annieb123's Review of Winter's Reckoning

by Adele Holmes

William Faulkner Literary Competition, Honorable Mention

Forty-six-year-old Madeline Fairbanks has no use for ideas like “separation of the races” or “men as the superior sex.” There are many in her dying Southern Appalachian town who are upset by her socially progressive views, but for years—partly due to her late husband’s still-powerful influence, and partly due to her skill as a healer in a remote town with no doctor of its own—folks have been willing to turn a blind eye to her “transgressions.” Even Maddie’s decision to take on a Black apprentice, Ren Morgan, goes largely unchallenged by her white neighbors, though it’s certainly grumbled about.

But when a charismatic and power-hungry new reverend blows into town in 1917 and begins to preach about the importance of racial segregation, the long-idle local KKK chapter fires back into action—and places Maddie and her friends in Jamesville’s Black community squarely in their sights. Maddie had better stop intermingling with Black folks, discontinue her herbalistic “witchcraft,” and leave town immediately, they threaten, or they’ll lynch Ren’s father, Daniel. Faced with this decision, Maddie is terrified . . . and torn. Will she bow to their demands and walk away—or will she fight to keep the home she’s built in Jamesville and protect the future of the people she loves, both Black and white?

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Winter's Reckoning is a very well written southern gothic historical novel set in 1917 by Dr. Adele Holmes. Released 9th Aug 2022 by hybrid indie publisher She Writes Press, it's 336 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a relevant and melancholy read; sadly all too resonant even today. Set in Appalachia during the years of the first world war, an isolated community falls prey to a con-man preacher stirring up racial strife and facilitating the resurgence of the KKK. Main protagonists, both healers, one white, one black are threatened and harassed to stop associating with one another and to stop helping the town's inhabitants. Mired in ignorance and racial hate, it's difficult and uncomfortable in places.

The overweening ignorance, and the inevitable denouement and resolution (although mostly uplifting), make for gloomy reading. Although it's not derivative at all, in a lot of ways it reminded me of the "it book" of 2019, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek .

Four and a half stars. Not an easy read, but very very well written. The author is erudite, intelligent, and thoughtful and those qualities indelibly imprint the work.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Reading updates

7 April, 2023: Started reading

7 April, 2023: Finished reading

7 April, 2023: Reviewed