The year is 1929, and newlyweds George and Serena Pemberton travel from Boston to the North Carolina mountains where they plan to create a timber empire. Although George has already lived in the camp long enough to father an illegitimate child, Serena is new to the mountains—but she soon shows herself to be the equal of any man, overseeing crews, hunting rattle-snakes, even saving her husband's life in the wilderness. Together this lord and lady of the woodlands ruthlessly kill or vanquish all who fall out of favor. Yet when Serena learns that she will never bear a child, she sets out to murder the son George fathered without her. Mother and child begin a struggle for their lives, and when Serena suspects George is protecting his illegitimate family, the Pembertons' intense, passionate marriage starts to unravel as the story moves toward its shocking reckoning.Rash's masterful balance of violence and beauty yields a riveting novel that, at its core, tells of love both honored and betrayed.
I’ve thought for a while I needed to revisit this. I think it was the mood I was in more than the book the first time, and when that happens, I want to make sure I’m not being unjust. I read it through this time. I didn’t skim. And I was in the perfect mood to find it fascinating, what with reading it alongside the history of the Smoky Mountains when so much of it is borrowed straight from the history books. The fictional incarnations of Horace Kephart, Horace Albright, Charles Webb, Champion Timber, and on and on. (Admittedly, my favorite part.)
I’m glad to report, I liked it better this time. ‘Pretentious’ was unfair, and untrue. I put my finger on what feels so stilted to me, though. It’s a stage play. It feels like actors and scenery and props and the voice of a dramatic chorus instead of living and breathing human people. Nobody has different sides, there are no surprises. And that’s fine, Godspeed, carry on, it’s just not my thing.
I’m glad I revisited it. I’m glad I adjusted my critique. I’m glad it’s mostly me.
Read May 2013
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First read December 2012
Nope. Nooope. No.
I love a good book about a villain, or even better a villainess, but this was the worst offense: pretentious, stilted, and boring. You can judge me though, because I skimmed so much of this.
Sigh.
Reading updates
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21 May, 2013:
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21 May, 2013:
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Started reading
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21 May, 2013:
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