The predator here is a preacher, but is he a man of God, or is he the Devil incarnate? Explain what the title - "a land more kind than home" - signifies. The living church is made of people, and it can grow sick and break just like people can...and die, just like people die." Except Christopher isn’t typical. Saying: Kiesstaub wehte über den Parkplatz, während ich im Wagen sass und das Gebäude als das sah, was es gewesen war; nicht als das, was jetzt in diesem Augenblick im heißen Sonnenlicht war, sondern rund zwölf oder fünfzehn Jahre zuvor: ein grosser Gemischtwarenladen, wo sich die Leute vor der Essenstheke drängelten oder in einer Schlange vor dem Limonadenstand warteten, wo kleine Kinder sich Eis in so ziemlich jeder erdenkbaren Geschmacksrichtung bestellten, wo sie Bonbons in Viertelpfundtüten kauften, Schokokekse, Zuckermandeln und andere Sachen, auf die ich seit Jahren schon keinen Appetit mehr hatte. The novel is told from three characters' perspectives. Cash’s characters are brilliant: Chambliss, scarred by burns, is as remorseless as one of his rattlesnakes; Addie, loyal to the old ways, is still strong enough to pry the church’s children away from snake-handling services; Barefield is gentle, empathetic and burdened by tragedy. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. The events of Wiley Cash’s spectacular debut novel, A Land More Kind Than Home, are relayed through the perspectives of three different narrators, Jess being one of them. Copyright © 2020, Editing by Elizabeth . Bennett keeps all these plot threads thrumming and her social commentary crisp. Pre-publication book reviews and features keeping readers and industry Categories: Up beyond Asheville, near where Gunter Mountain falls into Tennessee, evil has come to preach in a house of worship where venomous snakes and other poisons are sacraments. ‧ in Literature from the University of North Carolina-Asheville, an M.A. Jude, so Black that strangers routinely stare, is unrecognizable to her aunt. A Recommended Read. Brit Bennett, by Tending bar as a side job in Beverly Hills, she catches a glimpse of her mother’s doppelgänger. He decides that a laying on of hands will cure an autistic boy, but instead his efforts lead to the boy's death. Deep in the heart of western North Carolina lies Marshall, a quiet, unassuming mountain town that believes in protecting its own-especially if they harbor secrets. Cash employs three characters as narrators: Jess, the nine-year-old younger brother; Adelaide Lyle, an aged local midwife; and the county sheriff. I tried and tried to get into it, but was instead repeatedly drawn out of it by ridiculous overly developed metaphors (there were sometimes two or three metaphors in a single run-on sentence). What is the significance of this particular quote? Something has spoken to me in the night...and told me I shall die, I know not where. Set in the 1980s, it is an profound tale of dark secrets, a charismatic evangelical minister and the evil that is sometimes wrought in the name of religion. (ARC). Even the most devout believers may have chinks in their armor. Despite Jess being the younger brother, he’s fiercely protective of Stump and feels it’s his responsibility to make sure Stump’s path through life is as smooth as possible. Stella, ensconced in White society, is shedding her fur coat. The scene in which Stella adopts her White persona is a tour de force of doubling and confusion. And the heroine, Sister Adelaide Truth Churches are like that. I sat there in the car with the grave dust blowing across the parking lot and saw the place for what it was, not what it was right at that moment in the hot sunlight, but for what is had been maybe twelve or fifteen years before: a real general store with folks gathered around the lunch counter, a line of people at the soda fountain, little children ordering ice cream of just about every flavor you could think of, hardy candy by the quarter pound, moon pies and crackerjack and other things I hadn't thought about tasting in years. An evocative work about love, fate and redemption. Es hat gesagt: 'Lass fahren diese Erde, die du kennst, um höherer Erkenntnisse willen; lass fahren die geliebten Freunde, um einer höheren Liebe willen; ein Land erwartet dich, das gültiger als die Heimat ist und grösser als die Erde...'" - Thomas Wolfe, Es führt kein Weg zurück. Pastor Carson Chambliss has a small North Carolina congregation in his thrall. by Jess' narration is limited by his age and innocence. Julia's character felt it needed more in depth explanation for her actions. In fact, don’t be surprised to see A Land More Kind Than Home have the kind of staying power and lasting impression that lands it on more than a few “Best of 2012” lists come year end. . Carson Chambliss is pastor of River Road Church of Christ. GENERAL FICTION, by RELEASE DATE: Aug. 26, 1946. All this is expertly paced, unfurling before the book is half finished; a reader can guess what is coming. Adelaide Lyle, once a midwife, is now community matriarch of