"Dooley!"

by Charlotte Corbin Barnes

Inspired by the Kingston Trio’s 1958 international hit ballad "Tom Dooley" plus 30 years of in-depth research into the life and times of Confederate Civil War Veteran Thomas C. Dula, “Dooley!” is Charlotte Corbin Barnes’ latest literary achievement. A factual novel, "Dooley!" deftly chronicles the multiple sides of the legend of Tom Dooley from the perspective of the New York Herald newspaper reporter who was assigned to cover Tom's 1868 hanging in Statesville, NC. Barnes relies on the wealth of information she’s collected surrounding the legend to tell what she believes really happened during that fateful spring of 1866 when Laura Foster "just up and disappeared." “Edith Carter, my dear friend and founder of the Tom Dooley Museum in Wilkes County, North Carolina, challenged me to first publish the factual book, which I did with the 2016 release of 'The Tom Dooley Files: My Search for the Truth Behind the Legend.' It won a prestigious Book of the Year Award for 2017 from the North Carolina Society of Historians and has been called 'The Tom Dooley Bible.' ‘Its information is priceless!’ Edith said about The Tom Dooley Files. ‘Then, when you've finished with that, you can write a novel that reveals what you believe, according to what your research and your gut tell you could be the real story behind the stabbing murder of Laura Foster.’ So that’s what I’ve done.” Charlotte Corbin Barnes

687 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 17, 2019

Reviews

[Charles Witham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply, a great read and one that will draw you into the world of post Civil War Reconstruction with the backdrop of a real life Murder and the execution by hanging with all the intriguing subplots of a who really done it and why? Highly recommend, however, set some time aside, because this is one story you’ll won’t want to put down.