Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Hill Women by Cassie Chambers - A Book Review

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


Cassie Chambers is a strong woman from a long line of strong Appalachian women. Hill Women is at once her memoir as well an exploration of the social strengths and challenges of life in Appalachia. Having been brought up there and also having been educated in law at Harvard, Chambers has a unique lens through which to conduct this exploration. She focuses a great deal on the females' role in this society. She reflects back on the past, but also addresses modern issues such as the opioid crisis.

I truly enjoyed the author's writing style. I felt as though I were sitting across the table from her, sharing a pot of coffee and a piece of pie as we got to know one another. I live not too far from her home county. Our church supports a mission nearby. I have met some fine educators who work to improve literacy rates in the area. Chambers' work puts faces and personalities to the statistics with which we have become too familiar. I am left to ponder what next, what now; how to honor, how to help.

I am grateful to have received a copy of Hill Women from Ballantine Books an imprint of Random House via LibraryThing in exchange for my honest opinion. I was under no obligation to provide a positive review, and received no monetary compensation.

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