Introducing Orem Reads 2021
We are excited to introduce The Ballad of Frankie Silver by Sharyn McCrumb as the Orem Reads 2021 selection. The author of over 30 novels and short story collections, McCrumb is probably best known for her ballad novels. These stories incorporate the landscape and modern concerns of Appalachia with the legends and historical events of the Tennessee and North Carolina hills. The Washington Post said, “In an earlier life, McCrumb must have been a balladeer, singing of restless spirits, star-crossed lovers, and the consoling beauty of nature. Here that older folk material acts as a refrain to the more realistic narrative . . . . The overall effect is spellbinding.“ We invite the Orem community to join us as we read The Ballad of Frankie Silver this fall and journey through the beautiful Appalachian region by participating in a month of themed library events—culminating with an author reading by Sharyn McCrumb on October 11 at 7 PM. Learn more about upcoming Orem Reads events here, and don’t forget to pick up your free copy of The Ballad of Frankie Silver at any Orem Reads event you attend.
Our Favorite Sharyn McCrumb Novels
In addition to The Ballad of Frankie Silver, here are a few of our favorite Sharyn McCrumb novels.
The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter
By Sharyn McCrumb
Adult Fiction
Nora Bonesteel, lifelong resident of Dark Hollow, Tennessee has “the Sight.” She has the cookies coming out of the oven before visitors arrive at her mountain home. Two teens come home from choir practice to find their family dead in an apparent murder-suicide. Lifelong friends Taw and Tavy struggle with cancer caused by toxins in the Little Dove River. When it floods its banks, Laura, the minister’s wife, rescues one of the Underhill children and with Nora’s help, discovers the truth of the Underhill family deaths.
She Walks These Hills
By Sharyn McCrumb
Adult Fiction
In Dark Hollow, Tennessee, the ghost of Katie Wyler, a young woman kidnapped by the Shawnee in the 1779, haunts the hills. It is said she is trying to get back to her village. In present day, a scholar is trying to retrace Katie’s steps, an escaped convict whose mind is trapped in the 1960s tries to find his family, and the sheriff’s office is looking for a kidnapped baby. McCrumb beautifully blends these characters and their journeys into a suspenseful satisfying read.
The Rosewood Casket
By Sharyn McCrumb
Adult Fiction
A real estate developer has wanted the Stargill land for years. The Stargill sons prepare to build a rosewood casket as their patriarch Randall Stargill lies in a coma on his Appalachian farm. Nora Bonesteel arrives with a box of her own for burial, a small box containing the old bones of a young child and Nora isn’t saying where they came from. Some of the Stargills want to sell, others want to preserve the beauty of the land. A shocking secret from the past collides with the present in this beautiful atmospheric novel.
Written by Lori, Librarian
