Let the Willows Weep

"How odd, I thought, that she could
feel so much pride for one child
and so much spite for another.

Birddog Harlin grew up in a mining town with two older brothers, Caul and Denny. Her father, a miner, worked long hard days. Her mother was cruel to her and loving to her boys. Denny, being her favorite.
This was a sad read of a dysfunctional family after a tragedy within their home.

“The harder your heart, the harder
those bars are to break .”

Such a great novel. Sad and heartbreaking at how the words you speak can break a person's spirit and their self-worth.

Thank you to Publisher and NetGalley for the eARC.

Impactful and strong are word that comes to mind when reading Sherry Parnell's novel. It's a short and quick read, but there's still a lot happening in the story and the main character (nicknamed Birddog) is both believable and interesting. She goes through a lot throughout the story never really fitting in anywhere. She does not come from a really stable home, there's death in the family, she is being called useless and being bullied. These are themes I think many people can connect to in some extent, or at least relate to. The story wins you over, so to speak, and I very much enjoyed reading it.

I like this book even though it is hard to read at at times. The main character, who is nicknamed Birddog, has a truly tough life in a very dysfunctional family. Her two brothers are treated somewhat better by their mother but she refers to Birddog as disappointing and useless. The story is told in beautiful prose in spite of the subject matter and it certainly kept my attention. Great book. I highly recommend.

Thanks Net Galley for allowing me to read this amazing book for my honest review.

This was very beautifully written and I very much enjoyed the story. I have found that I have a strong liking for most southern fiction. This one absolutely did not disappoint.

This was a beautifully written novel about family, love and loss. When the book opens, the main character, Birddog, is a young girl. She comes from a dysfunctional family living in a small mining town. We follow her as she becomes a young woman. The author creates a mesmerizing atmosphere and really pulls us into her world. The only criticism I have is the ending, which seems abrupt and contrived. Inexplicably, two characters resolve their fractured relationship. I received an advance of this book. I am leaving my honest review.

Stunning!!!! Beautifully written story about a dysfunctional family that will grab you in and not let go. Told in a way that will pull you in and not let go. I will be looking for more reads by this author. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the arc of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on this review.

This author brings an emotionally raw book to life through the characters. This book is not a simple story yet the theme is tragically a common thread in many lives. Dysfunctional families, mental conditions, mental abuse, childhood emotional trauma and trying to grow up and develop a normal sense of self worth and love and belonging. This book was recommended for me as I loved “where the crawdads sing”... sometimes I had to Put the book down and at other times I couldn’t stop turning the pages. This book connects with readers on many levels.

Both you and the willows will weep with Birddog Harlin as she journey's through a world deadset against her happiness since birth. Born into a family beset by poverty and broken spirits, Birddog grows up constantly reminded that her mother finds her to be an utter disappointment, while her brother Caul branishes insult and rocks upon her daily; although she finds tenderness from her beloved father and older brother Denny, this tenderness is but shortlived. Entering into womanhood Birddog again finds tenderness, even love; but it was not meant to be a lasting love, and again, her heart and yours break.

Though difficult to believe that Let the Willows Weep is a debut novel, Sherry Parnell is set to release a second in the coming year and I know that I for one, will be counting down the days. The world of southern storytelling is richer for having Sherry Parnell's voice.

I cannot thank NetGalley enough for the honor of getting to read Let the Willows Weep in exchange for my honest review.

I'm not even sure what to say. I almost wanted to give the book 4 stars because it is nothing but heartache, but it deserves 5.

If you like your heart being ripped out and trampled over then you should read this book.

I love southern novels because I relate to a lot of it, being raised in the south. As in the book there is a lot of exception for girls, where not a lot is expected from their brothers.

I really don't know what else to say without giving anything away and I'm kind of speechless.

This was such a heartbreaking novel, as the author's writing really made the character's emotional ability believable and relatable. The fact that the main character, known as Bird Dog was able to go on with life looking for a positive change as things kept getting worse for her was sad to read. I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading more from this author.

