A Voice & Vibe Book Review
The Cove. Ron Rash. 2012.
Literary fiction. Historical fiction. Appalachian fiction.
An isolated and ostracized Appalachian woman nurses an injured stranger she finds in the woods, setting off a chain of tragic events as superstition and wartime paranoia close in around them.
Set in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina during the final months of World War I, most of the story is told from the limited third person point of view of Laurel Shelton, a young woman suspected of being a witch due a birthmark that is visible on her face.
Her experiences as an oppressed woman fuel the engine that drives the story forward. Like the man she meets in the woods (Walter), Laurel is a captive, confined to a prison created by ignorance, paranoia, and geography.
While her storyline focuses on her romance and the dreams she develops for life outside of the cove, other perspectives give readers insight into developments beyond her ken. These glimpses into the world of the men who surround her serve to remind the reader at every turn that she is a prisoner. It is the men around her who determine her true future as they pursue their manly goals.
AUTHORS – I write short book reviews that focus on voice and vibe. They are useful to querying authors searching for comp titles. There are more like this on my website.