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The Saints of Swallow Hill
The Saints of Swallow Hill | Donna Everhart
22 posts | 18 read | 13 to read
Where the Crawdads Sing meets The Four Winds as award-winning author Donna Everhart's latest novel immerses readers in its unique setting--the turpentine camps and pine forests of the American South during the Great Depression--for a captivating story of friendship, survival, and three vagabonds' intersecting lives. It takes courage to save yourself... Few writers evoke the complexities of the heart and the gritty fascination of the American South as vividly as Donna Everhart, whose lyrical new novel, set against the background of the Great Depression, is a powerful story of courage, survival, and friendship... In the dense pine forests of North Carolina, turpentiners labor, hacking into tree trunks to draw out the sticky sap that gives the Tar Heel State its nickname, and hauling the resin to stills to be refined. Among them is Rae Lynn Cobb and her husband, Warren, who run a small turpentine farm together. Though the work is hard and often dangerous, Rae Lynn, who spent her childhood in an orphanage, is thankful for it--and for her kind if careless husband. When Warren falls victim to his own negligence, Rae Lynn undertakes a desperate act of mercy. To keep herself from jail, she disguises herself as a man named "Ray" and heads to the only place she can think of that might offer anonymity--a turpentine camp in Georgia named Swallow Hill. Swallow Hill is no easy haven. The camp is isolated and squalid, and commissary owner Otis Riddle takes out his frustrations on his browbeaten wife, Cornelia. Although Rae Lynn works tirelessly, she becomes a target for Crow, the ever-watchful woods rider who checks each laborer's tally. Delwood Reese, who's come to Swallow Hill hoping for his own redemption, offers "Ray" a small measure of protection, and is determined to improve their conditions. As Rae Lynn forges a deeper friendship with both Del and Cornelia, she begins to envision a path out of the camp. But she will have to come to terms with her past, with all its pain and beauty, before she can open herself to a new life and seize the chance to begin again.
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all_4_kb
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First time ever reading on my Kindle. I don‘t love it, but after moving recently and not having my TBR books around, this is my only option. I guess I have to take advantage of the free electronic copies on Amazon too! Cozy Fall Friday reading 🖤

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BoleyBooks
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Tackle the TBR 🤓📚
#boleybooks #thesaintsofswallowhill #DonnaEverhart #bookbeast #bookjoy #bookbuds
What are you reading? 😊

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Beatlefan129
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Happy Christmas book mail! ❤️📚 I missed out on all the Christmas swaps this year and was feeling pretty bummed until I went to the mailbox and found this book that I won in a #GoodreadsGiveaway.

Aims42 Wooohoo! Congrats!! 🙌 1y
Crazeedi Awesome!! 1y
SilversReviews This is a really good read!! Enjoy!! 1y
79 likes3 comments
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sblbooks
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megnews I was glad I read it. I learned about turpentine camps which I knew nothing about. I don‘t know that I‘d recommend it though. If she wrote more historical fiction I‘d definitely check it out. 2y
sblbooks @megnews I have mixed feelings. As usual the historical parts of the novel I enjoyed. However I would not recommend it because of the crudeness throughout the novel. If I wasn't leading the discussion, I'm not sure I would have even finished the first chapter. It'll be a long time before I read another one by this author. 2y
TheBookHippie It was rough but, I‘m glad I persevered and read it. But wow it was dark. 2y
sblbooks @TheBookHippie @megnews thanks for joining in the discussion. 2y
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megnews Life was very hard for everybody. Makes me glad to have been born when I was. (edited) 2y
sblbooks I've often said I would never have survived the depression for numerous reasons. I think women felt like they didn't have many options. That's my Raelynn pretended to be a man. Although as you pointed out, that doesn't mean life's going to be easy either. 2y
TheBookHippie This is one period I am for sure glad o didn‘t live in …just so awful. 2y
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megnews It was horrific. I‘m sorry to be so sadistic but I was glad he got a taste of his own medicine. There has been some truly awful people in the world. I think I‘d run and be shot rather than willingly lay down in there. (edited) 2y
sblbooks @megnews I'm with you, there are some things worse than death. Otis and Crow were two of the most vile characters I've read in a long time. 2y
TheBookHippie @sblbooks I agree with both of you. I‘d run @megnews . 2y
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megnews It was typical considering the hard times of the depression and desperation so many had to find work. It was typical of the racial climate. It reminded me a lot of coal mining towns with the scrip and of sharecropping with the stuckness due to indebtedness of it. The horrible cruelty of some of the men was terrible. It shows the determination of the human spirit to survive such places. Personally, I think I‘d rather lay down on the side of 👇🏻 (edited) 2y
megnews the road and die. 2y
sblbooks @megnews. The setting was almost like it was its own character. I also thought about the coal mining towns. Like in The Women of Copper Country, how the workers remain indebted to the company because they're not paid in cash. 2y
TheBookHippie @sblbooks I thought of that book and coal miners. It‘s a gritty existence .. I can‘t fathom trying to live a life. I‘d fight but man, how soul sucking of an existence .. 2y
sblbooks @TheBookHippie that's a good way to put it. 2y
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megnews I could not have shot him but I might have given him the gun, knowing he was dying an excruciating death at that point. When he botched it, I‘m not 100% sure I could have shot him but I would have tried. 2y
sblbooks @megnews not me! I definitely could not have done what she did. I would have went for the doctor no matter how mad he got. Back in those days a lot of people didn't even pay the doctor, they just gave them chickens or something like that. 2y
megnews @sblbooks oh yeah, backing up to that option, I definitely would have gone against his wishes regarding getting the dr. 2y
TheBookHippie I could not have done it. I would have gotten help I think no matter how long it took. 2y
sblbooks @TheBookHippie definitely 2y
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sblbooks
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#OverbookedClub Discussion starts now! I'm posting a little early. I'm going to a charity dinner tonight, raising money for a local food pantry. I will reply to comments as soon as I can. @CoverToCoverGirl @TheBookHippie. @julieclair @shellleigh33 @megnews

