A Land More Kind Than Home

One of my favorite novels is Earnest Gaines' A GATHERING OF OLD MEN. This novel reminds me very much of that novel because chapters present different characters' accounts and impressions of their past histories and current experiences. Conversational style fits each character, and descriptive detail is clear and realistic.

I think we all have a fascination with the fringes of society, especially the strange places religion can take people. Snake handlers, tongue talkers. In this dark and provocative book, a small town church falls into the spell of a charlatan snake handler. It is a dark narrative which centers on a tragedy and the events that led to it. The inevitable sad ending is still wrapped in redemption and hope. Compelling narrative, beautifully written

Nice for a debut novel, but the storyline was weak and relied too much on most readers natural inclination to dislike the snake toting preacher. The character development was very well done. There are a number of very memorable characters in this novel. The characters were just not very well stitched together into a story. The plot line in this novel seemed like a pile of nothing. The villain, while well crafted, did not seem to fit into the story very well. There was nothing convincing presented as to why these people would accept such a creepy preacher. The main love relationship in the novel just defies belief. The reader would have to be thoroughly convinced that Southern religious people are total idiots to believe this plot line. The ending is a total zero. I just don't get all the 5-star reviews. Mr. Cash is definitely a promising novelist; however, a brilliant novel requires a compelling story as well as character development, and unfortunately the story line in this novel was left for dead.

While the writing was terrific, and the initial story itself was compelling, the ending was just too expected and abrupt. His second novel also suffers from the same problem. Needs to work on more organic endings. But it's still worth the read because like I said, it's great writing.

The story of the Hall family is gripping. The story shows the poisonous impact of evangelicalism taken to the extremes of cruelty and the way a preacher can appeal to the baser instincts of people. The novel also shows the way a person's nature can soften and change. In this novel we see the dark side of religion and the way we can see ourselves in a role we never imagined and thus come to more of an understanding of of a person we formerly held hatred for.

Enjoyed this book, especially since the story line was told from numerous main characters point-of-view. Very interesting story, but I would have liked a little more (perhaps a sub-plot or two to further develop the characters - can't get into too much detail without possible spoilers, but there are several main characters that would have been interesting to explore further). But it was a solid good read and I am still thinking about it several days later. Glad I read it.

I loved everything about this book. The setting, the story, the characters, the dialect, the intrique. Those who write reviews about how slow this book is are entirely missing the point. Yes, a page to describe answering the phone. The language is lyrical and absolutely fascinating. Enjoy how this author presents his images. Let yourself float in the language of this book -- don't rush. READ the book. It was written the way it is written for a reason. Relax and enjoy!

This is a wonderful, page turner that I could not put down. The way the author illustrates the story through each characters point of view is flawless. The imagery used paints a picture of old time North Carolina in a way that you can smell the water from the riverbank. Highly recommended.

Something about the writing sucked me in from page 1. The story has depth and meaning while moving quickly through the plot. It truly made me think about how sometimes a grudge or hatred has a strange way of making us look differently at it years after we thought it was buried. I loved the characters, the dialect and the characters that told the story. I wish the book would have been longer!

This is probably the most memorable book for me in awhile,life in a small community in the country can have so many levels that it takes you out of where you are and drops in to a world apart from what people expect. You simply have to go there,drop in and believe,what lurks behind the curtain of man's continued attempts at humanity

Wiley Cash spins an engrossing tale that hooks on the first page and drags you through to the last. More than that, his writing is lyrical and evocative and his characters fully fleshed. I docked him one star for an improbable scene involving the key character and his nemesis, one in which I thought only no one could be that naive, certainly not someone who managed to stand up to an entire congregation in a small town. But that scene doesn't spoil the fun.

I enjoyed this novel of sin and redemption in the NC mountains and found the characters and setting interesting. I agree with those reviewers who found it a bit heavy handed in both the story line and the imagery. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in what may go on in all those little churches that dot the landscape of the NC mountains...

This beautifully written book tells a sad tale of faith gone awry and its impact of others. The setting, in rural North Carolina, is vividly portrayed and enhances the actions of the characters. At first I was confused by the change in narrators, the story is told through the eyes of three different characters, but as the book progressed I really liked the three points of view this format allowed. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time.

You want to see evolution then read this book. Worship and religion has evolved over the centuries and is still evolving today. Even though there are still churches today that worship this way there are very few of them. Wiley Cash has written this book in such a way that you will feel that you are right there in all the action watching it as it happens.

