Part of Sharyn McCrumb's Appalachian series, this book tells the story of two crimes more than a hundred years apart.
McCrumb based the 1833 murder on a true story and she used some of her family history in research for the book.
A blend of fact and fiction, this novel has an author's note and bibliography at the end to help the reader understand which characters are based real people.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I'm sending this to another bookcrosser that has it on their wishlist. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Wow thanks for this wonderful little shower of surprise RABCK! I read my first McCrumb book a few months ago, The Song Catcher, and was surprised how much I enjoyed it. I went ahead and put on my wishlist several of her titles but never expect to see them so soon! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

As always, Sharyn McCrumb does not disappoint. While, like some of her other stories, it's about a murder case (actually three), it would be great injustice to call this a mystery. The research McCrumb did shows through, enriching the tale, giving readers a clear glimpse into the past. Moreover, through the cases past and present, McCrumb makes reader think about justice, about truth, about family bonds.

The story of Frankie Silver is very well done, and while the ending of the story is a foretold conclusion, I can't help hoping, like the other characters, that somehow she was granted another chance at life.

Thank you again etherea, for the lovely RABCK. Will try to find a new reader for it.

Just got it and what a journey it has made.
It's been on my wishlist for ages, Thank you very much azuki!

Thanks once again azuki!
It's been a while since I've read one of the Appalachian novels by this author and I didn't realize how much I missed it until I started reading this one.
The author has a way of describing the mountain life and ways that really takes you there and makes you feel like a part of that reality, what more can one ask from a book?
Good characters and a well paced and interesting plot make for a very enjoyable book, the part of the story set in 1833 is well researched and reads like a good historical novel and the part set in the present just helps the other along filling some gaps.
There is also some food for thought about the death penalty here and that only makes the book better.
This was one of the many authors that I've discovered through BC and I'm really glad that I did, all the Appalachian novels that I've read so far have been worth it and even if they're not all brilliant most of them are very good and have made me travel to the Appalachian region, in my mind.
A very good book that I really recommend.

Off it goes as a RABCK to Finland.
Hope you enjoy it, I did a lot.

The book arrived safely, thank you! I recently read another "Ballad" novel by Sharyn McCrumb (If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O) and thoroughly enjoyed it, so kizmiaz was kind enough to offer this one to me, too. Can't wait to start reading :) Thanks again!