Book description
A clear-eyed and compassionate memoir of the Appalachian experience by a woman who embraced its astonishing beauty, narrowly escaped its violence, and struggles to call it home.
Bobi Conn was raised in a remote Kentucky holler in 1980s Appalachia. She remembers her tin-roofed house tucked away in a vast forestā¦
Why read it?
1 author picked In the Shadow of the Valley as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Bobi Connās story of growing up in poverty was too familiar: the cheap food, a car they push to start, a motel they move into when her father hits her mother, and the frustration of watching our mothers go back because they donāt have the courage to stay gone. Bobi also found refuge at school, which I related to because this was where life was predictableāand we were fed.
The authorās voice is powerful and honest as she shares her trauma, humiliation, and loss. Bobi Conn comes from the holler, deep in Appalachia, and her story is a beautiful testamentā¦
From Bridey's list on defeat our monsters and live happily ever after.
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