Title: King's Mountain: A Ballad NovelAuthor: Sharyn McCrumb
Genre: Historical Fiction
Synopsis: A battle of the American Revolutionary War from as told from the perspective of residents of Appalachia who decide to fight on the side of the American rebels to defend their land, and an officer of the English forces. The characters are based on McCrumb's ancestors, whom she researched for this work.
My Thoughts
I really wanted to like this book, I was excited to hear about The Revolutionary War from a new perspective as I read the inside of the book jacket. Unfortunately, I just could not get into it.
The author provides an immense amount of backstory on two men, Col. John Seiver, and Major Patrick Ferguson. The main chapters are told from the perspective of Col. Seiver, one chapter is told from Major Ferguson's perspective while the rest of Ferguson's story is told from the perspective of a young woman servant. To provide all this background information McCrumb moves back and forth between past and present, often without warning. The lack of transition feels awkward when trying to figure out what is occurring in the story. In addition, the fact that the story rarely comes back to this in-depth background leaves the reader wondering why the first 200 pages were important at all.
About 200 pages in is where I started to get interested in the story because it was finally moving forward. I was still finding myself having to re-read pages that lost my attention as the militia wandered trying to find Major Ferguson's army. The great number non-descript of characters makes keeping track of who is who quite difficult.
All-in-all, this one was just not for me. If you have read it and experienced it differently, please feel free to comment below and share your insight!
To buy this book from amazon now, click on the image at the top of the post.
To see more from Sharyn McCrumb, visit her website linked above.
The author provides an immense amount of backstory on two men, Col. John Seiver, and Major Patrick Ferguson. The main chapters are told from the perspective of Col. Seiver, one chapter is told from Major Ferguson's perspective while the rest of Ferguson's story is told from the perspective of a young woman servant. To provide all this background information McCrumb moves back and forth between past and present, often without warning. The lack of transition feels awkward when trying to figure out what is occurring in the story. In addition, the fact that the story rarely comes back to this in-depth background leaves the reader wondering why the first 200 pages were important at all.
About 200 pages in is where I started to get interested in the story because it was finally moving forward. I was still finding myself having to re-read pages that lost my attention as the militia wandered trying to find Major Ferguson's army. The great number non-descript of characters makes keeping track of who is who quite difficult.
All-in-all, this one was just not for me. If you have read it and experienced it differently, please feel free to comment below and share your insight!
To buy this book from amazon now, click on the image at the top of the post.
To see more from Sharyn McCrumb, visit her website linked above.
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