Recommended by Dawn Miller, owner of Pelican Bookstore in Sunset Beach, this mountain read takes place in the 1940s. The story, told from the perspective of 14-year-old Wallis Ann, follows a family after a Tuckasegee River flood forced them to flee their generational home in Appalachia. Despite its historical setting, the novel relays the timeless tale of how tragedy often leads resilient Southern families to new beginnings.
On a chilly night during the Great Depression, single mother Collie Wright spots trespassers trekking through the woods near her 150-year-old North Carolina mountain cabin. After a hospitable one-night invitation turns into a courtship, the father of her infant returns ready to fight. First published in 1982, the story was also made into a film in 1989. “It’s a classic, and it’s beloved,” says Sarah Ogletree, co-owner of Plott Hound Books in Burnsville.
There’s no better person to learn about our state dog from than a descendent of the canine’s first breeder. Since their 1750s emergence in western North Carolina, Plott hounds have become integral in traditional bear and wild boar hunts. Today, most hunts in the western part of the state take place in Pisgah and Nantahala national forests during cooler seasons. This hound history lesson is best enjoyed curled up with your favorite pup.
In 1951, Jacob Hampton, a native of Blowing Rock, is drafted to fight in the Korean War. After his parents refuse to care for his wife, Jacob turns to Blackburn Gant, the town cemetery’s caretaker. Shunned because of a physical deformity, Blackburn accepts the responsibility as a favor to his only friend. After bracing frigid winters on the battlefield, Jacob returns to discover that life in rural Appalachia can be even more bone-chilling. “Rash has a way of including the culture, heritage, and history of North Carolina in his books that resonates with readers,” Miller says.
Rooted in the history of the kudzu craze of the 1930s and ’40s, this story reveals the complicated past of the vine that invaded the South. When James T. Cullowee arrives in North Carolina to promote a “miracle plant,” Mattie Lee Watson, 15, unveils the dark sides of both James and kudzu. “The main character reminds me a lot of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird,” says Pete Mock, lead buyer for McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, of Mattie Lee. “You want to read about her.”
Sybil Van Antwerp, 73, has spent most of her life writing to everyone, drafting records of her own history. As she reminisces on the letters she’s composed to prominent figures from her earlier decades, she receives unexpected correspondence from someone she knew during a painful period in her past. In an attempt at closure, Sybil realizes it’s time for her long-withheld words to be read. — Rebekah Mann
In 1957, Queen Elizabeth II received a Sir Walter Raleigh statuette from Gov. Luther Hodges on behalf of the famed book club. Photography courtesy of Hugh Morton Photographs and Films Collection (P081), Wilson Special Collections Library, UNC-Chapel Hill
There have been several memorable moments since a group of avid female readers founded the Historical Book Club of North Carolina in Greensboro in 1947. Perhaps none competes with the time Gov. Luther Hodges, on behalf of the club, presented a statuette of Sir Walter Raleigh to Queen Elizabeth II when she visited the United States in 1957. Martha Hodges, the governor’s wife, was a club member and had the idea of gifting the statuette to Her Majesty, who is said to have remarked, “How lovely.”
Nearly 80 years after it was founded, the HBCNC has grown to more than 200 members. The club was created to keep readers informed on new works of history, but today its programs primarily feature fiction and occasionally other genres like nonfiction, drama, and poetry.
The HBCNC may never get to present a gift to another monarch. Still, each of its meetings leaves an impression. Kimberly Heckman, chair of the club’s Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction — chosen by judges from works submitted by North Carolina authors — was particularly wowed by the talk that Chatham County writer Marjorie Hudson gave.
Hudson won the award in 2023 for her book Indigo Field, which explores racial tension in the South. “Her talk showed the redemptive spirit in each of us and highlighted the need for community in all of its different facets,” Heckman says.
In addition to the annual speech from the recipient of the Sir Walter Raleigh Award, the group hosts a Town Meeting on Books, initiated in 1948, featuring a notable writer. “These authors are all so delightful,” President Louise Courts says. “And it’s interesting to hear about their writing process and how they get their ideas.”
For Heckman and Courts, each meeting is yet another memorable moment. — Rebecca Woltz
From the stone that built Mount Airy, one man shapes a living story of community.
Snow in North Carolina may be fleeting, but when it falls, the state settles into a peaceful pause.
A long-forgotten series of recordings from 1925 puts a new spin on the beginnings of one of our most enduring music genres.
In tight-knit Southern circles, recipes get around. The ones that impress find their place in community cookbooks, local encyclopedias of care and feeding.
