The very first thing that I appreciated was that the author chose to write in the dialect of the area. It made me slow down and appreciate the lyric of the speech. I am so glad I did because it made all the difference.
You meet Worie, the main character after she finds her mother died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. She is rightfully angry and feels betrayed by her mom. What happens next is that Worie finds that her mother has been caring for the mountain's orphans whose parents had died from a sickness that was spreading through the mountainside. Then comes Calvin, one of her brothers, whose selfishness and meanness is unmatched by anyone else in the community. He comes to the home looking for a jar of Momma's, that Worie knows about but pretends not to.
For me, this is exactly the book I needed at this moment. This isn't one of those Christian books that tells you that all is going to be well if you just follow Him. Worie struggles. She has human flaws that get her into trouble. She resents and loves her momma all at the same time. What momma left behind doesn't necessarily mean the orphans, though, for me it was her Christian legacy that Worie falls back on time and time again.
The biggest issue I have with the book is that momma shot herself. Nope, I don't believe it. I believe that Calvin shot her looking for the jar and made it look like she shot herself. Momma wouldn't go against God's way. There is more evidence that Calvin was involved (how did he know Momma was shot?) than that Momma shot herself. Not buying this Author Sproles. 😉
I love all the characters and the plots around each one. The author does a beautiful job weaving their stories and I was sad when the book ended. That hasn't happened to me in a long while.
