Gods of Howl Mountain: A Novel

by Taylor Brown

Maybelline Docherty, “Granny May,” is a folk healer with a dark past. She concocts potions and cures for the people of the mountains - her powers rumoured to rival those of a wood witch - while watching over her grandson, Rory Docherty, who has returned from the Korean War with a wooden leg and nightmares of the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. Rory runs bootleg whiskey in a high-powered car to roadhouses, brothels, and private clients in the mill town at the foot of the mountains - a hotbed of violence, moonshine, and the burgeoning sport of stock-car racing.

Granny May must help her grandson battle rival runners and federal revenue agents, snake-handling pastors, and the mystery of his own haunted past: namely, the real story behind his mother’s long confinement in a mental hospital, during which she has remained completely silent.

With gritty and atmospheric prose, Taylor Brown brings to life a perilous mountain and the family who rules it, tying together past and present in one captivating narrative.

• ISBN10: 1250111773
• ISBN13: 9781250111777
• Publish Date: 1 April 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 19 October 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[dpfaef]

It took me a while to work my way through Gods of Howl Mountain; I just couldn't get into this book.  As beautifully written as the book was, there were times when I thought the words got in the way detracting from the story.

The story takes place in the 1950's, Rory, the main character, returns home from the Korean Ware with a wooden leg and few job opportunities.  Rory ends up running liquor for the local bootlegger.  In the 1930's the government created the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) and flooded acres of land depriving thousands of people their homesteads.   This is the backdrop for the book.

I just felt that the characters were too stereotypical.  There is a rich history of Appalachia that I really didn't get a feel for in this book.

This review was originally posted on The Pfaeffle Journal