This was an engaging, enlightening, and at times, a tragically sad, novel set during the Great Depression in North Carolina and Georgia. Rae Lynn Cobb is a complex and authentic character. Her story of survival and courage in a unique setting – the turpentine camps – is full of grit and determination. The plot may seem slow at first but it builds at just the right speed and all the characters are so well-drawn, that you are pulled into the story easily. Not only was my attention kept throughout the novel but I learned so much about the back-breaking and often brutal world of turpentine work camps. Highly recommended! Thanks to NetGalley and the author for a chance to provide an honest review.

Thank you to Kensington book for my ARC of The Saints of Swallow Hill. This book was such a beautiful, heartbreaking story filled with so much heartache. I absolutely loved it. To see what Rae Lynn went through and how she faced adversity, that most of us couldn’t even imagine. It was so encouraging. Definitely recommend for fans of Four Winds!

Although this time period is not my favorite I truly enjoyed this story. The characters were well developed and the themes were all obvious.

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

The Saints of Swallow Hill by Donna Everhart is exquisite. The details of daily life for these Depression Era, hard-working, down-on-their-luck Southerners makes this novel come alive. It isn’t necessarily a life I wanted to immerse myself in. The cruelty, racism, and sexual exploitation that these itinerant farm workers and turpentine extractors had to endure made for unpleasant reading to say the least. But the writing was beautiful. The descriptions were so realistic I thought the author must have experienced some of the work, not only researched it.

Delwood Reese is a good-looking young man who was raised farming and working trees for turpentine. Now he’s on his own, getting work where he can. But he has the bad habit of sleeping with other men’s wives. When his boss catches him at it, he puts him into the grain bin to “walk down the corn” – pretty much an execution – that almost succeeds. Del takes off and ends up at the Swallow Hill Turpentine camp.

Rae Lynn Cobb is a beautiful young woman, raised in an orphanage, who married an older man with a small-scale turpentine operation. They love each other in a way, but he’s stubborn about things, tight with money, and clumsy/accident prone. That last flaw causes Rae Lynn a few injuries as well. Tragedy strikes when a poor decision leads to his drawn-out, painful death. Rae Lynn gets chased off the place by a predatory male. And she ends up at Swallow Hill too.

Things go from bleak to bleaker. The work is back-breaking. Workers are paid in worthless scrip and have to buy necessities at the company store, so the longer they work, the more in debt they are. The men in the largely Black workforce are treated worse than animals. The boss is a homicidal sadist.

Thankfully, there are little bits of sunshine. Del’s near-death experience has changed him. He’s a better man and he looks out for others. Including Rae Lynn.

Ultimately, this is a hopeful book. A great read for when you’re looking for some hopefulness.

This book opens with scenes of a man having sex with other men's wives. Yes multiple. I could not keep reading. Starting that way very much guarantees I'm not going to enjoy or appreciate the rest of the book.

Simple story with abuse sprinkled in spots, and mentioned several times. One character specifically references his trauma, and refreshingly is concerned with the effects that he doesn't know.

The book is long, and there are points where I was getting bored, wondering what was the point of certain storylines. It was the times, and therefore each line connected to the next line. These main characters were poor, and the book points out their hardships and life.

Overall it was just okay for me. However, if you like the era this would be the book for you. I would have preferred a less character driven story and more history.

Thank you NetGalley, Kensington Books, and Donna Everhart for accepting my request to read and review The Saints of Swallow Hill.

#NetGalley
#DonnaEverhart
#KensingtonBooks
#TheSaintsofSwallowHill.

I fell in love with Donna Everhart’s writing style a couple of years ago when I read her book THE FORGIVING KIND. She captures the spirit of the American South in such a way that you can feel the torturous heat and humidity, taste the coolness of a glass of sweet tea, and hear the cicadas on a drowsy early evening.

I enjoy historical fiction so when I discovered her newest book was set in southern Georgia and described the life of turpentiners I was really intrigued. Living in central Georgia I had heard a bit about this industry…enough to maybe fill a thimble.

Set during the Depression, Everhart brought the characters to life as I read. I felt like I was part of their life. There were the power-hungry, thoroughly mean men like Crow and Otis. But then there were the courageous “saints” like Del, Rae Lynn, and Cornelia.

A story of courage, survival, and friendship sure to linger in my mind for some time. I am looking forward to discussing this book in my book club.

