The Saints of Swallow Hill: A Fascinating Depression Era Historical Novel
Where the Crawdads Sing meets The Four Winds in this Depression-era historical fiction novel set in the turpentine camps and pine forests of the American South.
A captivating story of friendship and survival as the lives of three vagabonds intersect in rural Georgia and North Carolina.
It takes courage to save yourself...
In the dense pine forests of North Carolina, turpentiners labor, hacking into tree trunks to draw out the sticky sap that gives the Tar Heel State its nickname, and hauling the resin to stills to be refined. Among them is Rae Lynn Cobb and her husband, Warren, who run a small turpentine farm together.
Though the work is hard and often dangerous, Rae Lynn, who spent her childhood in an orphanage, is thankful for it—and for her kind if careless husband. When Warren falls victim to his own negligence, Rae Lynn undertakes a desperate act of mercy. To keep herself from jail, she disguises herself as a man named "Ray" and heads to the only place she can think of that might offer anonymity—a turpentine camp in Georgia named Swallow Hill.
Swallow Hill is no easy haven. The camp is isolated and squalid, and commissary owner Otis Riddle takes out his frustrations on his browbeaten wife, Cornelia. Although Rae Lynn works tirelessly, she becomes a target for Crow, the ever-watchful woods rider who checks each laborer's tally. Delwood Reese, who's come to Swallow Hill hoping for his own redemption, offers "Ray" a small measure of protection, and is determined to improve their conditions. As Rae Lynn forges a deeper friendship with both Del and Cornelia, she begins to envision a path out of the camp. But she will have to come to terms with her past, with all its pain and beauty, before she can open herself to a new life and seize the chance to begin again.
A captivating story of friendship and survival as the lives of three vagabonds intersect in rural Georgia and North Carolina.
It takes courage to save yourself...
In the dense pine forests of North Carolina, turpentiners labor, hacking into tree trunks to draw out the sticky sap that gives the Tar Heel State its nickname, and hauling the resin to stills to be refined. Among them is Rae Lynn Cobb and her husband, Warren, who run a small turpentine farm together.
Though the work is hard and often dangerous, Rae Lynn, who spent her childhood in an orphanage, is thankful for it—and for her kind if careless husband. When Warren falls victim to his own negligence, Rae Lynn undertakes a desperate act of mercy. To keep herself from jail, she disguises herself as a man named "Ray" and heads to the only place she can think of that might offer anonymity—a turpentine camp in Georgia named Swallow Hill.
Swallow Hill is no easy haven. The camp is isolated and squalid, and commissary owner Otis Riddle takes out his frustrations on his browbeaten wife, Cornelia. Although Rae Lynn works tirelessly, she becomes a target for Crow, the ever-watchful woods rider who checks each laborer's tally. Delwood Reese, who's come to Swallow Hill hoping for his own redemption, offers "Ray" a small measure of protection, and is determined to improve their conditions. As Rae Lynn forges a deeper friendship with both Del and Cornelia, she begins to envision a path out of the camp. But she will have to come to terms with her past, with all its pain and beauty, before she can open herself to a new life and seize the chance to begin again.
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Community Reviews
I really enjoyed reading this book about the harvesting of pine trees in Georgia and North Carolina.
Del was a good guy who had a near death experience in a grain bin. He goes to Swallow Hill, Georgia to start anew. There he meets Ray Cobb, a young man who ends up working with him. Ray is slight and not able to keep up with the demands and ends up being punished by being putting in the hole, an underground coffin-like area, and nearly dying after three days without food or water. Then is it discovered that Ray is in fact, RaeLynn, a runaway from NC. Her husband Warren suffered terrible injuries and intense pain when he fell from the roof of a house. He refused to allow her to call a doctor and eventually attempted to commit suicide. After seeing his botch attempt, RaeLynn takes mercy on him and shots him, ending his misery, but she is seen with a gun in her hand by Warren's brother, Butch, who vows to tell what he had seen unless RaeLynn accepts him as a lover. In disgust, RaeLynn runs away, cuts her hair short and tries to pass as a man in order to get work on a pine tar plantation. It is tough, grueling work.
I live in NC so I liked hearing about the process and the long-leaf pine trees that are not endangered. We're the Tar Heel state, but I did not know much about the production of naval stores, pitch, tar, and turpentine used to seal ships and make them seaworthy.
Del was a good guy who had a near death experience in a grain bin. He goes to Swallow Hill, Georgia to start anew. There he meets Ray Cobb, a young man who ends up working with him. Ray is slight and not able to keep up with the demands and ends up being punished by being putting in the hole, an underground coffin-like area, and nearly dying after three days without food or water. Then is it discovered that Ray is in fact, RaeLynn, a runaway from NC. Her husband Warren suffered terrible injuries and intense pain when he fell from the roof of a house. He refused to allow her to call a doctor and eventually attempted to commit suicide. After seeing his botch attempt, RaeLynn takes mercy on him and shots him, ending his misery, but she is seen with a gun in her hand by Warren's brother, Butch, who vows to tell what he had seen unless RaeLynn accepts him as a lover. In disgust, RaeLynn runs away, cuts her hair short and tries to pass as a man in order to get work on a pine tar plantation. It is tough, grueling work.
I live in NC so I liked hearing about the process and the long-leaf pine trees that are not endangered. We're the Tar Heel state, but I did not know much about the production of naval stores, pitch, tar, and turpentine used to seal ships and make them seaworthy.
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