Hang the Moon is a work of historical fiction telling the story of Sallie Kincaid, living in the hills of Virginia after World War 1. The story opens with Sallie at the age of 8, living with her larger than life father, known to all as the Duke, her stepmother and half brother. Sallie is a strong character, fearless and intelligent.

I thought the story had a lot of potential, however I found it to become pretty unbelievable especially with the amount of dead bodies that piled up. Overall, it was interesting and very descriptive, putting the reader in the setting.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read the digital arc.

This book took me forever to read, and I wondered where it was going for the longest time... Everyone kept dying and everyone was related to everyone else. But what was the point? The last 20% was the best and it all came together in the end. But it took forever to get there! I did appreciate the extent of the author's research for this work of historical fiction, and it was well written. But I wasn't invested in the plot or characters.

Sallie is a great character, she has determination, resilience and moxie. She was cast out of family because of an incident. Years later she is trying to redeem herself. But, her family isn’t letting her and she has to find a way to survive on her own. A captivating plot and characters. Mesmerizing storytelling.

Disclaimer: Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for this ARC and I am leaving this review voluntarily

I am a big fan of Walls' and was very excited to read her newest Hang the Moon. There was a lot to enjoy in this novel. I love a strong female character and Sallie Kincaid definitely fit the bill. The connection to real events was intriguing and I loved reading about the research Walls pulled into the novel. Ultimately, while entertaining, the story itself felt over the top and all over the place with all of the plot points and the in and out of so many characters. The end then felt abrupt because of the constant up and down of the story.

Interesting story. Historical fiction set in the South during prohibition.
Dysfunction and melodrama abound.
More angst than I enjoy but a solid story about a woman on top in a man's world. Family trauma.

This is a Southern family drama set in the early 1900's. The story is told through the POV of Sallie Kincaid, daughter of Duke Kincaid, a larger than life type of man who owns most of the county and runs it like a fiefdom. What Duke says, goes. He determines who holds the various offices, runs the Emporium where everyone gets their supplies, and is confident that the people appreciate his largesse, and, well, it's too bad if they don't.

Young Sallie, whose mother died when she was three, is sent away at the age of eight to live with an aunt after an accident convinces Duke's latest wife, Jane, that Sallie is a bad influence on her son Eddie. Sallie waits nine long years for Duke to bring her back home, and he does so only after Jane dies. Sallie, now 17, is to look after her younger half-brother, Eddie, 13.

The story goes on from there. The author writes in a flowing way with complex characters and descriptions that make it easy for readers to imagine they are part of the book themselves.

An entertaining read.

My thanks to Scribner for allowing me to read an ARC of the book via NetGalley. All opinions expressed here are my own and are offered freely.

This was a first by this author for me.

I was very disappointed with it. While the synopsis really grabbed me and part of the story did, it seemed to have to many bad things happening. I needed a break in there somewhere. The main character seems to enjoy some things but has a lot of angst also. I just couldn’t continue reading it but if at some time I do pick it back up and finish I’ll come back and revise my review.

I hate when this happens so much.
Thank you #NetGalley for this ARC. I’m sorry but it just wasn’t for me.

Three stars.

My first book club ever discussed The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.

And Walls told a story that was locked in my heart. She struck a chord in me. It was the first time that I felt seen by an author.

When I picked up Hang the Moon, my expectations were admittedly sky high.

Hang the Moon is a historical fiction set in the Southern United States centering on a young woman, Sallie Kincaid, the daughter of the richest man in town.

Walls is incredibly adept at writing complicated, grey characters and familial dysfunction. Hang the Moon has many different twists although it overly relies on deaths and elopements, eyerollingly so at times.

Hang the Moon also focuses on social justice issues particularly the vulnerability of women in society.

Although the book is highly entertaining and worthy of a read, the ending is lackluster, almost cliche, unmemorable, and a few of the character threads were not evenly balanced. For example, Grace was dropped from the story until the very end, even when her presence would have made sense.

Hang the Moon is a highly enjoyable adventure - weaving in important social themes, authentic relationships, and strong female characters.

