<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32804703-if-the-creek-don-t-rise" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="If The Creek Don't Rise" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1478043967m/32804703.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32804703-if-the-creek-don-t-rise">If The Creek Don't Rise</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16013248.Leah_Weiss">Leah Weiss</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1864642826">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
It is 1970, and we follow the story of a young Appalachian girl, Sadie Blue age 17, pregnant and newly married to an evil young man who is abusive.<br /><br />This story takes place in a small town in the mountains of North Carolina and we are introduced to quite a cast of characters.<br /><br />I really enjoyed this book. I hope there is a follow up to learn more about the people we met in this town.
<br/><br/>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/12851291-karen">View all my reviews</a>

If the Creek Don't Rise is a book about a girl name Sadie Blue and the town she was raised in.
There are fourteen chapters in this novel and eleven are told by a different character, three told by Sadie Blue. This is about a poor town and how the people live by relying on each other but also trying to get away from the bad town folk.
Each chapter weaves the tale of the characters giving a little back story and coming current. It all ties together in the end but at the same time leaves so much to the imagination. Is there going to be another book letting the readers know what happens to Preacher Eli or Miss Shaw? Or any of the other characters? We can only hope.

4 1/2 Stars

A gem of a story, richly told and beautifully woven together. This novel was cleverly written by using a different voice for each new chapter. With the storylines overlapping, we really got a feel for each unique character. A haunting debut that was very hard to put down with a doozy of an ending! ❤

Interesting story told through different viewpoints of life in Appalachia. The characters are engaging and the story unfolds smoothly. Great ending.

Sadie Blue. Pregnant, seventeen, still a newlywed, if maybe a little less optimistic about her hopes for her marriage since her husband Roy Tupkin knocked her around a bit. Her only weakness, if you can call it that, is her love of Loretta Lynn. She can’t read the magazine she carries around with her since she only knows how to read but a few words, but she knows all her lyrics from listening to her on the radio. Her daddy, Otis Blue, has passed on, but continues to give advice to Sadie on saving herself from Roy’s temper. Her mother, Carly, left Sadie’s father when she was just a baby, leaving town with a “fancy man full of flashy promises and little else.”

In the here and now of 1970’s Baines Creek, the person Sadie counts on most of all is her grandmother, her mother’s momma, the first of their family still living to come to live in Baines Creek. Mary Harris Jones, named after Mother Jones who once upon a time visited their little town of coal mine families. Born in 1898, she’d lived in Rock Bottom, West Virginia with her parents and brothers, a coal mining family among other coal mining families.

When Mary Harris Jones, called Marris as those two names slid into one, arrived in Baines Creek at ten years old, she saw colours for the first time, having never seen any in Rock Bottom where the sky and everything else was always coated in gray. The blue sky and white clouds seemed to be a glimpse of heaven.

"When I was born, my folks don’t live in Baines Creek in the highlands of North Carolina like now. Baines Creek don’t have coal to dig in its heart that breaks a man in two. When I come along, we live over Rock Bottom way in West Virginia, on the airish side of the mountain where coal dust sifted through slits around the windows, and spindly houses can’t be scrubbed clean. Where we lived looked the same inside as it did outside. Gray."

Part of her family left behind. Coalmines are dangerous work. Their family is smaller now.

"Rock Bottom cut the heart outta folks and let em walk round thinking they was alive when they won’t.""

Sadie is still a bit of an innocent, hard to believe anyone could be in this place where moonshine is a primary source of income. Her heart is still open to people, despite everything life has tried to teach her, and when Miss Kate Shaw comes to Baines Creek to be the new teacher, they bond quickly. Sadie wants to help Kate, and Kate wants to help Sadie, help her learn to read and more. Others join in, an alliance, each intent on helping Sadie, but also the “others” within this group.

Each section shares a perspective of time and place and people, and there are many different perspectives. Amazingly this flows effortlessly, and you see their views, how those connect with young Sadie’s life, all of their stories lead you right back into Sadie’s story, a group consciousness, if you will, which reads as though you were sitting in the room with them. Narrated in a stream-of-consciousness type flow, with a uniquely Appalachian colloquial essence, which really adds to the joy of reading this unforgettable story. The narration might require a very slight adjustment. Words such as won’t instead of weren’t, writing by the sound rather than the standard spelling.

