No story set in the USA can overlook the issue of race. The reactions of the townsfolk to the proposal to set up a mobile library run by women reflects the mixed views of the time. The position of women in society at the time is brought up just a few pages in. Secondly, she uses well-known historical references – such as to the Depression, President and Mrs Roosevelt, the mining industry and poverty in the area – to situate the story in the period in question. (When talking about accents in books I always think of the character of Joseph in Wuthering Heights, whose speech was so twisted by Bronte’s attempts to reproduce his accent that the character was basically incomprehensible.)
She uses just the right amount of “ain’t”, “ole” and “git fast” she doesn’t overdo it. Moyes handles it deftly in a number of ways.įirst off, to conjure up a vivid picture of the locale, she uses slang, idioms and accents in the dialogue that are universally recognised (whether accurate or not is another matter) as belonging to the Appalachian region of the USA. The author has a lot to do in the first few chapters to ensure that readers quickly accept and relate to the whole cast of characters, the locale, and the era. The main story then switches to the viewpoint of Alice Wright, newly arrived in the town of Baileyville, Kentucky, in 1937. Doesn’t matter how smart you are, how clever, how self-reliant – you can always be bettered by a stupid man with a gun.” The prologue also gives a hint of what is to be a key theme of the book when we are told, “And there is the bare truth of it, for her and all the women around here. We are left with an air of tension and mystery: who is the woman, why was she alone on horseback, and not least, why does she have a heavy book with her? A frightening encounter ensues and the woman only barely escapes.
The prologue depicts a woman on horseback in the woods who meets a threatening stranger. And the book delivers on this promise from page one. Adventure and conflict, two key elements of story, are there immediately. I was drawn in by the blurb, which begins “Alice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve, hoping to escape her stifling life in England”.
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