-1/2 stars.
July 22, 2017
Excellent book with good strong characters and wonderful attention to detail. Being quite familiar with the area where this takes place I can say the author's painstaking research to get things right shines throughout. Historical fiction at its finest.
July 26, 2016
Jacob Ballard arrives at Alexander’s Station, North Carolina on his way to Warm Springs. He was to meet with one of a few contacts whose names he’d been given in Washington City by his uncle, Governor Zeb Vance. Under the pretence of investigating and assessing veterans’ disability claims, Jacob was charged with finding out who was targeting and murdering veterans who fought for the Union. Returning to his birthplace held no appeal for Jacob, nor did the task he’d been set.
After his recovery from losing most of his left hand during the war, Jacob became a surgeon’s assistant before joining the Pinkerton Agency where he gained a reputation for hunting down suspects. Jacob is a damaged soul, haunted by the things he has seen and done during those terrible years, and not least by the nightmare of his amputation.
Even though the war had ended, many people in the mountains still suffered from the after effects, the loss and untold damage, both mental and physical, impacting on survivors and their loved ones. Communities had been torn apart by opposing loyalties. Where once there was trust and friendship, there was now suspicion and anger.
The historical aspect of this story was so revealing, I had no idea. Zeb Vance was the real Governor of North Carolina and the story is obviously set around and incorporates true events, including a horrific massacre of Union sympathisers. It’s a compelling narrative filled with sadness, hope, healing, understanding, love and humour, written beautifully with the authentic speech and social ways of the era. Jacob is a complicated and sympathetic character who holds no expectations for his future. It was interesting to get the story from his point of view, as someone who was born in the mountains, but felt disconnected from his roots, and fought for the Union. His visit to North Carolina starts off badly but was to prove his salvation.
The accurate details and the descriptions of places, scenery and people capture the aftermath of a horrific war, bringing it to life sensitively and with insight. Characters are realistic and believable and although the story is quite slow-paced it held my attention throughout. The overall effect is added to by MacLeod Andrews’ excellent performance, complete with accents and great characterisations. I loved it.
After his recovery from losing most of his left hand during the war, Jacob became a surgeon’s assistant before joining the Pinkerton Agency where he gained a reputation for hunting down suspects. Jacob is a damaged soul, haunted by the things he has seen and done during those terrible years, and not least by the nightmare of his amputation.
Even though the war had ended, many people in the mountains still suffered from the after effects, the loss and untold damage, both mental and physical, impacting on survivors and their loved ones. Communities had been torn apart by opposing loyalties. Where once there was trust and friendship, there was now suspicion and anger.
The historical aspect of this story was so revealing, I had no idea. Zeb Vance was the real Governor of North Carolina and the story is obviously set around and incorporates true events, including a horrific massacre of Union sympathisers. It’s a compelling narrative filled with sadness, hope, healing, understanding, love and humour, written beautifully with the authentic speech and social ways of the era. Jacob is a complicated and sympathetic character who holds no expectations for his future. It was interesting to get the story from his point of view, as someone who was born in the mountains, but felt disconnected from his roots, and fought for the Union. His visit to North Carolina starts off badly but was to prove his salvation.
The accurate details and the descriptions of places, scenery and people capture the aftermath of a horrific war, bringing it to life sensitively and with insight. Characters are realistic and believable and although the story is quite slow-paced it held my attention throughout. The overall effect is added to by MacLeod Andrews’ excellent performance, complete with accents and great characterisations. I loved it.
July 20, 2016
Well here is another book that I truly thought I would not like. War stories are my least favorite stories to begin with; and, after all, there just can't be that many interesting stories to be written about the War Between the States.
But the very first sentence grabs and the book hasn't let go of me yet.
"In the summer of 1866 I went down South to find and kill a man."
Now tell me, after that one opening sentence how could you NOT want to finish this book?
Set in mountains of North Carolina, the events are based on some true events and some of the characters were real people. Jacob, a Union soldier, is commissioned by the NC governor to go back to the town of his birth to search for whomever is killing men of the South who signed on with the Union army.
But the very first sentence grabs and the book hasn't let go of me yet.
"In the summer of 1866 I went down South to find and kill a man."
Now tell me, after that one opening sentence how could you NOT want to finish this book?
Set in mountains of North Carolina, the events are based on some true events and some of the characters were real people. Jacob, a Union soldier, is commissioned by the NC governor to go back to the town of his birth to search for whomever is killing men of the South who signed on with the Union army.
June 16, 2016
I loved this book.
Jake arrives with a mission to complete, a job to do. But in carrying out his mission, he connects with the place and the people there. He gains understandings - about them, about himself - and perspectives on living that slowly and powerfully immerse and infuse into him. With biblical symbolism, the events and the place bring Jacob a way to move beyond the burdens he carries.
Jake arrives with a mission to complete, a job to do. But in carrying out his mission, he connects with the place and the people there. He gains understandings - about them, about himself - and perspectives on living that slowly and powerfully immerse and infuse into him. With biblical symbolism, the events and the place bring Jacob a way to move beyond the burdens he carries.