I loved this story, these wonderfully authentic characters, with a setting so purely raw, wild and gritty I could see it, the language so convincing I could hear the measured lilt of the drawl.

The ending is the cherry on top of the best sundae you’ve ever wanted to have. After a carefully concocted blend of flavours, it ends with that bit of zing you weren’t quite expecting.

This is Leah Weiss’ debut novel, which is hard to believe. I’m hoping she’ll return to these people in her next novel!

Thank you Net Galley for this advance copy in return for an honest review.
This is one of those books that will stay in your memory for a long time. It was written in first-person, but each chapter was a different "first person". I wasn't sure where the plot was going and in the middle of the book. But when things came together.... WOW! No spoilers... but the when I read the last sentence of this book all I could say was WOW. Great book, I enjoyed reading.

This book had me captivated from the start. It is fascinating and heartbreaking in so many places. This story about Baines Creek and the people in it is beautifully told. Their colourful lives are heartbreakingly different from the books I normally read and I will remember them for a long time.

"We learned the important key to good storytelling - add real people to the mix." ... Which is exactly what Leah Weiss does in 'If The Creek Don't Rise'. She captures a people of true grit that resonate in a solid structure of a good story. The timbre of their language rings hypnotic and true, as Weiss crafts a voice of extraordinary texture. You can't help but pull in close to enjoy the details.
Each chapter is named after the eponymous character it focuses on. They center, in a kind of circular flow, around a few main events - the domestic abuse of a pregnant woman, the arrival of a new school teacher and the disappearance of a local girl. When we read a new chapter, we circle back to those events from the new characters first person POV, offering new insight, keeping the narrative stream clear and fresh.
There are almost a dozen to meet - every one of them unique. Weiss maintains a good command over this list of dimensional characters, most of whom are never lost in the layers of the narrative.

Thank you, Ms. Weiss, for "Sadie Blue" - the prettiest color thread weaved throughout your story. And thank you for "Marris" - for being its heart.

Beautiful prose, deeply developed characters, engaging story-line, unforgettable read.

I wish I could adopt the blurb and make it to my review. It has absolutely everything that a reader needs to know to decide if it is worth it to read this book or not. Honestly, just read the blurb and you will know.

This book is a pure beauty, in words and in a way the story is told. It has a very unique structure, a multiple first person pov. I'm not a big fan of changing POV, and I have never imagined that a multiple viewpoint novel could be such a satisfying read, and even less that a debut author can master the challenge with such ease and style.

Set in a small provincial community, in North Carolina, in the Appalachian mountain, in the 1970s, If The Creek Don't Rise: A Novel tells the story of Sadie Blue, of finding hopes and strength to be able to take fate in her own hands.

Breathtaking nature as an astonishing contrast to the terribly poor living and social conditions.

I absolutely LOVE this book.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. Thank you.

This book. Wow. I couldn't put it down. What a story, so richly told through varying points of view, that is neither repetitious or abrupt. I can't wait to read more from this author. Bravo!

Wow this was a very good book! I was rooting for Sadie Blue from the very beginning. All the characters were so interesting and I would love to read more about these characters. It seem like it was further back in time rather than 1970. It was the fact that time seemed to stand still in Baines Creek. I love how it ended and was left with the odd twist at the end. I loved this book!

Not really a strong plot or story-based book, but I enjoyed it just the same because of the characters, dialogue, setting, relationships and interactions...all developed and authentic. Set in the mountains of western NC, this is the story of everyday life in a very small, Appalachian community and the people who live there.

The compelling story of of a few weeks--with glimpses of a long history-- in a small community in rural Appalachia. The story is told in first person narration by many, rotating characters, a narrative device that usually annoys me, but here it works well to give different perspectives on current and past events. The characters are all complex and it was interesting how diverse people's views were of the same events. There is an interesting interplay between violent conflict and selfless giving, beliefs and fears, traditions and change. This book asks some hard questions-- Can life change in a place that has not changed for generations? Is your life path determined by the choices your parents and grandparents made? --and leaves the answers undetermined.

