The author had me at her dedication:

This story is dedicated to all the chippers, dippers and tackers of tin

Still, I was nearly ready to stop all: the anxious atmosphere, hot and urgent, started with Del and his youthful proclivities to unskirt every woman he meets. I was just about ready to set him aside only a few pages in, when the whole story turns miraculous. One chapter in and I'm ready to see where it goes. Chapter next brought me Warren and Rae Lynn, and after that dramatic introduction, there was no way I was stopping.

Set three years after the Wall Street Crash, the author's narrative wends its way around the turpentining industry adopted by the South to take the place of cotton, and characters of every stripe, to take on the large themes of gender struggles for dominance and identity, racism and the guilt-edged legacy of slavery, and cruelties daily imposed by power hungry men, ready to sacrifice every good thing in order to control all. Chilling to think about, and it was hard to read knowing that at some point in time it had happened non-fictionally. Every page turned intensified my feelings for the characters, along with my worries and hopes for their futures, that they truly would all get what they deserved.

I'm West Coast, start to finish. Turpentine camps were something I'd never heard of or thought about. Even the reason for the term "Tar Heel" was not a mystery to me, because it was never a question for me. Why a state would adopt pine tar on a barefoot as their label was just one more proof that some people's kids can't be explained. Inscrutable. Reading Saints of Swallow Hill rolled out explanation enough to begin an education for this girl, on this topic. Once the book was read and ended, I scooted to my keyboard and fired up turpentining - I wanted to see the cat face, see the tool used, and those poor scarred up trees. I figured it was all in the past. Before this read I would have sworn I've never had or owned any turpentine - my only experience was my mother's paint supplies, where a small container often needed refills. Now that I've googled, I know it's in that little blue Vicks jar in the medicine cabinet!

A great read. A book that pulled back a curtain on a place, time and environment that a week ago had no place in my head. . . and now. . . .has me thinking. . . .

A Sincere Thanks to Donna Everhart, Kensington Books, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review. #SaintsofSwallowHill #NetGalley

Not an easy read. Amidst the hard work and segregation of the depression era, some rare glimpses of beauty, and a love story you hoped would come to fruition. It was not easy times. Well written.

I really enjoyed this historical fiction read! I didn’t know anything about turpentine camps before reading this book so I found the process really fascinating. What a grueling time for a job like this for those workers though, it was exhausting just reading about it! I loved the main characters in this novel and really connected with Rae Lynn’s strength and her willingness to dig in and do the dirty work without complaint. Del was also really interesting and I liked his growth throughout the novel. Secondary characters helped bring a lot to this story and Cornelia was just so wonderful. The romance in this novel was a slow, slow burn that I appreciated and I really liked how it all came together. There was some heavy subject matter but this story was really special. Definitely recommend for historical fiction lovers!

So here’s the thing about historical fiction… you learn stuff! How else would a woman from Minnesota find out about the turpentine camps of the American South during the Great Depression? Before I read The Saints of Swallow Hill, I didn’t know how turpentine was made or why North Carolina is called the Tar Heel State. Now I do, and I had the pleasure of following some fascinating characters along the way.

Rae Lynn Cobb and her husband, Warren, run a small turpentine farm together during the Great Depression. Though the work is hard and often dangerous, Rae Lynn, who spent her childhood in an orphanage, is thankful for it. When Warren is seriously injured, Rae Lynn undertakes a desperate act of mercy. To keep herself from jail and support herself, she disguises herself as a man and heads to the only place she can think of that might offer anonymity—a turpentine camp in Georgia named Swallow Hill.

Swallow Hill is isolated and squalid, and although Rae Lynn works tirelessly, she becomes a target for Crow, the ever-watchful woods rider who checks each laborer’s tally and inflicts horrific punishments when they aren’t met. Delwood Reese, who’s come to Swallow Hill hoping for his own redemption, offers “Ray” a small measure of protection. As Rae Lynn forges a deeper friendship with both Del and the woman who operates the commissary, she envisions a path out of the camp.