4.5** Walls' book The Glass Castle came highly recommended by my boss with encouragement that all educators need to read it to understand a child's home environment. Even with this book, Jeanette Walls opens our eyes to the realization not all kids are welcomed and safe in their own home. The characters face complex childhoods and relationships with their parents. Sometimes they rebound with more resilience and other times they sink into farther poverty and struggles.

This atmospheric Southern historical fiction is captured in East Appalachia, Virginia. During the prohibition, you found hardworking and proud mountain people with rival bootleggers. The area and people were sometimes dangerous and territorial leaving a damaged and terrified community much like the real Hatfield's and McCoy's. The author researched this thoroughly even through court transcripts to thicken the plot by depicting real people.

Sallie Kincaid lost her mother at a young age after an argument with her charismatic father, Duke Kincaid. Living a comfortable and privileged life, Sallie is feisty and fearless. Yet, she suffers another blow to her childhood at the age of eight when her father sends her away after an accident with her little brother. She lives with her aunt, but returns nine years later after her stepmother dies. She realizes her family is embedded with secrets and scandals. She joins the family's bootlegging business with all the conflict and lawlessness. This has a heartbreaking story-line, but captured what the early century endured.
Well-written and researched! This book is one of The Most Anticipated Books of 2023 and the LibraryReads pick for March.
Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Scribner and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.
No elaborate review. This story just jumped from one catastrophe to another without good character development. After about completing 50% of the book and struggling to find a connection to the characters and story, I resorted to skimming just to finish.

Sallie Kincaid is fairly certain that her father, the Duke, hung the moon. After her mother’s death when she was only 3 years old, Sallie loved her father more than life. When the Duke remarried and had a son, Sallie was considered rambunctious by her new stepmother. When an accident happens with her younger stepbrother, Sallie is sent away to the mountains to live with her Aunt Faye. She always prays to go back home, as life in the mountains is hard. After many years the Duke calls for her to come home after the death of her stepmother. This is the next step in many that will be hard for Sallie. She experiences many deaths and has to make some hard decisions at a young age. In the midst of prohibition, life can be hard and the lines of the law are blurred. Sallie has to work hard to find out who she really is, what she is made of, and who really makes up family.

I loved The Glass Castle and looked forward to reading this. It’s very different from that one, but just as good in its own way. It’s a little bit historical fiction, but mostly it’s a coming of age story. Sallie is a fighter and nothing came easy for her. She was forced to be a man in a time women weren’t supposed to be in any type position of power or decision making. A great book that I highly recommend!

Hang the Moon
By Jeannette Walls


The story opens with an 8 year old Sallie Kincaid who worships her larger than life father “The Duke.” In her young eyes, he’s hung the moon and scattered the stars. But little girls grow up.

Duke Kincaid has ruled over Claiborne County, Virginia for as long as people have memory. Sallie is his daughter from a second marriage to Ann. There is some secrecy surrounding her mother’s death following a violent altercation with The Duke. Not long after, he brings home his new wife Jane, who takes offense at Sallie’s rambunctious ways, and has her sent away. Left behind is the son of this third marriage. When the third wife suddenly dies 9 years later, Sallie is called back to The Big House to care for her brother. Caring for a sensitive and resentful younger brother isn’t for Sallie. She convinces her father that she would be of greater value working for him. While most thought Sallie wouldn’t amount to much, she eventually takes over the family business and becomes known as Queen of the Kincaid Rumrunners. Sallie will have to find her way in a man’s world, deal with ruthless men, evade the law and contend with a family feud that rivals the Hatfield and McCoys.

While it may take a turn or three to set up, Walls succeeds at constructing a sweeping Southern family drama set in prohibition era Appalachia. Hang the Moon is inspired by real people and events, including her own bootlegging father, so don’t skip reading the acknowledgements. One last thing, I love a good epigraph, one that hints at what you’re in for - take note!

