Research Catalog

Hill women : finding family and a way forward in the Appalachian Mountains

Title
Hill women : finding family and a way forward in the Appalachian Mountains / Cassie Chambers.
Author
Chambers, Cassie
Publication
New York : Ballantine Books, [2020]

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Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person.

TextUse in library JFD 20-3898Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

Details

Description
xii, 279 pages; 22 cm
Summary
  • "Nestled in the Appalachian mountains, Owsley County is the poorest county in Kentucky and the second poorest in the country. Buildings are crumbling and fields sit vacant, as tobacco farming and coal mining decline. But strong women are finding creative ways to subsist in their hollers in the hills. Cassie Chambers grew up amidst these hollers, and through the women who raised her, she traces her own path out of and back into the Kentucky mountains. Cassie's Granny was a child bride who rose before dawn every morning to raise seven children. Despite her poverty, she wouldn't hesitate to give the last bite of pie or vegetables from her garden to a struggling neighbor. Her two daughters took very different paths: strong-willed Ruth--the hardest-working tobacco farmer in the county--stayed on the family farm, while spirited Wilma--the sixth child--became the first in the family to graduate high school, then moved an hour away for college. Married at nineteen and pregnant with Cassie a few months later, Wilma beat the odds to finish school. She raised her daughter to think she could move mountains, like the ones that kept her safe but also isolated from the larger world. Cassie would spend much of her childhood with Granny and Ruth in the hills of Owsley County, both while Wilma was a student and after. With her "hill women" values guiding her, Cassie went on to graduate from Harvard Law. But while the Ivy League gave her knowledge and opportunities, its privileged world felt far from her reality, and she moved back home to help her fellow rural Kentucky women by providing free legal services. Appalachian women face issues that are all too common: domestic violence, the opioid crisis, a world that seems more divided by the day. But they are also community leaders, keeping their towns together in the face of a system that continually fails them. With nuance and heart, Cassie uses these women's stories paired with her own journey to break down the myth of the "hillbilly" and illuminate a region whose poor communities, especially women, can lead it into the future"--
  • Nestled in the Appalachian mountains, Owsley County is the poorest county in Kentucky and the second poorest in the country. Buildings are crumbling and fields sit vacant, as tobacco farming and coal mining decline. But strong women are finding creative ways to subsist in their hollers in the hills. Chambers grew up amidst these hollers, and through the women who raised her, she traces her own path out of and back into the Kentucky mountains. With her "hill women" values guiding her, Chambers graduated from Harvard Law, but moved back home to help her fellow rural Kentucky women by providing free legal services. Here she breaks down the myth of the "hillbilly" and illuminates a region whose poor communities, especially women, can lead it into the future. -- adapted from jacket
Subjects
Genre/Form
  • Autobiographies.
  • Biographies.
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references.
Call Number
JFD 20-3898
ISBN
  • 9781984818911
  • 1984818910
  • 9781984818928 (canceled/invalid)
LCCN
  • 2019037449
  • 40029734433
OCLC
1119122018
Author
Chambers, Cassie, author.
Title
Hill women : finding family and a way forward in the Appalachian Mountains / Cassie Chambers.
Publisher
New York : Ballantine Books, [2020]
Edition
First edition.
Type of Content
text
Type of Medium
unmediated
Type of Carrier
volume
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references.
Other Form:
Online version: Chambers, Cassie. Hill women. First edition. New York : Ballantine Books, [2020] 9781984818928 (DLC) 2019037450
Other Standard Identifier
40029734433
Research Call Number
JFD 20-3898
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