Let the Willows Weep is a heart-wrenching story of one girl's journey through life. Raised in a home where she cannot seem to please her Mother and one tragedy after the next seems to occur, the reader is taken on a beautifully written and descriptive journey of Birddog's life. I always find books like this heartbreaking and they make me question how a parent cannot love their children equally or even at times at all. The strength given to the main character is incredible and her story is one of strength. I would recommend this book and I thank Netgalley, the publishing company and the author for the advance copy of the book.

Let the Willows Weep, I would highly recommend, this book will pull on your heart and it’ll linger there for a long time. This book is filled with tragedy, hope and redemption. You can’t help but fall in love with some of the characters and really cling onto hope for them as the story unfolds and brings you into it.
This is a book that should be added to your bookshelf. It’s a beautiful book, to be shared with many.
Thank you to the author, publishers, and Netgalley for this ebook copy. All options expressed are of my own

Wow!! The splendidly written story of Birddog Harlen. A girl who was never quite good enough no matter how she tried. A story of poverty, a dysfunctional family, love and how with great love there also comes hurt so heart wrenching you are immune to the daily beauty of life around you and the caring of those who love you regardless of yourself. A story of racism and hatred but also redemption and great love. A story that shows that after great sorrow we are gonna be alright. Let the Willows Weep by Sherry Parnell made me laugh and brought me to tears.but left me with the feeling of hope. You will love this book!

This is such a heart wrenching story, a tale of a young girl desperate for her mother’s approval. Birddog, as nicknamed by her beloved older brother, has a hard life by anyone’s standards. Her father's job as a miner ensures that their everyday existence is hardscrabble at best. That would be bearable if not for the scorn of her mother. For as long as Birddog can recall, her mother hasn’t shown her more than a smidgeon of love and affection scattered randomly and unpredictably. Still she keeps trying. Will she be able to break the pattern that she’s grown up recognizing as the norm?

This story here is told by the life of the girl where she lived as a daughter of a coal miner daughter,where the mother was very disappointed in her daughter and let her know every single day! We All come from dysfunctional families how much is hers? They have their struggles and her protectors are her older brother and father until things changed! You go from home life to school...Verbal abuse is worse than physical cause the scar stays inside. Everything she does is always wrong. You travel with this girl as she grows up to a adult and to see how this effects her life! The tragedies she faces will they make her strong or does she call apart? What happens when she falls I love? You feel All of the emotions that the characters have and you better have the tissues. I didn't want to finish the book and then I did, hoping the story would change and it did,but you will have to read this for yourself to see how her life turns out! Received this from Net Gallery and the characters are so real that you really know the family. We All come from dysfunctional families It's just some are worse than others,you tell me where you think this family is?? It's a very much read !!🙈🙉🙊

Wow, this book was heartbreaking, and I loved it. Birddog's life was so hard for stop bet ping but The ending was good

This one is difficult and heartbreaking, though the redemptive quality of the ending is moving, albeit short-lived. As a southerner who has a deep fascination with weeping willows and southern fiction, I was instantly drawn to this story and beautiful, simplistic cover.

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Similar to #wherethecrawdadssing and #bastardoutofcarolina this story paints a portrait of loss, grief, poverty, humility, and redemption, through the childhood and later life of Birddog Harlin.

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Birddog’s entire life is drowned in the shadows of her abysmal relationship with her mother, a woman who carries such deep and complicated resentments towards her only daughter it is sometimes hard to read through certain depictions. A poor family growing up in the rural south and supported by their father’s work in the local mines, Birddog’s world is continually shattered by various tragedies, an interracial relationship in an era of the Ku Klux Klan and systemic racism destroyed by hatred and judgment, a broken and dismantled family, and her inability to belong.

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As this title says, “Let the Willows Weep.” A southern tale that is painful yet searingly deep and hopeful at its core.