If you enjoyed Kristin Hannah’s THE FOUR WINDS, you would probably enjoy this book also.

Quite a story about the logging industry, what workers have to do, those who survive, those who don't.
Rae Lynn, whose husband Warren she shot to at his begging to end suffering, Butch, who was not a friend, Del, woman charmer who survived the corn silo, loved logging, Crow, the tough boss, Nolan, not accepted and others.
Another page turner by Donna Everhart.

Rae Lynn and her husband, Warren, are struggling to make a living from their turpentine farm. It is hard and dangerous work. Warren has a terrible accident and Rae Lynn has to put him out of his misery. When she is witnessed in this act she realizes she has to run for it. She disguises herself as a man and heads to the nearest turpentine camp. This is work she knows and understands. But she soon realizes this camp is more dangerous than the work itself.

Rae Lynn is a tough, tough woman. If it had not been for Del, Swallow Hill might have been the end of her. Del is another camp member. He actually moves up in the ranks and becomes a boss. But he knows something is not right with Rae Lynn. He looks out for her and tries to protect her the best he can.

I can honestly say I have never read a book about a turpentine camp. This is a story which is hard to read in places. I would have to put it down and catch my breath a minute. Life at Swallow Hill is tough and life threatening. The conditions of squalor and the hard work, add in beatings and “the box”, and it is unbearable! This is a tale everyone needs to read and experience. Just to remind you how easy life is now compared to then.

Need a story you will not soon forget…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

This book takes place I. The south and is about family dynamics…keeping going on…husband and wife relationship…making a living…secrets…mayhem…this book was sent to me by Netgalley for review…

North Carolina turpentine camps during the Great Depression. Work hard, receive corporal punishment, stay in debt to the camp, never leave. Primarily worked by Black people, Dell & Raelynn come to the turpentine camp seeking work to escape the things of their past. Met with overruling and racist White leaders in the camp, they have to decide if they’re willing to risk their livelihood for their fellow coworkers and eventually their own freedoms.

I thought this book was well written and well researched. A historical fiction topic I had yet to read about.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book is a work of historical fiction, set mostly in the Turpentine Camps of North Carolina during the Great depression.  Donna Everhart dedicates it to the chippers, the dippers and the tackers of tin. I had no idea what this meant but by the end of the book I would.

With an abundance of pine trees in North Carolina, known as the Tar Heel State, the tar became crucial to the seafaring industry, and was a crucial part of the economy from the 1700’s onwards, contributing to what was known as ‘Naval stores’. The tar was essential to building and maintaining wooden sailing ships as well as soap, resin, lubricants and varnish. 

It wasn’t an easy job, and the process of extracting the tar from the trees could often result in injury. It’s where we first meet the two main characters in the book, and it’s their stories that are told via split narrative - Orphan Rae Lynn Cobb, working with her husband, and Delwood Reese, who drifts from place to place and as well as taking tar from the trees, takes his pleasures where he can find them.

The ‘Swallow Hill’ of the title occupies the largest part of the book, a turpentine camp that was little more than a slavery village, with rampant racism. A horrible place, it was hard not get angry at some of the goings on here, the workers, mostly black, living in indentured servitude.

The setting itself is very evocative, and there were times that it put me in mind of ‘Where the Crawdad sings’, no bad thing. You really get pulled into the lives of the characters and I found myself drawn especially to the women, Rae Lynn and Cornelia, faced as they were with some rampant misogyny. Every book like this needs a baddie and there are a couple of prime specimens, with special mention for the dastardly Crow.

One of the characters undergoes an amazing transformation early on that seemed a bit hard to believe but I just went with it. I also found that the last third didn’t have the same narrative drive as the previous sections but in the end, because of where the story ended up, I was ok with that. There were times when I felt I knew where the story was going but it’s well put together and easy to read and just enjoy.

Historical fiction is at its best for me when it’s teaching you something of a period you didn’t know much about, evokes a strong sense of time and place and has strong characters that you care about. With strong themes of friendship, survival and love, this well written book ticks all those boxes and it’s easy to see why it’ll be successful.