Author Donna Everhart does a wonderful job showing man’s inhumanity to man, and the innate pull we possess to overcome adversity through pluck and determination. Her characterization is especially good. Whether villain or hero, they are all complex and interesting. Sometimes dual storylines falter, but in this case, they were well written and easy to follow. I also loved her well-honed dialogue and use of dialect, not so over the top that it was irritating. The Saints of Swallow Hill was a powerful story of courage, survival, and friendship. From the opening sentence to the last, this beautiful novel kept my attention, although the ending was anticlimactic. A great read. 4.5 stars.


Published Date: January 2022
Genre: Historical fiction
Read-alikes: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger.

This novel is a terrific find—an engrossing example of Southern historical fiction that’s full of gritty realism, heart, and hope. Everhart introduces readers to the rarely-encountered setting of the pine forests near Valdosta, Georgia during the Depression, in the company of three people seeking a way out of their troubles.

Del Reese, a traveling farmhand who’s good-looking and knows it, juggles affairs with three married women until one farmer catches him with his wife and takes revenge. Rae Lynn Cobb has been happy with her older husband, Warren, with whom she runs a small North Carolina turpentine farm, until Warren’s clumsiness and stubbornness lead to a terrible accident and a moral dilemma. Both she and Del are drawn separately to the large Swallow Hill turpentine camp down in southern Georgia, where longleaf pines are tapped for their gum.

Their presence arouses curiosity. The woods rider supervising the camp, a cruel fellow named Crow, enforces the color line and disapproves of Del taking on work designated for Black men. Having disguised herself as a young man called Ray, Rae Lynn can’t keep up with the others and has trouble making quota; that and her scrappy attitude get her in hot water. (She makes a puzzling mistake in using the call name “Tar Heel” for her work while wanting to conceal her origins.) Then there’s Cornelia, the local commissary’s abused wife. It’s clear she needs rescuing.

The three characters elicit sympathy with their yearnings for something more; Swallow Hill is a nasty place run by mostly nasty people, though the villains aren’t stereotyped. With the intense summer heat, the rich scent of evergreens, and the hum of cicadas filling the air, the atmosphere rises off the page, and the folksy Southern-accented dialogue invites the reader in.

Enjoyed this book about the south and labor camps during the Great Depression. Completely eye opening. A story of survival from the perspective of a widow in the south and a drifter. The author provided history and insight that I was completely unaware of with respect to the turpertine industry. Enjoyed the comraderie between the characters and the relationships that develop; love, friendship and resilience.

This book was so good! The characters were incredible, the historical accuracy was on point, as well as the clear prose about how hard the struggle truly was, made it a really epic read.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book! Unfortunately it is one I simply couldn't get it before it was published. I will give it another go when I'm in the mood to read it.

Great story!

Description
Where the Crawdads Sing meets The Four Winds as award-winning author Donna Everhart’s latest novel immerses readers in its unique setting—the turpentine camps and pine forests of the American South during the Great Depression—for a captivating story of friendship, survival, and three vagabonds' intersecting lives.


It takes courage to save yourself...

Few writers evoke the complexities of the heart and the gritty fascination of the American South as vividly as Donna Everhart, whose lyrical new novel, set against the background of the Great Depression, is a powerful story of courage, survival, and friendship…

In the dense pine forests of North Carolina, turpentiners labor, hacking into tree trunks to draw out the sticky sap that gives the Tar Heel State its nickname, and hauling the resin to stills to be refined. Among them is Rae Lynn Cobb and her husband, Warren, who run a small turpentine farm together.

I dnf'd at 25%. I tried very hard to get into the story, but it just did not grab me. I do not feel vested in the characters or the plot.

Not only a great history lesson in the long forgotten turpentine industry, a big enterprise during the Depression in the American southwest, but a gripping story with a diverse cast of characters. There are villains and good guys that keep you invested. Racism abounds and the hatefulness of a few is destructive to so many. Rae Lynn and Del are the two main characters. We follow them briefly in North Carolina before they meet and work together at a turpentine camp (Swallow Hill) in Georgia. Swallow Hill is only a slight step above a slave camp. Excessive punishments are dolled out for little reason. Rae Lynn and Dell together have a story you must read.

