If the Creek Don't Rise

June 5, 2017
In this tender but powerful debut, Weiss paints both the bright and the dark in the lives of her fictional Appalachian community’s denizens. It is the fall of 1970 in Baines Creek, N.C., where pregnant teen Sadie Blue is newly married to her unborn child’s father, Rory Tupkin, a bully doesn’t hesitate to beat her. Her grandmother, Gladys Hicks, once had to deal with her own abusive husband and feels that it is up to Sadie to do the same. Marris Jones is a good-hearted woman who wants to help Sadie, as does Kate Shaw, the strong-willed teacher new to the mountain, and Birdie Rocas, the witchy woman. Each of these women bring some good to Sadie’s life and to others in the community. Others, like Rory and the preacher’s sister, Prudence Perkins, only bring venom and pain to those around them. All of these and more get a chapter or two to spin their own tales, while Sadie’s story slips in and out, highlighting Weiss’s considerable characterization skills. Agent: Rebecca Gradinger, Fletcher and Co.

Through shifting perspectives delivered by dual narrators, this audiobook examines life in an Appalachian town. Narrators Tom Stechschulte and Kate Forbes capture the diverse and engaging characters who tell the story of Sadie Blue, a young woman who realizes very quickly that she never should have married Roy Tupkin. The two narrators portray townspeople of various ages, occupations, and backgrounds who are kin, friends, enemies, or unlikely companions. Their pacing captures the slow speed of daily life in this part of the world, and their delivery of the first-person points of view elicits the listener's empathy for each character's feelings and intentions. K.S.B. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine