There are so many good reviews here on Goodreads that I don't want to duplicate them. I agree with all the high praise. I suspect when I think back on this wonderful book I will remember Junia the mule and feel the ache of sadness for the hard lives of so many people living in the Kentucky mountains....many so hungry, whole families dying....children with pellegra.....I'll think of the recipes in the scrapbooks, trying to live on nettle soup....reading National Geographic Magazine, months old newspapers, the lucky find of a copy of The Good Earth.....the fact that Brave New World was banned and Cussy Mary's mother had a cherished copy.....the horrible working conditions of the miners...the racism and hatred, the lack of medical care....I think that will stay with me. Cussy Mary and her good friends warmed the story enough to make it sing for me. (less)