simple faith and solid conscience. It calls up Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, the book's 50-year-old antecedent. This tells of the revolt on a farm, against humans, when the pigs take over the intellectual superiority, training the horses, cows, sheep, etc., into acknowledging their greatness. References to this work on external resources. IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2014 longlist, http://www.bookreviewsandmorebykathy.com/2012/04/19/a-land-more-kind-than-home/, Ernest J. Gaines (trade paperback edition with "P.S. Think about the epigraph the author chose to open the book and from which the novel's title derives. From the guest post, to your review… I really want to read more about these characters, and step inside this world. by It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds! Sign in to post comments. Though their mother has warned them not to snoop, Stump can't help sneaking a look at something he isn't supposed to-an act that will have catastrophic repercussions, shattering both his world and Jess's. Similarly, the descriptions of the lives and land are as colorfully painted and fully realized as it gets. I’m really looking forward to reading this one. Wiley Cash. Kin “[find] each other’s lives inscrutable” in this rich, sharp story about the way identity is formed. The novel opens 14 years later as Desiree, fleeing a violent marriage in D.C., returns home with a different relative: her 8-year-old daughter, Jude. Most of the sheriff's scenes seemed unneeded, as were the scenes with Adelaide past the first chapter. Dali and Others (Reynal & Hitchcock, p. 138), whose critical brilliance is well adapted to this type of satire. Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books. Julie may have lapsed into carnal sin, but she is also a holy fool. No current Talk conversations about this book. Napoleon trains the young puppies to be his guards, dickers with humans, gradually instigates a reign of terror, and breaks the final commandment against any animal walking on two legs. A land more kind than home by Cash, Wiley. George Orwell Bennett's novel plays with its characters' nagging feelings of being incomplete—for the twins without each other; for Jude’s boyfriend, Reese, who is trans and seeks surgery; for their friend Barry, who performs in drag as Bianca. For a curious boy like Jesse Hall, growing up in Marshall means trouble when your mother catches you spying on grownups. Brit Bennett Wrestles With Identity in New Novel, Brit Bennett on the ‘Wildest Week’ of Her Life. | We’re glad you found a book that interests you! All Rights Reserved. The characters are well-drawn, and the story line is as old as mankind itself. Growing up in a small North Carolina town, Jess Hall is plunged into an adulthood for which he is not prepared when his autistic older brother, Stump, sneaks a look at something he is not supposed to see, which has catastrophic repercussions. Ich bin unglaublich stolz, auf dich und auf das, was du getan hast, und ich staune, was aus uns geworden ist. Wiley Cash George Orwell. © Copyright 2020 Kirkus Media LLC. . Insights, intervierws & more"), New York Times Notable Book of the Year (Fiction & Poetry, 2012), International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award Longlist (2014), Maine Reader's Choice Award (Winner, 2013), Spinetingler Award Nominee (New Voice, 2013), PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction Finalist (2013), (Click to show. Insights, intervierws & more"), Wiley Cash (trade paperback edition with "P.S. After giving up and, a few days later, reading the jacket copy again, I realized that "Jess" a main character was a boy when I had thought he was a girl. Desiree, the “fidgety twin,” and Stella, “a smart, careful girl,” make their break from stultifying rural Mallard, Louisiana, becoming 16-year-old runaways in 1954 New Orleans. I loved this book too – it’s sure to be one of my favorites of the year. A Land More Kind than Home is a modern masterwork of Southern fiction, one that is likely to be held in the same enduring esteem as such American classics as To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, and A Separate Peace. In the second half, Jude spars with her cousin Kennedy, Stella's daughter, a spoiled actress. I couldn't stand the characters' redneck voices and so I found myself barely paying attention to the story. It takes a lifetime to build equity in loss. Nine-year-old Jess Hall is caught between two worlds, those of childhood wonder and adult responsibility. Great review, Elizabeth! A Land More Kind Than Home is a smashingly triumphant debut, one which will stay with you long after you’ve finished. Jess Hall is the 9-year-old son of Ben and Julie and beloved younger brother of gentle Stump, his mute, autistic sibling. Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. ; Cash’s debut novel explores Faulkner/O’Connor country, a place where folks endure a hard life by clinging to God’s truths echoing from hardscrabble churches.