If the Creek Don't Rise

By: Leah Weiss

Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte, Kate Forbes

A strikingly sincere portrait of a town and its buried secrets from an outstanding new voice in southern fiction.

In a North Carolina mountain town filled with moonshine and rotten husbands, Sadie Blue is only the latest girl to face a dead-end future at the mercy of a dangerous drunk. She's been married to Roy Tupkin for 15 days, and she knows now that she should have listened to the folks who said he was trouble. But when a stranger sweeps in and knocks the world off-kilter for everyone in town, Sadie begins to think there might be more to life than being Roy's wife.

As stark and magnificent as Appalachia itself, If the Creek Don't Rise is a bold and beautifully layered debut about a dusty, desperate town finding the inner strength it needs to outrun its demons. The folks of Baines Creek will take you deep into the mountains with heart, honesty, and homegrown grit.

©2017 Leah Weiss (P)2017 Recorded Books

Awesome

This was an awesome book delivered beautifully. Would definitely recommend. Easy to follow leaves you wanting more.

Lacks Story Structure

I found this book to have interesting character studies presented in an unusual way, but the overall structure of the story seemed to be lacking. In the end the reader finds what happened to Sadie and Roy but all the other characters that were presented in such depth fade to black.

Although a novel, the book was presented in historical context that did not sit right. As a resident of an Appalachian county of SW Virginia in the 70’s, I thought a lot was exaggerated and overblown and more indicative of the 50’s and 60’s especially since the last one room schoolhouse in the US was terminated in 1967. The author’s descriptions lead one to believe that extreme poverty and deprivation only lead to violence and aberrant behavior and totally leave out the kindness and giving nature that so many Appalachian communities are known for today.

Weiss has some talent as a writer and I look forward to more practiced future publications.

the ending made me smile

I liked that the story was told from view points of many people. I enjoyed the story

Awfully Good (author's quote)

Rich in Appalachian history and language! Well written and performed 😊 Wonderful surprise ending! I will be looking for more from this author!

Good!

Love everything Kate Forbes records! I’m going straightaway to look for another Leah Weiss novel