This was interesting in the way that each chapter was a different characters chapter written in the first person. At first I didn't think I was going to like it very much but soon changed my mind and it kept me totally entertained. My favourite part would have to be the ending.......gave me a good chuckle.

If The Creek Don't Rise by Leah Weiss is a story set in a mountain community called Baines Creek (Appalachia) North Carolina during the 70's.
Baines Creek is a backwoods community that civilization has not completely caught up with and tells of the hard life during this time period. Each chapter has different characters and tells their stories. The book for me was hard to read because of the dialect given each of the characters which were many. I would not read another book by this author since I am not into reading this type of book. The book was quite different than I thought it would be by its discription. Readers who like reading about the Appalachia valley I'm sure will enjoy this book. Thanks Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book.

Story telling at it's finest. This novel is reminiscent of Grapes of Wrath and tales of identity and self discovery. Beautifully written. I will be sharing this with everyone who loves a good tale.

If the Creek Don't Rise is a heartbreaking novel about the life of 17 year-old Sadie Blue. Her momma ran off and her daddy did his best to raise her in poor North Carolina Appalachia. Life doesn't come easy in this region and when Sadie's daddy dies she becomes pregnant and marries no-good abusive moonshiner Roy.

Sadie is a sweet and innocent girl who you just can't help but feel for. Her story and the story of Bains Creek is told by several interesting characters who inhabit the region- including Sadie's grandmother. If the Creek Don't Rise is a tale of hardship, love, hatred and murder- with a little redemption thrown in. The ending of this story threw me for a bit of a loop and that doesn't happen very often. All in all, a wonderful debut title that I had a hard time putting down.

Thank you Netgalley for this advance copy in return for an honest review. If the Creek Don't Rise is the best book I have read this year. Leah Weiss has created memorable characters whose voices ring sad and true as they relate the struggles to survive the poverty and hardships of life in Appalachia. The storyline is that of Sadie Blue a victim of brutal beatings by her boyfriend. It is about the unlikely people who help her and the unexpected results. These are beautifully written characters that I will not soon forget. "We all deserve hope and possibility." I highly recommend this book and my fingers are crossed for much more from Ms. Weiss.

This is one of those books that will stay in your memory for a long time. It was written in first-person, but each chapter was a different "first person". I wasn't sure where the plot was going and midway through I was beginning to think it was getting a bit tedious. But when things came together.... WOW!

The story starts out with Sadie Blue and the hardships endured in the Appalachian mountain rural community of Baines Creek in the early 1970's. Sadie hears the voice of her daddy's spirit as he offers encouraging words for her to get out of the clutches of her abusive husband. As she recalls how she got into this situation, I just wanted to pull her into my heart. When you hear the thoughts of Gladys Hicks, Sadie's grandmother, in the next chapter, you get even more insight into the lives of the people in this community. This goes on for awhile with various situations being presented from the perspective of different people within the community. It is deeply southern and as a reader, I was soon pulled into the desperation of a poor, illiterate society and I also felt the compassion many of these people felt for one another.

I was a bit surprised when I learned that this is a debut novel by this author. Leah Weiss writes like a seasoned author with fabulous world-building and the ability to make her characters come to life. It is heart-warming and heart-wrenching at the same time.

I loved this book and would heartily recommend it as a Book Club pick because there is so much that could be discussed with this one!

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourebooks Landmark for an ARC of this beautiful novel.

This was simply stunning.

Although the blurb talks mostly about Sadie Blue, the novel does not just focus on her. Rather, the novel is a collection of voices and stories of people living in a small mountain community in North Carolina. These voices weave together to form a rich tapestry of the harsh life in this 1970s community.

Each chapter is narrated by one of 10 main characters present in the novel. Each character has a unique method of speech, so detailed that it was easy for me (an English woman with little knowledge of US regional accents) to imagine them talking to me in my head. The chapters do overlap with their accounts of certain stories at times, but I feel that is a positive thing as we get to see other points of view on the same situation.

What I thought was really clever was the portrayal of each character. Prudence Perkins, for example, thinks herself as higher and more important that any other person in that community. She speaks down to others and seeks to destroy them. However, when Kate Shaw, an outsider, describes her first meeting with Prudence she describes a bedraggled woman with a shoe held together with a piece of cloth tied around it.

A definite 5 star book.