digital audio
English language
Published March 16, 2012 by Blackstone Publishing.
Deep in the heart of western North Carolina lies Marshall, a quiet mountain town where people believe in protecting their own—especially if they harbor secrets. For the town's modest folk, that's the way it's always been—a belief instilled in them for generations. For a curious boy like Jess Hall, it means trouble, especially when his older brother, Christopher, a mute autistic boy everyone calls Stump, can't help sneaking a look at something he isn't supposed to—an act that causes catastrophic repercussions and thrusts Jess into an adulthood for which he's unprepared.
Confronted with a stunned community, a family in pain, and witnesses who will not talk, Sheriff Clem Barefield turns to church matriarch Adelaide Lyle, whose role as the town's moral center makes her predictions of a violent reckoning to come all but unavoidable. As the lynchpin for this violence, Jess is set adrift in a world in which the …
Deep in the heart of western North Carolina lies Marshall, a quiet mountain town where people believe in protecting their own—especially if they harbor secrets. For the town's modest folk, that's the way it's always been—a belief instilled in them for generations. For a curious boy like Jess Hall, it means trouble, especially when his older brother, Christopher, a mute autistic boy everyone calls Stump, can't help sneaking a look at something he isn't supposed to—an act that causes catastrophic repercussions and thrusts Jess into an adulthood for which he's unprepared.
Confronted with a stunned community, a family in pain, and witnesses who will not talk, Sheriff Clem Barefield turns to church matriarch Adelaide Lyle, whose role as the town's moral center makes her predictions of a violent reckoning to come all but unavoidable. As the lynchpin for this violence, Jess is set adrift in a world in which the truth is hidden from children, even if they know things adults do not.
A Land More Kind Than Home is a literary thriller packed with stories and characters connected by faith, infidelity, addiction, and a sense of hope that is as tragic as it is unforgettable.
-Snake handlers
-Community and the vulnerable
-How we disappoint our loved ones
-North Carolina, rural life
-Vivid setting, complex characters
This book was kind of hit or miss for me. The positives- I like southern gothic. I liked the characters.
I like the idea of a snake handling, strychnine drinking, speaking in tongues church. I like the idea of a strong church leader with his cult-like following ala Jim Jones. The negatives outweighed the positives, alas. The negatives- Though I liked the characters, they were not developed fully, fleshed out and brought to life. If they would have been, that would have made the story more enjoyable and perhaps more believable. Some of the events and how they came about seemed very far-fetched and unbelievable. When that happens in a book it takes me right out of the story and has me shaking my head like, nope. The characters needed more backstory and more insight into their psyches, more insight into their daily lives. Lastly the ending was completely unbelievable …
This book was kind of hit or miss for me. The positives- I like southern gothic. I liked the characters.
I like the idea of a snake handling, strychnine drinking, speaking in tongues church. I like the idea of a strong church leader with his cult-like following ala Jim Jones. The negatives outweighed the positives, alas. The negatives- Though I liked the characters, they were not developed fully, fleshed out and brought to life. If they would have been, that would have made the story more enjoyable and perhaps more believable. Some of the events and how they came about seemed very far-fetched and unbelievable. When that happens in a book it takes me right out of the story and has me shaking my head like, nope. The characters needed more backstory and more insight into their psyches, more insight into their daily lives. Lastly the ending was completely unbelievable and just silly.
The pieces of the puzzle were there but they weren't put together. The story was not developed fully as far as I'm concerned. The book is not bad, just it seemed unpolished or rushed.
