Hill Women: Finding Family and a Way Forward in the Appalachian Mountains [B1125]

2021 PB in nice clean condition. After rising from poverty to earn two Ivy League degrees, an Appalachian lawyer pays tribute to the strong "hill women" who raised and inspired her, and whose values have the potential to rejuvenate a struggling region. "A gritty, warm love letter to Appalachian communities and the resourceful women who lead them."-Slate. Nestled in the Appalachian mountains, Owsley County, Kentucky, is one of the poorest places in the country. Buildings are crumbling as tobacco farming and coal mining decline. But strong women find creative ways to subsist in the hills. Through the women who raised her, Cassie Chambers traces her path out of and back into the Kentucky mountains. Chambers's Granny was a child bride who rose before dawn every morning to raise seven children. Granny's daughter, Ruth-the hardest-working tobacco farmer in the county-stayed on the family farm, while Wilma-the sixth child-became the first in the family to graduate from high school. Married at nineteen and pregnant with Cassie a few months later, Wilma beat the odds to finish college. She raised her daughter to think she could move mountains, like the ones that kept her safe but also isolated from the larger world. Cassie would spend much of her childhood with Granny and Ruth in the hills of Owsley County. With her "hill women" values guiding her, she went on to graduate from Harvard Law. But while the Ivy League gave her opportunities, its privileged world felt far from her reality, and she moved home to help rural Kentucky women by providing free legal services. Appalachian women face issues from domestic violence to the opioid crisis, but they are also keeping their towns together in the face of a system that continually fails them. With nuance and heart, Chambers breaks down the myth of the hillbilly and illuminates a region whose poor communities, especially women, can lead it into the future.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "It was great book and another real life insight to the Appalachian Mountains and the people who live there. Flow of the book was good and the writer really put me in the family events. The ending got me in tears. Happy Reading!"; "Written with compassion and a deep understanding of the culture and challenges they face."; "One of my favorite books about Appalachia. Simple. Authentic. Genuine. Rich."; "This book gave me all the feels in the very best way. Being born and raised in the Appalachian mountains, I have struggled with the portrayal of the area in most books. But this one...it hit the mark for me. The people "back home" are the most genuine people you will ever meet. And Cassie articulates this in a way I never could. It's not easy to live there and, contrary to belief, it's not easy to leave there, either. I've always felt a struggle to find myself somewhere between the mountains that will always be "home" and "the city" where I've started this new life. Sometimes I don't feel like I belong in either world. Don't read Hillbilly Elegy. Read Hill Women if you actually want to understand the world inside the mountains."