The book slowed in the middle for me when it seemed to be more dark than light and bad things kept happening. At one point I considered not finishing but soon after pushing through the middle I was entrenched once again. Happy with the overall story and so glad I hung with it. Highly recommend.

I enjoyed this novel based during the Great Depression era. It was a good 'break' book. I was able to follow this easy storyline and it was a great break from other heavy topic reads. I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley in return for my honest review.

I have just finished reading The Saints of Swallow Hill by Author Donna Everhart.

This is the first book that I have read by the Author.

The storyline takes place during the depression in the American South.

It is a simple story with likeable characters, and is about hardship, friendship, love, and the challenges of the times.

Its main characters are turpentiners, something I knew nothing about.

I found it quite fascinating and interesting, and I enjoyed the characters.

I got into the book quite eagerly at the beginning, but for me it started getting a bit on the boring side about two thirds into it.

However, I did overall enjoy it, and will read more of this Author’s work.

Thank you to NetGalley, Author Donna Everhart, and Kensington Books for my advanced copy to read and review

3.5 Stars

#SaintsofSwallowHill #NetGalley

The Saints of Swallow Hill, by Donna Everhart, portrays the horrors of the turpentine camps of the south during the depression. It was a time when families did what was necessary to survive, even though the jobs were dangerous and the camps were awful. Everhart's historical fiction piece about this time in history is a well-researched, engaging storyline that doesn't sugarcoat the way things were. The well-developed and realistic characters, as well as the rich text, draws the reader into the story and the plight of the main characters. The horrors they endure are balanced out with the friendships and hope they are blessed with. Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with an ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

This is exactly the type of book I’m after when I pick up Historical Fiction; brilliantly developed characters, a moving story, and I learn something new. The setting is depression era North Carolina on a turpentine farm. We are transported to the many lives of people during that where we get to meet women, people of color, white men, and even touch on some LGBTQ issues.

This is a Great Depression era novel and I am here for it! I love connecting with depression era novels - my grandparents were teenagers/young adults during that time, and unfortunately passed away when I was too young to ever get to ask them about their growing up. These sorts of novels make me feel connected to them.

Many thanks to Donna Everhart, Kensington Publishing, and Goodreads for a digital copy of this book. I read and reviewed this voluntarily and opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own. This book is available for purchase on January 25th, 2022!

The Saints of Swallow Hill is an historical fiction story about a time and events I did not know about. I had no idea about the history of making turpentine and how the companies that owned the turpentine companies treated their employees like indentured servants or slaves. Life in the south and the Appalachians was difficult in the best of times, but during the depression it was worse. This is the story of Rae Lynn, who was raised in an orphanage. When she ages out, she meets kind, Warren who she marries. They live a good life, until he falls off the roof and severely injures himself. He tries to kill himself, but ends up surviving a gut shot, so he asks Rae Lynn to finish the job. She does as he asks only for his best friend to walk in. He tries to blackmail Rae Lynn into having a physical relationship with him so she takes off. Disguising herself as a man, Ray, she takes a job in a turpentine camp, known as Swallow Hill. Things do not go well and she is outed as a female. There she meets Cornelia Riddle, wife of the commissary owner, Otis. Otis is a cruel man who takes out his frustrations on his wife. One of the woods riders, Crow, is also a mean, cruel man who has Ray/Rae in his sights and wants to make an example of her. If it wasn't for kind and understanding Delwood Reese, things might have turned out different. Rae, Del and Nellie form a friendship and take off from Swallow Hill, hoping to get away and start a new life. Will they make it? What will the escape mean to their future?

This was a sad, melancholy story about wonderful characters and a time I constantly try to learn more about. Donna Everhart's writing makes this story one that I couldn't put down and that I had to find out what was going to happen to our three main characters. The way these companies kept the workers beholden to them was disgraceful. Running down workers who had enough and left was similar to how escaped slaves were treated. This was a dangerous job with environmental threats, lack of water and proper nutrition, overwork and punishments from the woods rider if you didn't reach quota. There is a bit of a romance between Rae and Del, but that is minor and is at the end of the story. Although heartbreaking at times, there is honesty in the telling and hope at the end. If you enjoy historical fiction with all its warts, then this well written story is one for you.