This book really shows how one evil person can destroy a family, a church and a town. I like how Mr. Cash switched from one character to another through the book. Addie was my favorite character. I look forward to reading his other book. Thank you for writing a good clean book. So many good stories are ruined by the language and the detail sex scenes the writer uses.

This was my first Wiley Cash book. I will definitely read another. I would have liked a little more to the story. More info on the sheriff and his wife around their son. More depth to Jess's relationships with the adults around him. But overall it was well done. I wanted more because I liked the characters and wanted to know more about them.

I like Southern Gothic a lot--Faulkner, O'Connor, some of Tennessee Williams, and even that tad bit of in in Harper Lee's classic--and this is right there with those other generation writers, and right there with the likes of current ones such as Donald Ray Pollock. And with Ron Rash who choose almost the same setting, outside Asheville, North Carolina. I am not going to write more since other have done so, giving the details of the story. But you can't go wrong this this novel.

The author told an interesting tale, but didn't develop motivation for the characters' "out there" behavior. Why does a young, married woman with two boys have an affair with the creepy, crazy, old preacher. Why does she take her son back to the church for healing a second time? Why doesn't the woman who took the children away report the church to the authorities? Why didn't she report him for putting her hand in the snake basket? Why had she gone to the church alone when the preacher sent a message for her to come?

The snake-handling pastor is so EVIL! And his ability to dupe the rather innocent backwoods folks was so deplorable! Our book club didn't think that such people could exist in today's world, but my husband knows places in Alabama where it persists. I really liked that authentic place names were used. I've been to Hot Springs many times and all the little town names between Asheville and Hot Springs were very familiar.

What a great display of intelligently crafted story telling!
Couldn't find spare time fast enough to dive back into this book each day.
The connection with these characters will stay with me for quite some time....
For a "freshman" novel, it is beyond impressive, I look forward to many more encounters with Mr. Cash in the future.....
Dan S.

The different narrators added to the tale. The author has a beautiful way of describing sounds and of setting the scene. All the characters were developed and believable and the dialogue was natural... Like it was happening in front of me.

I loved reading this book because of the plot line and the thought provoking subjects. Each character is so complex and the relationships between them is very rich. The writing is so good that you feel you are these characters because you get to know them so well and understand their thoughts no matter what age or who they are. Loved it and highly recommend it.

Heart wrenching, suspenseful and leaves you trying to make sense of the motivations leading up to the main event where a boy loses his life in the most awful way. Our book club learned this is based on a real event in Milwaukee that my friend recalled from the papers years ago. The author keeps you in this slow emotional holding pattern and when released all is lost.

A stirring book, guaranteed to draw you in and keep you there until you turn the last page.
Beautifully written, with characters so real, you feel as if you are among them, watching as the story unfolds.
I enjoyed this book, and can't wait to read this young mans newest book.

Cash did an excellent job of writing the story from the point of view of many of his characterrs. The characters snd pace of his story is excellent. Sadly, the pastor's narrow view of God and using God to justify his ministry happens too often. Not just with use of snakes and fire but judging and ne calling. I am a retired clergy and I have witnessed this abuse of God's call to the ministry too many times.

I just love the title of this book, borrowed from a Thomas Wolfe quote. This book is set in the North Carolina hills, outside of Asheville, and it really conveys the people and their culture. The plot, which is well developed, centers on a snake-handling fundamentalist church, with a sociopath minister, where things go terribly wrong.

Read this as a book club selection. Very interesting characters in the book and since the setting was in NC and in areas that we visited it was neat to be able to visualize the places mentioned. It was odd that during the time we were reading this book the preacher from TN was bitten and died during a snake handeling service. Eye opening book.

This novel has established a great rhythm and tone and is clearly rooted in its geographic setting. The themes are fairly compelling and it was hard to put this book down. I was a little disappointed with the denouement as it seemed to not live up to the expectations that were set and the potential of the novel that was well established by about 1/3 of the book. All in all, an interesting read, one of the most interesting possibilities that I've come across in quite a while.

