If the Creek Don't Rise - by Leah Weiss: Book Review

Title: If the Creeks Don't Rise

Author: Leah Weiss

No. Pages: 320

Publishing Date: 8.08.2017

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Format: Kindle

I liked this book. I 5 stars liked this book. However, it left me with the feeling that there was missing something. It starts with Sadie Blue, it ends with Sadie Blue, but between the first and the last page there is a host of other characters I was curious about. The writing is good, the information given about each character makes you interested in them, it makes you want to know more about them - but you don't. That's what left me with the feeling of something missing - what happens to the rest of the characters?

The language, more specifically the characters' dialect, gave a special flavor to the characters and the story. There were many things I didn't know about Appalachia of the 1970s that I discovered while reading. It did read in some parts like a "lesson" for the reader, but it's something I can overlook. 

What made me furrow my brow was the way the speech seemed to transform towards the second part. The novel is told from different points of view, which I always like because it gives different perspectives on the same events. Most characters speaking are poor and uneducated, and you're made to believe, that they will speak like such people. And so is the language at first. In the second part, though, the speech becomes a bit more polished. I know it sounds as if poor and uneducated people can't be coherent and eloquent, and that's not my intention. However, while reading I sensed a gradual progress from simplistic language to well articulated thoughts. 

As I said, I enjoyed this novel very much. It made me curious for more novels set in the South, be them classics or contemporary novels. I was impressed that this was the author's debut novel, and even more impressed that she was brave to go after her dream a bit later in life. I will read more from this author, and I hope there is a sequel to this novel. I do want to know more about the other characters!

GoodReads Blurb 

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 fifteen 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.

I received a free e-book copy from the publisher via Net Galley. All thoughts expressed here are my own.