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Nora Bonesteel's Christmas Past: A Ballad Novella (2014)

by Sharyn McCrumb(Favorite Author)

3.66 of 5 Votes: 5

languge

English

genre

Paranormal Fantasy

publisher

Abingdon Press

review 1: It's not really a novel(la), but two clever and heart-warming stories that never intersect. Each story is very well-done, and I'm glad I read them. But the writing doesn't quite live up to the stories. The Florida influence seems awkward. And, as I said, the stories are not tied together. Also, it is hard to say what has happened to McCrumb's so-called "Ballad" series. Once again no ballad figures in these stories. "I'll be Home for Christmas" is the only song that really figures in the story. (Perhaps the Ballad Novels would now better be called Appalachian Mountain Novels.) Reading Nora's reflections in Chapter 5 put me in mind of the song "Rank Stranger" (the "Albert E. Brumley" song, popularized by the Stanley Brothers). But this is neither mentioned nor used... more.Finally, there's a slip that I don't understand from a careful mystery writer: on p. 19 McCrumb says the Honeycutt Place is "two-story", and on p. 21 it is "three stories high"!
review 2: Some of the most pleasant reads have been the Ballad Series books by Sharyn McCrumb so this is a welcome addition even if it is a novella. It's also a double story with Sheriff Spencer Arrowood and Deputy Joe LeDonne in one section of the book and Nora Bonesteel in the other as the stories are told alternately. Nora Bonesteel is one of the most delightful characters you'll find anywhere. And, here and there, you will find touches of the Appalachian lore at which McCrumb excels. Nora Bonesteel has a reputation of having "the sight," and is called in when a neighbor is convinced her house is haunted. Sheriff Arrowood and his deputy, eager to take in a law-breaker so they can get on with their Christmas festivities, winds up doing a good deed. This is a delightful little book and there is much more about Nora than is found in some of the other Ballad books. Personal Note: It is especially fun to read a book by an author you have met. Sharyn McCrumb is a gracious lady who takes time with her readers on book tours. She knows a wealth of Appalachian stories and, when we went to see her, had ballad singers to illustrate her mountain stories in song. She is the sort of woman you would like to have living next door and hope she comes to borrow a cup of sugar. One of these days she should consider writing a book about the life of her character, Nora Bonesteel. less

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