A very enjoyable debut novel by writer Cash. Set in Western N.C., the story begins in the viewpoint of Adelaide Lyle, now an "old woman," looking back at how things used to be in Madison County. The writer paints a quite vivid portrait of a small town, sights, smells, tastes, etc. Things change abruptly with the arrival of one Carson Chambliss, a fundamentalist preacher who takes over the town church and plasters over the windows with newspapers. He conducts a different kind of service, one with snakes. When a parishioner dies of snakebite, some members take out her body and lay it in her garden for neighbors to find. At that point Adelaide demands that children be removed from the services and takes them in her care for protection.
Viewpoint then shifts to a young boy, Jess Hall, who spies on the service through a gap in the wall. He sees Chambliss and others holding down his mute older brother, Christopher, aka Stump. As he falls from his perch Jess yells out "Mama" and his mother mistakenly believes that for the first time in his life, Stump has spoken a word, an obvious indication that Chambliss is healing him.
A short time before this "healing" Jess and Stump's young mother has sent them out to look for salamanders while she and Chambliss get it on in the bedroom. Stump, returning earlier than they expected, spies on them through the window. Chambliss sees Stump when the boy falls down, breaking the rain barrel beside the window.
We get more info on Chambliss' background from yet another first person narrator, Clem Barefield, the Sheriff of Madison County. Chambliss sustained severe burns to his right hand years before when his meth lab blew up. A sixteen year old girl was killed in the explosion, and Chambliss spent time in prison for the deed.
Stump is taken back to the church for more "healing" and is killed in the process.
The rest of the story is told by Adelaide, including a lengthy section of backstory about her childhood, which, for this reader, could have been shortened considerably.
The story ends in a violent shootout with death and, finally, reconciliation.
A most worthy first work by Cash. Look forward to more of his work.

A very enjoyable debut novel by writer Cash. Set in Western N.C., the story begins in the viewpoint of Adelaide Lyle, now an "old woman," looking back at how things used to be in Madison County. The writer paints a quite vivid portrait of a small town, sights, smells, tastes, etc. Things change abruptly with the arrival of one Carson Chambliss, a fundamentalist preacher who takes over the town church and plasters over the windows with newspapers. He conducts a different kind of service, one with snakes. When a parishioner dies of snakebite, some members take out her body and lay it in her garden for neighbors to find. At that point Adelaide demands that children be removed from the services and takes them in her care for protection.
Viewpoint then shifts to a young boy, Jess Hall, who spies on the service through a gap in the wall. He sees Chambliss and others holding down his mute older brother, Christopher, aka Stump. As he falls from his perch Jess yells out "Mama" and his mother mistakenly believes that for the first time in his life, Stump has spoken a word, an obvious indication that Chambliss is healing him.
A short time before this "healing" Jess and Stump's young mother has sent them out to look for salamanders while she and Chambliss get it on in the bedroom. Stump, returning earlier than they expected, spies on them through the window. Chambliss sees Stump when the boy falls down, breaking the rain barrel beside the window.
We get more info on Chambliss' background from yet another first person narrator, Clem Barefield, the Sheriff of Madison County. Chambliss sustained severe burns to his right hand years before when his meth lab blew up. A sixteen year old girl was killed in the explosion, and Chambliss spent time in prison for the deed.
Stump is taken back to the church for more "healing" and is killed in the process.
The rest of the story is told by Adelaide, including a lengthy section of backstory about her childhood, which, for this reader, could have been shortened considerably.
The story ends in a violent shootout with death and, finally, reconciliation.
A most worthy first work by Cash. Look forward to more of his work.

The story is a rather tragic tale of shattered hope and broken relationships. Here evil dons the cloak of self-righteous faith, while true goodness and faith endures through perseverance and strength of character. The characters are rich, recognizable and expertly portrayed.

I liked this book a lot. The characters were well developed and, for the most part, good kind people. The plot was a little different but that may be just me. I would read another book by this author.

What an interesting read! I loved having the story told by 3 characters and woven together as it went on. It was griping right from the start and I found it hard to put down until the abrupt ending when you were just......done......with no wrap up. That said, don't miss out on this one!

The story of a young boy, his autistic brother, and the interminglings of his family and the local church. Hard story lines at times about unusual religious practices and the effect they can have on the lives of those involved. Hard to put down as you get caught right up in the story.

This is a really well written book. The author captured the region and vernacular with marvelous sensitivity and I was immediately hooked. It would have been a 5 star read for me had it not had such a dark ending. I grew almost hesitant to read the last quarter of the book as the downward spiral was depressing, although not unreal.

I spent my summers growing up near the region where this lovely literary novel takes place. Mr. Cash transported me back to the place I love most. The exposition teases every sense in this magnificent, rich tale told in the first person voice of three heart-wrenching characters I won't soon forget. Well done, indeed. Highly recommended.

The small mindedness of true believers in a small town show the cruelty that often comes with it. This book was difficult to read for that reason. It recalled experiences that we, who hail from small towns, have experienced or at least know about as we were growing up. It shaped our lives either way. This tells our story.