Many thanks to author @The.Jeanette.Walls, @ScribnerBooks, and @NetGalley for the pleasure of reading this digital ARC. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Coming soon, watch for it! Pub Date: 28 March 2023

Set during Prohibition in Virginia, Sallie Kincaid is the second child of a large messy wealthy family. She is also the only of the three children of the Duke who takes after him and has the ability to follow in his footsteps, but not quite all his footsteps. The Duke isn't a good man. He cheats and does away with wives and enemies and cares about sons and not daughters. Sallie is one of the strongest grittiest women I've read about in a while. She not only is a leader, she tries to do good things for her community. Men literally fall dead at her footsteps and she continues to persevere. In this story, you will root for Sallie, but you won't root for too many of the other characters. Many of them are often a disappointment. Not to worry, the author kills characters at a regular interval throughout the story. If you aren't familiar with many of the local battles over Prohibition, this story contains a number of details from that time period that are based on a mixture of real stories, and it is quite enlightening.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for an advance copy. My opinion is my own.

Talk about a complex storyline! Taking place primarily during prohibition, a well-to-do family patriarch runs not only his business but is known as Duke for managing all the people and problems in the county. He needs a son to lead the business and family but ends up with a strong-willed daughter instead. This novel is not lacking in a multitude of problems with black market whiskey, infidelity, feuds, and racism. The real challenge here is keeping track of the who’s who of family members!

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner/Simon & Schuster for the ARC to read and review.

I love Jeannette Walls previous books and looked forward to reading Hang the Moon. I liked Sallie Kincaid's character - she was gritty and determined. For the first 8 years of her life (after the untimely and suspicious death of her mother), Sallie's father was her favorite person in the world. Her father remarried, and has another child with his new wife. As a result of a present from her father, Sallie accidentally injures her younger brother. She is cast out of the house and her father's life, seeing him only a few times a year. Her step-mother dies when Sallie is a teenager, and her father sends for her to come home. So much happens in this book; deaths, accidents, long lost siblings, claims to the "throne" and kingdom her father left after his own untimely death, it becomes hard to keep track of who did what, who owns what, who can be trusted, and who can not. Prohibition changes the face of Sallie's life and her town; The Kincaid's essentially own the town, yet the moral and legal dilemma's which came with Prohibition turn town loyalties upside down and loyalties shift and shuffle. Who really does have best interest of the entire town in mind?

There were so many plot twists and relatives who came, left, came back it was a little hard to keep track of. That said, I liked Sallie's character and her approach to life. She was practical, fearless (on the outside) and she rolled with the changes, trying to do her best and live up to the legacy her father and grandfather left behind. The Duke certainly raised Sallie to be a free thinker while keeping her at arms distance, and it was a time when women were not raised to be strong and in charge.

I love Jeanette Walls--what a storyteller. The book comes across as a bit outrageous about a family set during prohibition. I had a harder time losing myself to this book than I did her other work, but her excellent writing is still there. And this crazy family is hilarious and the book is most enjoyable. I'm glad I read it and I will continue to look out for Walls' future titles. Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC.

Jeannette Walls can do no wrong in my eyes and this book is not the exception.

This is a story of a sad life but one that is accepted, much like Jeannette's own as captured in her outstanding memoir The Glass Castle. Sallie knows that her family is skirting laws and she accepts it as the way it is.

Parts of this book are hilarious and a delight to read while others are just painful. It's the Jeannette Walls way to write, to make you fall in love and break your heart.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

There was a lot to like in Hang the Moon - I liked Sallie, and her tenacity and her honest struggle to figure out her place. The book is packed full of family drama surrounding The Duke, the most powerful man in a small county in Virginia during the prohibition. There is so much death it is overwhelming, so much sadness with very little hope. For me, start to finish the book is one horrific event after the other, and as the pages wound down I could see that there would be no redemption, no closure, no tidy ending. Some may really enjoy this! But for me I wish that there was just a little bit more hint of a positive. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to provide my honest review.

I enjoyed this one, but not as much as Glass Houses or Half Broke Horses. It was an okay book, but nothing I think that I'll really remember much past reading.

This author is much loved by patrons of our library - they are excited to read this book!

Thank you Net Galley for the opportunity to read this Arc.

The Duke, Sallie and the Bonds are like my grandpa's stories come to life! Every small town in that era seemed to have them. The man who maybe didn't run the town - but to whom everyone looked. The troublemakers were always there and the troubled girl - just trying to find a way!

I totally enjoyed this book. A historical fiction that seems all to real!