Mountain Pearl: Appalachian Heritage

322 pages (print edition), 101,580 words, Appalachian biographical novel, Mountain family life, Historical & Contemporary literary fiction, Appalachian cultural heritage,

Aunt Pearl and her stepmother recall the story of Peggy€s father€s family.

From Chapter 1:
€œPearl,€ Momma tried to make her voice strong. €œI aim to whip you for what you done.€
Those words struck me hard. Why was she saying a thing like that to me?
€œI saved you from those dogs,€ I said triumphantly as I looked down at Momma€s bleeding legs. Surely she knew what would have happened to her if it hadn€t been for me.
€œYou disobeyed me. You know better than to disobey me.€
Her words troubled me something awful, and I shivered with dread as tried to think of a way to make her appreciate what I€d done. I didn€t deserve a whipping for saving her life.

From Chapter 23:
I had what few things I owned in a fed sack when Frank came in the door. €œThem€s my hogs,€ I told him. €œI€ll cross the hill twice a day to feed €˜em. Don€t you dare do anything with €˜em.€
€œWhat are you talkin€ about.€
€œYour precious ma said she€d get Ralph€s shotgun and kill me if I didn€t get out of her house.€
€œNo way,€ Frank said.
€œAsk her yourself,€ I told him.
I heard the sound of Effie moving her wheelchair over the floor. €œFrank, honey. I said no sech a thing. You know what a liar she is.€
I lifted my chin and glared at Frank. I needed to see whose side he was going to take.€
€œCalm down,€ he told me. €œI€ll put Ma in bed so we can talk.€
Those weren€t the words I needed to hear.
€œOh, Frankie,€ Effie moaned. €œWhat are we gonna do with her?€
Frank didn€t answer as he took hold of the chair. I slung the sack over my shoulder and left the house. The least I could do was see if Lizzie would welcome me for a few days or not.

From the Epilogue:
I saw the tiredness come to Aunt Pearl€s face and didn€t ask her any more questions. I€d been told hundreds of stories by dozens of family members as well as non-family members.
Aunt Pearl was right. My favorite words when I was growing up were, €œTell me a story.€ Most everyone willingly obliged. Some people would be slow getting started, but once they got their story telling ability warmed up, they would hold me captive for hours.
Pearl€s story has taken me many years to write. Pearl died less than a year after I€d gone to see her with my trusty tape recorder in hand. Much to my regret, she told me what was true. I€d waited a little too long to tape her stories, but I could still replay those stories in my head.
Most of the stories I remember came from Lizzie. Once she started talking she continued talking even when there was no one left in the room to listen.
I€ve done my best to connect some of the stories I€ve been told together in order to make this book possible. These stories hold a lot of truth, but I want the readers to realize that I€ve taken an author€s liberty in order to fit each story together into what I hope to be both entertaining and insightful. Therefore, I€ve written this book as fiction. There€s no way I could possibly know what people were thinking long before I was born. No way I can second-guess exactly what happened and why it happened, no way I can claim this book to be non-fiction although it is based on real happenings.
I hope Pearl€s story touches your heart the way all those stories touched mine. One thing was for certain. Being a mountain woman amounted to having a hard life back then. Pearl was indeed one of the most wonderful, and courageous women I had the honor of knowing. I€m proud to have her fiery bloodline flowing in my veins.