barbara m said:

“I enjoyed Cataloochee very much. It is hard to keep the characters and their relationships straight. I referred to the family tree in the front of the book often. Of course, in a small town, keeping family relationships straight (for an outsider) is always a challenge! I lived in a smallish town in Massachusetts and it always seemed that I found out that someone I'd met was some kind of cousin or sibling or had married into the family of someone else I knew. The mountain people in this story were strong and Caldwell made them quite human in his character building. The end of the book is nice a cliff-hanger and I won't spoil it! I did really want to know a little more about the future of the area (you'll see why if you read it) and wish there had been either another chapter or perhaps an historical note at the end. Now I have to go do research! That's the librarian in me. If you liked Cold Mountain, you'll probably like this. In fact Charles Frazier wrote a blurb and worked with the author as a reader (according to the notes in the back - yes I read those too!) I recommend this book to others who enjoy stories about living in the mountains, realistic historical fiction, or a just plain good yarn!”

posted Wednesday, May 14 2008