** this giveaway is closed **
How do you know it's Fall? When we get books from new authors that are outstanding and totally engrossing! Today's book fits the bill to a T! Not to mention a few good Gothic ghost stories in time for October!
Synopsis: This debut novel from Ann Hite is told from the perspectives of five women whose lives are inextricably bound when a murder takes place in rural Depression-era North Carolina
Meet the women of Black Mountain and the one man that ties them all together…
Nellie Pritchard:I married Hobbs Pritchard without noticing he was a spell conjured into a man—a walking, talking, ghost story. He took me up Black Mountain and it was there I learned sometimes good and bad get mixed together so well a person can’t tell the difference until it’s too late.
Rose Gardner:I fell deeply in love with Hobbs as if some hoodoo was put on me. Then Miss Nellie came into our lives and changed everything.
Josie Clay: Hobbs Pritchard was like a spoiled potato at the bottom of the barrel. But my daughter Nellie didn’t believe me. Something stunk to high heavens, something rotten. Eventually I’d find out what it was…
Shelly Parker: I got me this gift—restless souls line up to get my notice no matter what I’m doing. Daddy warned me not to have nothing to do with the Pritchards. Some things in life just can’t be avoided and getting mixed up with Nellie was one of them.
Annie Harbor: Mama told me the same bedtime story each night. She told it with such detail I was sure Hobbs and Nellie were real. But they were just characters in a tale spun to keep me in line. They were my moral compass. Or so I believed…
About the Author: Ann has published more than sixty stories in publications such as: Literary House Review Anthology, Espresso Fiction, Skyline Magazine, but this is her first pubnovel. Ann has published more than forty-five book reviews. What does this mean? She’s a book junkie. Her book reviews appear in Internet Book Review and Feminist Review. She teaches workshops throughout the South specializing in writing voice. Most recently she spoke about this topic at Scribblers’ Retreat Writers’ Conference on St. Simons Island. Ann lives with her family in Atlanta with her ever expanding library, a butterfly/hummingbird garden, and her laptop. She is hard at work on my next BLACK MOUNTAIN novel, SIGHT. Check out her website for more info.
Review: Hite was inspired to write these characters based on hand-me-down stories of her relatives, who lived on a mountain not so unlike Black Mountain. AHA, ya see- Southern gothic!—that she heard so many times as a young girl. The book is solid Southern gothic novel- multiple generations, haunted huge house, family traditions and lore, and twisted tales within tales. I literally could NOT put it down once I started reading it and finished it in one day!
The story intertwines itself with the different women and different generations, weaving a very intricate tale of web and deceit (Shakespeare came to mind more than once!). The supernatural elements really act as more of a separate character to the tale. Rather than being the focus, they are the element that binds the women, whether they realize ti or not. The book opens the scab of family secrets and betrayals, and uses the ghosts as the characters' consciences- much like the devil perched on the proverbial shoulder- they can lead them down a wrong path, or like the guardian angel, save them from themselves.
I liked how the author gave us different viewpoints- it allowed the reader to see different sides of the characters and see that appearances are not what they seem to be. You really won't be able to put it down and you'll be thrilled to note that the author is working on not one but 2 follow up books for this series- I takes up Shelly's tale, the other will tell the pre-story of how the ghosts came to Black Mountain in the first place. If you don't win, make sure to pick up a copy, it's a great read!
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Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge, from Gallery Books, via book blogs.ning for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it.
How do you know it's Fall? When we get books from new authors that are outstanding and totally engrossing! Today's book fits the bill to a T! Not to mention a few good Gothic ghost stories in time for October!
Meet the women of Black Mountain and the one man that ties them all together…
Nellie Pritchard:I married Hobbs Pritchard without noticing he was a spell conjured into a man—a walking, talking, ghost story. He took me up Black Mountain and it was there I learned sometimes good and bad get mixed together so well a person can’t tell the difference until it’s too late.
Rose Gardner:I fell deeply in love with Hobbs as if some hoodoo was put on me. Then Miss Nellie came into our lives and changed everything.
Josie Clay: Hobbs Pritchard was like a spoiled potato at the bottom of the barrel. But my daughter Nellie didn’t believe me. Something stunk to high heavens, something rotten. Eventually I’d find out what it was…
Shelly Parker: I got me this gift—restless souls line up to get my notice no matter what I’m doing. Daddy warned me not to have nothing to do with the Pritchards. Some things in life just can’t be avoided and getting mixed up with Nellie was one of them.
Annie Harbor: Mama told me the same bedtime story each night. She told it with such detail I was sure Hobbs and Nellie were real. But they were just characters in a tale spun to keep me in line. They were my moral compass. Or so I believed…
About the Author: Ann has published more than sixty stories in publications such as: Literary House Review Anthology, Espresso Fiction, Skyline Magazine, but this is her first pubnovel. Ann has published more than forty-five book reviews. What does this mean? She’s a book junkie. Her book reviews appear in Internet Book Review and Feminist Review. She teaches workshops throughout the South specializing in writing voice. Most recently she spoke about this topic at Scribblers’ Retreat Writers’ Conference on St. Simons Island. Ann lives with her family in Atlanta with her ever expanding library, a butterfly/hummingbird garden, and her laptop. She is hard at work on my next BLACK MOUNTAIN novel, SIGHT. Check out her website for more info.
Review: Hite was inspired to write these characters based on hand-me-down stories of her relatives, who lived on a mountain not so unlike Black Mountain. AHA, ya see- Southern gothic!—that she heard so many times as a young girl. The book is solid Southern gothic novel- multiple generations, haunted huge house, family traditions and lore, and twisted tales within tales. I literally could NOT put it down once I started reading it and finished it in one day!
The story intertwines itself with the different women and different generations, weaving a very intricate tale of web and deceit (Shakespeare came to mind more than once!). The supernatural elements really act as more of a separate character to the tale. Rather than being the focus, they are the element that binds the women, whether they realize ti or not. The book opens the scab of family secrets and betrayals, and uses the ghosts as the characters' consciences- much like the devil perched on the proverbial shoulder- they can lead them down a wrong path, or like the guardian angel, save them from themselves.
I liked how the author gave us different viewpoints- it allowed the reader to see different sides of the characters and see that appearances are not what they seem to be. You really won't be able to put it down and you'll be thrilled to note that the author is working on not one but 2 follow up books for this series- I takes up Shelly's tale, the other will tell the pre-story of how the ghosts came to Black Mountain in the first place. If you don't win, make sure to pick up a copy, it's a great read!
**
**
Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge, from Gallery Books, via book blogs.ning for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it.
Thank you for the contest!!
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