megnews I think it started and was mostly, like so many marriages in those hard times and hard places, as a marriage of convenience but developed into a little something more. I don‘t think it developed into a lot more but somewhat. You could tell from her sadness when she thought of him. 2y
sblbooks @megnews agreed. It was a marriage of convenience at the start. Raelynn grew to care for him, but was not in love with him. This storyline reminds me of the Love Comes Softly series have you ever read that? 2y
megnews @sblbooks yes! My gran had me read those! But I think they truly fell in love eventually. They seemed closer than this couple. 2y
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sblbooks @megnews Yes, they did truly fall in love for sure. 2y
TheBookHippie @sblbooks I thought that I read them too!!! So sorry I‘m so late COVID kicking my butt! 2y
TheBookHippie @megnews so many marriages were like that. Especially when marriage was for everything but love. 2y
sblbooks @TheBookHippie that's okay. I'm sorry to hear you had covid. 2y
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megnews
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Pickpick

This is the type of historical fiction that reminds you how hard life was for many less than a century ago and that teaches you some new things along the way as well. I‘m looking forward to #OverBookedClub discussion.

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LitsyEvents
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repost for sblbooks:

#OverbookedClub let me know if you plan to participate. Everyone welcome. Tagging anyone who wants to join in.

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sblbooks
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TheBookHippie Just got it from library! 2y
julieclair Yes! Looking forward to our discussion. 2y
shellleigh33 Starting my book now 😊 2y
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shellleigh33
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Seen this and thought I would share for those interested in joining September #Overbookedclub read. It‘s a kindle daily deal today

sblbooks Thanks for the info! 2y
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sprainedbrain
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Pickpick

This was a read for one of my postal book clubs…the print copy could not keep my interest more than a few pages at a time. Audio to the rescue!

I just read Four Winds earlier this year & wasn‘t sure I could handle another sad Depression-era story, but there was enough light amongst all the sadness & cruel men to keep me going. I knew nothing about turpentine farming, so that was interesting. Good writing, & the end wasn‘t a gut punch.

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

SilversReviews Very good book!! 2y
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Floresj
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Pickpick

Good historical fiction about the Depression and turpentining. Good character development and pace of plot. Enjoyable read, but not cracking my top 10 of the year.

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TorieStorieS
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Pickpick

My book club meets later today to discuss this historical fiction novel set in southeastern America during the Depression. Told in alternating voices, Del and Rae Lynn eventually end up at the same turpentine farm in Georgia. The conditions seem like a law unto themselves as this opened up a previous-to-me unknown corner of history. I do wish that the characters were more deeply developed and for even more historical detail! Excited to discuss!

Christine Turpentine...is farmed? Guess this is something I need to learn more about! 2y
TorieStorieS @Christine I know!! I went into it with the same reaction! I actually wish that there had been even more detail about the process! 2y
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everlocalwest
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Mehso-so

I hate to say it but this is the kind of midlist southern litfic that I just don't ever gel with. There's nothing wrong with the book. The writing is competent, but it just does nothing for me.

Of note, as I've been trying to think of how to review this book I keep singing that Rihanna song that goes "we found love in a hopeless place" over and over again. So I guess that's my review. And ya know, they did find love in a hopeless place!

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ReadingisMyPassion
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Pickpick

I fell in love with Donna Everhart‘s writing style a couple of years ago when I read her book THE FORGIVING KIND. She captures the spirit of the American South in such a way that you can feel the torturous heat and humidity, taste the coolness of a glass of sweet tea, and hear the cicadas on a drowsy early evening.

A story of courage, survival, and friendship sure to linger in my mind for some time.

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Reecaspieces
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Pickpick
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Mpcacher
Pickpick

This is a wonderful historical fiction set in the American south during the Great Depression. We are introduced to the world of turpentine camps, often brutal workplaces where desperate people (usually black) found work. This is a story strong women and of survival, with a touch of romance. I really enjoyed it and gave it 4/5 stars.

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Lsmoore43
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THE SAINTS OF SWALLOW HILL
This book is another hit by Donna Everhart that will take your heart and soul on a ride you won't soon forget. The things that happened back during the depression and the people who worked the turpentine camps. What they endured. How things were done. How the whites and blacks were treated differently. How unfair life was to hard working people.
Full review here: https://tinyurl.com/sd3px7b8

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