By Bonnie Blaylock
Light to the Hills
Historical Fiction
The folks in the Kentucky Appalachians are scraping by. Coal mining and hardscrabble know-how are a way of life for these isolated people. But when Amanda Rye, a young widowed mother and traveling packhorse librarian, comes through a mountain community hit hard by the nation’s economic collapse, she brings with her hope, courage, and apple pie. Along the way, Amanda takes a shine to the MacInteer family, especially to the gentle Rai; her quick-study daughter, Sass; and Finn, the eldest son who’s easy to warm to. They remind Amanda of her childhood and her parents with whom she longs to be reconciled.
Her connection with the MacInteers deepens, and Amanda shares with them a dangerous secret from her past. When that secret catches up with Amanda in the present, she, Rai, Sass, and Finn find their lives intersecting—and threatened—in the most unexpected ways. Now they must come together as the truth lights a path toward survival, mountain justice, forgiveness, and hope.
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Ranked in:
Women’s Historical Fiction
Coming of Age Fiction
Women’s Domestic Life Fiction
Family Life Fiction
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Reviews
“This moving tale of family bonds and the resilience of mothers and daughters is filled with rich period details, regional dialect, and fascinating local customs and foods… Readers of Kim Michele Richardson, Ann H. Gabhart, and Kim Vogel Sawyer will also enjoy this engaging historical novel.”
“Light to the Hills tells a story of bringing literacy and light to impoverished people. Blaylock’s haunting descriptive passages evoke the mountains’ bright pleasures — the flora and fauna, the beautiful vistas, the peace of a simple life — as well as their dark dangers and sorrows, including the tortured lives of those forced to dig coal to survive.”
When Amanda Rye is widowed, she takes her young son back to her home in the Kentucky Appalachians, which has been hard hit by the Great Depression. With little work available, Amanda takes a job with the WPA as a traveling packhorse librarian who brings books, newspapers, and hope to her isolated neighbors. On her rounds, Amanda becomes friends with the struggling MacInteer family: daughter Sass, handsome oldest son Finn, who is unable to walk after a mining accident, and mother Rai. As she becomes closer to Rai, Amanda shares a dangerous secret about her past, and that secret ensnares her and the MacInteers in a deadly battle with a dangerous man. This moving tale of family bonds and the resilience of mothers and daughters is filled with rich period details, regional dialect, and fascinating local customs and foods. The story shows the power that reading and books had in the lives of people who often had little access to them. Readers of Kim Michele Richardson, Ann H. Gabhart, and Kim Vogel Sawyer will also enjoy this engaging historical novel.
I was fortunate enough to be given an advance copy of Bonnie Blaylock’s debut novel, LIGHT TO THE HILLS, and I feel as though I time-traveled to the Kentucky Appalachian hills in the 1930’s. I have experienced that world through the author’s words.
With hauntingly lyrical language, Blaylock weaves a tale of mountain people who are poor in material possessions, but rich in family and friends; illiterate, but extraordinarily wise in the ways of nature….
LIGHT TO THE HILLS is a book that will resonate with me for a long time. It has already garnered one literary prize, and I predict there will be more. Kudos to Bonnie Blaylock for a powerfully eloquent historical novel.
Historical Novels Review
In the mountains of Kentucky, times have always been hard, but during the Depression, they are leaner than ever. Young Sass MacInteer is gathering ginseng in the holler when she meets Amanda Rye, a packhorse librarian sent out to provide books and cheer to those who are isolated and struggling. The MacInteers are doing what they can to get by, and that includes sending their men deep into the coal mines to eke out a living. Amanda, a young widow, is reeling from struggles of her own and is thankful for the librarian job, which helps her support her young son. Wounds from her past have kept her from reaching out, although she feels an attraction to Finn MacInteer, the eldest son. Even as the family befriends Amanda, and Sass begins to appreciate the joy of books, secrets from Amanda’s past might threaten them all.
This is a gorgeously written and well-layered novel that immediately transports us to the Appalachian Mountains of the 1930s. Bonnie Blaylock does a wonderful job of portraying the beauty of the “shifting blues and greens” of Appalachia and the proud determination of its people. The characters draw you in immediately. Sass’s personality matches her nickname, and the quiet but steely resolve of Rai MacInteer keeps her family not only fed but well cared for. Illiteracy in Appalachia is explored, as there was usually no money for books or, for many, an ability to read them. We celebrate with Sass as we feel the joy of holding a book and of learning to read for the first time. The ways, superstitions, folklore, and justice of the mountain people are woven deeply into the story. Rich in color, tradition, and character, this mountain saga will hold you spellbound.
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