Donna Everhart never fails to amaze me with her character development and her ability to completely draw me in to her stories.

The Saints of Swallow Hill is the story of Del Reese, Rae Lynn Cobb and the residents of Swallow Hill turpentine farm. Del Reese and Rae Lynn Cobb both have left complicated situations behind when they arrive at Swallow Hill. Del doesn't plan to stay long at the camp, but he quickly makes an enemy of Crow, one of the men in charge of the camp workers. Rae Lynn tries not to draw attention to herself and just make the best of her situation, but she can't escape Crow's evil ways. Through all the difficult working conditions and hardships the residents face, there still is a sense of goodness among many of the people there. The Saints of Swallow Hill is a beautiful story of forgiveness, resilience and the triumph of the human spirit.

I appreciated the opportunity to learn more about the turpentine camps and the conditions at that time. I really was invested in these characters and how their lives played out over the pages. I've seen this book compared to The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah and also Where the Crawdads Sing by Della Owens, and would definitely agree that The Saints of Swallow Hill deserves a spot on that shelf.

I received this book courtesy of the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Historical fiction has always been my favorite— especially those set in the United States. If I can learn something new, I will be even happier. I will be the first to admit- I get tired of the million different books written about WWII. Thankfully, The Saints of Swallow Hill provides a fresh perspective on the Great Depression and takes readers into the turpentine camps and pine forests of the American South. ⁣
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⁣This book tells of the back-breaking labor and horrible conditions faced by people in the turpentine camps. Our two main characters, Rae Lynn and Del, are both down on their luck and face incredible hardships in the name of survival. ⁣
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⁣The Saints of Swallow Hill has memorable characters, paints a vivid picture of life in the camps, and tells a heartwarming story. The writing is easy to follow and well plotted. ⁣
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⁣Read this one if you were a fan of Where the Crawdads Sing, Four Winds, or The Giver of Stars. Five stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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⁣Thank you to NetGalley and Kinsington Books for an ARC of Saints of Swallow Hill. It is now available at your local bookstore.

This Depression-era-set historical fiction story tracks characters in intensely difficult situations as they successfully fight for justice, peace, love, and forgiveness in a satisfying story arc that captivated me.

The Saints of Swallow Hill traces the paths of Rae Lynn and Del, disparate characters in Depression-era Georgia who have two important things in common: each of their searches for food, shelter, and survival is becoming more desperate; and each of them is running from dark secrets that threaten to destroy them.

Their hardscrabble stories intersect at a turpentine camp in Georgia. There, workers struggle to flip the pattern of owing more money to the camp than they can earn; try to avoid the unwelcome notice of the cruel boss; and aim to escape before meeting untimely deaths in the dangerous woods, as many unlucky workers seem to do.

Everhart includes one of my favorite setups, in which a woman dresses as a man in order to achieve some end. Here, Rae Lynn seeks an escape from danger and needs to earn a wage, but unwittingly places herself in greater jeopardy.

As I read the first pages of this book, I admit that I was fairly hesitant--the tone felt increasingly bleak, and I wasn't sure if Everhart was going to revel in creating further mishaps and disasters for her characters.

I was grateful when she laid out not only a tale of intense hardship, bad luck, and rough circumstances in a difficult period of our nation's history, but also a captivating story of determination, struggles for improvement, deep human connection, justice, love, and hope. I'm so very glad I stuck this one out so I could see these characters through and witness their journeys' ends.

I received a prepublication digital copy of this recently published book courtesy of NetGalley and Kensington Books.

The Saints of Swallow Hill by Donna Everhart is a gritty portrayal of the great depression south. This story was intense. I didn't expect to be holding my breath through some of these chapters, my eyes racing through the paragraphs to find out what happens. Everhart brings the dark side of Southern fiction to the forefront. Told from two point of views, main characters converge at a Terpentine Camp, where daily hard workis reality and abuse a constant threat.

I really enjoyed watching the female lead find her strengths through this tale. The male MC also makes a wonderful transformation from the beginning of the book. I will be searching Everhart's back list for more stories rich with history.