Meeting the main characters of the book, Delwood "Del" Reese and RaeLynn Cobb, showed us the kind of grit and determination that would drive their stories throughout the book. A third aspect driving this story is the depression and how difficult it made life for those who didn't have much to rely on in the first place. Del was a rascally character with a kind heart, and after a near-death experience, finds himself on the road to finding another job. RaeLynn, having grown up in an orphanage, took the opportunity of marriage to escape that difficult life in exchange for another. The death of her husband finds her on that same road looking for work. The kind heart of Del and the stubborness and yet fragile character of RaeLynn, disguised as a man, meet up as they both take jobs in a turpentine farm called Swallow Hill. Here they both have to fight the meanness of one of the woods-riders/bosses as they work side-by-side with black men to eke the turpentine from the longleaf pine. RaeLynn strikes up a friendship with the general store manager's wife, Cornelia, which leads to a violent episode forming the way the story evolves and ends. Ms. Everhart chronicles the lives and events of the story in a way that makes the reader feel a part of it and engaged in the characaters' lives. Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read and review this advance reader copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #NetGalley #TheSaintsofSwallowHill

Everyone knows I love historical fiction novels.  I love reading about different time periods and learning about things I don't know.  One time period that doesn't get much love, but is totally fascinating, is the 1930's. Other than The Grapes of Wrath, it's hasn't been the subject of very many novels, which is a shame. There are so many fascinating things to learn about the Great Depression and what people had to go through in an effort to survive. It truly is a fascinating piece of our history that we should know more about.

The Saints of Swallow Hill is set in North Carolina during the 19330's.  It tells the stories of Del and Ray Lynn. Del is an itinerant farm hand looking for redemption and a sense of purpose in his life and Ray Lynn, a woman trying to escape a painful tragedy. The novels begins with each of them experiencing a major life-altering moment.  For Del, it's escaping death. For Ray Ann, it's the death of her husband and the awful choice she was forced to make.  They end up meeting at Swallow Hill, a turpentine camp in Georgia. During the 1930's these camps were brutal, full of workings worn down from back-breaking work and brutal overseers.  These camps were designed to keep their workers impoverished and in constant debt by paying them in script, which could only be used in the camp store. Ray Lynn disguises herself as a man to work at the camp, but she and Del soon find themselves the target of Crow, a sadistic overseer who is a law unto himself. Meanwhile, Ray Lynn befriends Cornelia, an abused woman married to the company store owner Otis. Their stories join together as they try to save themselves from Crow, Otis and their own heartbreaking past actions.

First, what I loved about this book is that it wasn't a romance disguised as a historical fiction novel. While there is romance, it's not the central focus of the plot. It grows organically throughout the novel. It doesn't feel forced. Instead, it feels realistic as the bond between Del and Ray Lynn grows over time.  Second, learning about the turpentine camps was interesting.  I admit I never wondered where the "Tar Heel State" motto came from. "Workers who distilled turpentine from the sticky sap of pine trees and burned pine boughs to produce tar and pitch often went barefoot during hot summer months and undoubtedly collected tar on their heels" (Wikipedia).  It was engrossing to see how pine trees were harvested for their "tar" which in turn made turpentine. The realistic descriptions of the camp, the work tapping the trees and the condition of the workers felt authentic but not over exaggerated. The characters are so well drawn in this novel.  From Cornelia, who is living a life of desperation being married to the abusive Otis to Del who is searching for some purpose after his near-death experience to Ray Lynn who is trying to deal with the loss of her husband and everything that went with it. They are not perfect people; merely people trying to survive.  The events that happen to them are not earthshaking but realistic enough that you could imagine being in the place of any one of them.

The one critique I have of the novel is that Ray Lynn is a bit of a Mary Sue.  Everyone being in love with her was a bit annoying. These storylines were handled well it just felt a bit over the top. Other than that, the novel is enthralling.  It is sweet and heartwarming, even during the tough parts.  I highly recommend this to anyone wanting to travel to a different time and different place.

Yowzers!

Children used to sing and chant to a jump rope chorus during the Depression: "I shine my shoes with turpentine. Turpentine makes them shine. One, two, three......" Never knew what it took to harvest the makings of turpentine way back then and the toll it took on humanity.

Donna Everhart presents a jaw-dropping novel surrounding the best and the worst in individuals during the Great Depression. If you could plow a field for a dime, you did it. No matter what it took to feed yourself and your family, you did it. Thousands of endless pine trees lined the way through the Carolinas and Georgia. Tapping and boxing the sticky tar from the trees became a source of small income to many who lived in the shanty houses that also came with a steep price.

