Spring Decision: Stories of Appalachia

by Helen Haught Fanick

Short stories with hopeful endings have always been favorites of Helen Haught Fanick, and her own stories are no exception. Her protagonists usually discover at the end that with effort, situations can change and life can improve. The young girl with a chance to go to college sees many obstacles, as does the wife who wants to help a disadvantaged boy. Their decisions, in the end, are right for them. These varied stories are about more than the problems faced by the characters. They’re about hope.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published July 26, 2012

About the author

Helen Haught Fanick is a member of a large family of writers. Her mother published many children's stories, her brother is a newspaper editor and nonfiction writer, her son is a successful mystery novelist, and nearly everyone else in the family writes poetry or short stories.

Helen grew up in West Virginia and now lives in Texas, and both states provide settings for her novels. Her work includes cozy mysteries, suspense novels, a World War II espionage novel, and short stories, all available through Amazon for Kindle. The novels are also available in paperback.

A short story impressed Helen’s fifth grade teacher, and she’s been writing ever since. She’s won several local and state awards and two national awards in the Writer’s Digest Competition. Moon Signs, Book I of the Moon Mystery Series, was a quarter-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards.

Reviews

[Daphne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book because I was intrigued by the title and looked forward to reading and learning more about Appalachian life. I'm unsure whether my perception of life in Appalachia is skewed or whether it is similar to small-town living. The stories rang more to me of living in a small town--not necessarily of Appalachian life as I perceive it.

That said,  I thoroughly enjoyed the stories. They are well-written and have good plot lines. I like that they're not cookie-cutter. Good variety. The author uses visual language and great metaphors that add depth to her writing. My favorite stories were "Flowers in a Vase," "The Elusive Buck of King Bend," "The Eternal Flame," and "The Man in the Ruffled Housecoat."

I would definitely read this author's other works.