Cataloochee

March 12, 2007
The first time Ezra Banks sees the promised land called Cataloochee is when he runs away at age 14 and joins the Confederate army. So begins first-time novelist Caldwell's rambling account of life in the western mountains of North Carolina from 1864 to 1928. Land-poor Ezra returns to Cataloochee in 1880, marries Hannah Carter of the land-rich Carter family, takes over some of her father's property and goes on to raise a family and acquire more land, making him one of the wealthiest men in Cataloochee. But cantankerous Ezra is mean as a snake when he's drunk (and only slightly less when sober), earning him the community's enmity. The diffuse narrative moseys from one folksy yarn to the next about the fates of various members of the Carter/Banks clan. Late in the novel, conflict arrives in the form of the government's appropriation of Cataloochee to make way for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Then, Ezra, 78 and as irascible as ever, is shot to death, and his eldest son, Zeb, is charged with his murder. The ensuing trial is as singular as Cataloochee itself. A meandering and diverting collection of tangential yarns, Caldwell's debut will find a spot on many readers' shelves near Charles Frazier's Thirteen Moons
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April 15, 2007
A sprawling family saga set in the mountains of western North Carolina between the Civil War and the early 20th century, Caldwell's debut succeeds in bringing to life the inhabitants of this particular time and place. When rough Ezra Banks arrives at the Cataloochee settlements after fleeing an abusive father and surviving a short stint in the military, he is determined to own an orchard and settle down. He marries local girl Hannah Carter, beginning contentious relations between neighbors and family that last throughout the generations of the novel. Through hard times, births, and deaths, the residents of this remote area remain isolated from changes in the modern world until the 1920s, when the federal government moves to condemn land for the new Smoky Mountain National Park. The heated debate that results leads to the dramatic ending, when Ezra's son Zeb is charged with murder. Colorful and fast moving, Caldwell's novel should be popular, especially in regional collections.Ann H. Fisher, Radford P.L., VA

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