The back-breaking work divided those who were up to the challenge and those who would never make it. The houses were infested with fleas, termites, and an occasional opossom that would slip in at night for comfort. Workers would be indebted to the company stores that would dock you for every penny for every item. Debt sealed their fate in an already dark time in history.

Everhart introduces us to Delwood "Del" Reese who almost lost his life to a grain bin tragedy. He's returning to the life he was familiar with as a child.......the ol' Turpentine Road. Del is filled with the Americana that he grew up with only to have it nearly burned out of him when he reaches Swallow Hill in Georgia. He experiences the inhumanity of the woods riders who would track you down if you tried to avoid your debt or your quota. This is not the life Del signed up for.

Now Everhart lights a match in the person of Rae Lynn Cobb. Believe me, you will not be able to walk away from the likes of this memorable character. Rae Lynn and her older husband, Warren, worked endlessly to make a go of their own turpentine business in North Carolina. But when Warren dies under some shady circumstances, Rae Lynn takes to the road under her own circumstances. She'll meet up with Del.......can't tell you more. But lock yourself into this one.......come to know Crow whose dark hollowed chest contains no evidence of a beating heart whatsoever. Lordy! The Saints of Swallow Hill is so so so extremely good.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Kensington Publishing Corporation and to Donna Everhart for the opportunity.

Happy Publication Day to The Saints of Swallow Hill!

It is a great historical fiction novel set in Swallow Hill camp in North Carolina during the Great Depression. The story is told from two POVs: 1) Del, who is escaping from everything and is looking for a redemption; and 2) Ray Lynn, who comes to the camp in disguise trying to forget unfortunate tragedy that happened to her husband. In the camp their paths intertwine and they have to deal back to back with problems and obstacles that occur in Swallow Hill - like terrible Crow and Otis, who also live and work in the camp.

The story is full of descriptions of nature and they make you feel it - the heat, the wind blowing, the humidity etc. It is amazing experience, how author manages to write like this. However such descriptions take time to read through, so if you enjoy more reading about characters and their adventures you might get slightly bored on the way.

I simpathized a lot Ray Lynn and Cornelia (Otis' wife) and wanted them to find their happines in life. Whether they succeed in this task you will find out after reading the story.

The book also has its value because it tells us about different times during Great Depression and also how exhausting the turpentiners labor is.

Briefly, it was a 4.5 star read for me and I would give it 4 stars in total.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for honest review.

The Saints of Swallow Hill is a richly atmospheric historical fiction novel set in turpentine camps in Georgia.


The story follows along with Ray Lynn Cobb who pretends to be a man in order to secure a job at a turpentine camp. The work and living conditions on these camps are brutal and inhumane, but as they are in the middle of the Great Depression, many workers have no other choice than to put up with the gruesome conditions. This novel is very unique and taught me about a bit of history that I did not previously know much about. This was my first novel by this author and I look forward to reading more from Donna Everhart.

Set in the Depression era south, Rae Lynn is forced to work in a turpentine camp after the death of her husband. Encountering brutal overseers and worn down workers, she must survive however she can. Meeting Delwood Reese may offer her a way out of the brutality, but this is going to be difficult. Dark and often cruel, nonetheless well written historical fiction.

"The Saints of Swallow Hill" is my first book by Donna Everhart, but it definitely will not be my last. This beautifully crafted story follows the separate lives of Rae Lynn and Del, two people trying to survive during the Great Depression by working at a turpentine camp in Georgia. The working conditions are brutal, especially for Rae Lynn, and the script system is designed to keep the workers impoverished and indebted to the company forever. The lives of Rae Lynn and Del, as well as a few other meaningful characters, merge and the desperate characters begin to envision a life of freedom and safety.

This is not a light and fluffy read. Ms. Everhart uses her talent to create a tense and, at many times, dark atmosphere. She does not shy away from difficult subjects. However, her characters come alive from the pages and the reader can't help but cheer for them. At its heart, this is a story of strength, love, and redemption. I was thoroughly captivated by the plot and the fact that I learned a great deal about a subject about which I knew nothing, the turpentine industry, was a real bonus. I like fiction that expands the mind and this book does just that.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this fabulous book in exchange for my honest review.

I don't read a lot of historical fiction but this book was absolutely mesmerizing. I totally loved the character of Rae Lynn and I think so will you. If you are a lover of historical fiction and strong and independent women do not pass up this winner of a book. Happy reading!