Coming To Shelves Near You On March 20, 2018
Gods of Howl Mountain by Taylor Brown
4 sassy southern stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Synopsis
In Gods of Howl Mountain, award-winning author Taylor Brown explores a world of folk healers, whiskey-runners, and dark family secrets in the high country of 1950s North Carolina.
Bootlegger Rory Docherty has returned home to the fabled mountain of his childhood – a misty wilderness that holds its secrets close and keeps the outside world at gunpoint. Slowed by a wooden leg and haunted by memories of the Korean War, Rory runs bootleg whiskey for a powerful mountain clan in a retro-fitted ’40 Ford coupe. Between deliveries to roadhouses, brothels, and private clients, he lives with his formidable grandmother, evades federal agents, and stokes the wrath of a rival runner.
In the mill town at the foot of the mountains – a hotbed of violence, moonshine, and the burgeoning sport of stock-car racing – Rory is bewitched by the mysterious daughter of a snake-handling preacher. His grandmother, Maybelline “Granny May” Docherty, opposes this match for her own reasons, believing that “some things are best left buried.” A folk healer whose powers are rumored to rival those of a wood witch, she concocts potions and cures for the people of the mountains while harboring an explosive secret about Rory’s mother – the truth behind her long confinement in a mental hospital, during which time she has not spoken one word. When Rory’s life is threatened, Granny must decide whether to reveal what she knows…or protect her only grandson from the past.
With gritty and atmospheric prose, Taylor Brown brings to life a perilous mountain and the family who rules it.
Review
This book was true southern grit lit (I didn’t even know that was a thing, but it sure does describe this book perfectly)… I really do enjoy southern Fiction…. the south seems to be very rich with fascinating history…..
This was a character driven novel and I absolutely adored the characters in this book…. Granny May was the best! if I lived in the Appalachians in the 50’s I’d want to be just like her…. without her past…. OK maybe I wouldn’t want to be just like her, but she sure was an amazing and interesting character…. she told you how it was and was not politically correct in how she told you… she also dabbled in herbal healing which I found extremely interesting…. and which also made her neighbors believe she could possibly be a witch….. Rory her grandson who she raised because his mother had a breakdown of sorts was also an interesting character….. Home from the Korean war with scars both on the inside and out…. Rory believed if he found the answers to all of his questions he will find closure, but some answers lead to even more questions…..
The pace of this book was a bit slow and I also found it a little wordy…. there was a lot going on moonshiners, stock car races, snake handling, love interest, secrets, family feud, etc. I think it all tied up neatly and nicely at the end….. however I spent a lot of the book a bit overwhelmed with everything that was going on….
There are a lot of amazing reviews for this book and I really wish I loved it as much as others…. but for the reasons stated above I didn’t, I really liked it I just did not love it…. I would recommend if you are a fan of southern fiction, historical fiction, and very descriptive writing with some fun quirky characters thrown in….
*** i’d like to thank the publisher and Net Galley for a copy of this book ***
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