2021 Book Review #7:Cataloochie

 

For those of you who know me well, you can probably guess as to why I chose this book to read this past week.  Yup...because of the mountains shown.  Isn't the art work beautiful?  I had never heard of this author and come to find out, this is his first novel.

It's a gem of a story but a bit different than the usual historical fiction I read. In fact, it's more fiction than "historical" but the Great Smoky Mountain National Park really did get started  in 1926 but it wasn't fully established until 14 years later as it had to acquire the property of people living there.

This is about some of those people.....entirely fictiousness.

STORY SUMMARY

Three generations of the Carter family have lived in Cataloochie. Cataloochie is nestled in the North Carolina mountains. The Wright family is also one that settled there and both families believe that "where you was born was where God wanted you".   Both families farm the land. 

But eventually, progress makes its way up the mountain and with it, come more people and ideas. 

Ezra Banks, who is ambitious and looking for some land of his own, comes to Cataloochie in the 1880s.  He ends up marrying Hannah Carter, the daughter of the Cataloochie valley's largest landowner.  Of course, Hannah's father gives some land to Ezra and soon they have children, as do other Carters and Wrights. 

These families work hard, play hard, and have much determination and perseverance.  They also have their own way of doing things. They don't care much for outsiders.   The wilderness is soon turned into their home and they plan on passing down their lands to future generations. 

However, the government begins to step in and wants to relocate the families of Cataloochie so they can use the land to form a new eastern seaboard National Park.  It will be called the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. 

And then tragedy strikes one clan.....Hannah's clan. And her son is on trial for murder! 

What will happen to the Carters and the Wrights??  

MY THOUGHTS

I enjoyed this story.  I am thankful the author put a family tree in the front of the book because there are a LOT of families to keep track of yet it isn't cumbersome at all.  Each main character is introduced in a dfiferent chapter and the minor characters/famiiy members are expertly woven into the story.  

There really isn't a plot....it's more a family saga.  I guess the "plot" kind of unfolds along towards the end when we learn of what happens with Ezra and his son Zeb which coincides with the arrival of the government workers who are in the planning teams of the National Park.

The character development and setting are exquisitely rendered. I really enjoyed all of the characters and their way of life and their way with language.

One quote jumped out at me at the very end:

"....as the Book says, to ever thing there is a season, and a time to ever purpose under heaven, and that word will help them that'll have to leave here." (pg 348 Cataloochie by Wayne Caldwell, c. 2007)

This book has humor, adventure, religion, old wives tales, close kinships and family ties along with tragedy, love, and a raw beauty that is hard to describe.   There's a lot of wisdom in this story from the characters. 

This is a beautiful look at life during a time when the nation was changing from the 19th century into the 20th century.  

Some themes in this book are: love, marriage, friendship, family ties, stillbirths, loss, death, alcohol addiction,  smoking issues, Biblical principles. 

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older (due to some mature content).

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 9.