February 23, 2020
Wonderful historical fiction, based on true events, but vividly fleshed out in a way that felt contemporary. Well-researched, yet never seemed belabored with knowledge. He credits John Ehle and has clearly drawn a great deal from this writer's work. Problematic for use of a mute black slave who "overcomes" her inability to speak when her passion for justice overrides her disability, and who (predictably, and unnecessarily; not a real spoiler here) dies in the end.
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August 1, 2021This is the second book I've recently read by Terry Roberts, and my Appalachian heart is drawn to his descriptions of long ago life in Western North Carolina. This book is centered around the pursuit of a serial killer in a mountain community after the Civil War. The characters are endearing and the historical background is fascinating.
July 25, 2016
I enjoyed this book immensely. Roberts' characterization of Veterans is spot on but what pleasantly surprised me was the sweet and completely believable relationship between Jake and Sarah. Highly recommended.
August 16, 2016
The language of the time and place are magical. This Appalachian story while difficult to put down was at times heartbreakingly hard to continue. Now I must read Terry Roberts' A Short Time To Stay Here!
December 18, 2016
This book grew on me as I read it. Ostensibly in the murder mystery genre, but really more about life & conditions in a backwoods mountainous part of North Carolina in 1866, when the Civil War is only recently over, & not in fact "over" in everyone's minds.
July 29, 2016
Just a plain good story with interesting characters and well developed plot.
January 8, 2017
3.5. Not the typical read for me but for anyone that enjoys historical fiction a good quick read. It hit too much of a lull for me in the the last quarter otherwise I would have rated a 4.
January 30, 2020
3.5 stars. A slow story that requires patience.
December 15, 2020
An interesting story about a corner of the mountains after the Civil War. I enjoyed the fact that the characters were based on the author's family.
June 22, 2023
A friend in western NC gave me an autographed copy of this book when it came out in 2016 because she knew I'd just moved to the state and was interested in reading NC authors. I'm sorry I didn't read it sooner, it has been a pleasure reading a novel based on southern history and the author's own heritage, as his ancestors lived in the mountains of Western NC. I'm gifting the book to a new bookstore opening in Selma NC, in the Piedmont, a small town with its own long history, as it was a plantation, part of the Mitchener Plantation in Smithfield. The bookstore is called The Story Keeper Book Store on North Raiford Street in downtown Selma. Stop in and continue your own journey reading NC authors!
June 4, 2019
Terry Roberts’s compelling second novel, That Bright Land, explores the aftermath of the U.S. Civil War, and shows us a more complicated picture of southern Appalachia than is widely known—depicting how, in contrast to the plantation-driven lowland, the mountain South was deeply divided over the war, with counties and even families split between pro-union and Confederate soldiers and sympathizers. That Bright Land explores the reverberations of a national trauma in private lives. Roberts’ language is at once both lyrical and plainspoken. Like nobody else, he channels his mountain muse to render a song that is full of searing pain and hard-won redemption.
April 27, 2019
Set in 1866, in the high country of North Carolina, this is the story of a Union soldier and spy, who is sent by the War Department to discover who is killing former confederate soldiers. Jacob Ballard successfully infiltrates the mountain community and discovers truths about himself, the serial killer, and the mountain people. This book is beautifully written and a joy to read. I loved every character in it and believe I will remember them for a long time. Based on true events.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 25, 2022
The Civil War had such an effect on the western North Carolina mountains where families were divided. This book deals with a Union soldier who is tasked with trying to find out why ex-Union soldiers are being murdered. We meet a lot of the locals as and learn about their rich lives. Having just read another book about the same period, I'm delighted to be learning about the people and the place.
September 15, 2019
Not horrible but not worth rereading
being from rural NC i am familiar with all the counties and mountain men so that helped. I'll give it 4 stars (actual rating 3.8ish ) --I like Sam and May June -but -as a mystery- it was lame . I think I liked it-even that much --because of my being from rural NC . The end was really lame and I did not feel like finishing the last 5%.....
being from rural NC i am familiar with all the counties and mountain men so that helped. I'll give it 4 stars (actual rating 3.8ish ) --I like Sam and May June -but -as a mystery- it was lame . I think I liked it-even that much --because of my being from rural NC . The end was really lame and I did not feel like finishing the last 5%.....
August 28, 2021
Set in Buncombe and Madison counties of NC this post Civil War story is based on true facts of mountaineer men who fought for the Union. Jacob Ballard is sent by Zeb Vance to investigate who might be responsible for the killing of these Patriots.
The engaging mystery reminded me of Paulette Jiles rich tales. A satisfying read!
The engaging mystery reminded me of Paulette Jiles rich tales. A satisfying read!
February 15, 2022
I do love a good mystery. The pacing was a bit slow early on, but it was necessary to build the foundation. I really liked it. I laughed, gasped, and teared up.
Macleod Andrews narrated the audio version and he was just right. He has the North Carolina accents from all regions nailed down. He is a gift
Macleod Andrews narrated the audio version and he was just right. He has the North Carolina accents from all regions nailed down. He is a gift
Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews