Daughters of the Appalachians: Six Unique Women

Rating:
Summary: Seasons of the heart
Review: Daughters of the Appalachians: Six Unique Women Author: Linda Goodman Publisher: Overmountain Press 1999 Review ©Beth Surdut 2000 As the best storytellers do, writer/performer Linda Goodman seasons her tales with the honey and vinegar of life. "Daughters of the Appalachians: Six Unique Women" is a collection of first person accounts molded from insights and stories culled from Goodman's family and community in the mountains and hollers of Virginia. That she speaks in the voices of Appalachian women adds a layer of learning for those of us who grew up elsewhere, but yearning and basic gut emotions intertwined with strength and self-esteem are universal. Goodman's women may not take long to meet, but they will make a home in your memory. I have a clear and painful picture of Harlene's Daddy kicking that dog. I am so pleased that Sara Jane found a good man to love. I just don't know how I feel about that crazy girl who murdered the little boy. I have attended and reviewed many storytelling performances and spent the last year producing an oral history by a man who tells a good story but is far from a professional storyteller. As a performer Linda Goodman becomes the very characters she writes about; as a writer she presents their voices just as convincingly. I can assure readers that Ms. Goodman is an extraordinarily creative professional who deserves to be heard. This talented writer should not be pigeonholed. Parallels could be drawn to certain genres of popular Latin American literature where the boundaries between the dead and the living are not so stringently drawn, where dreams and reality mesh, and desire overcomes circumstance. Her stories may begin in the South, but her compass points to the territory of human understanding.

Rating:
Summary: Stories from the Soul
Review: If you are a storyteller, if you are interested in portraying historic characters, if you like good writing--then this slim volume is for you. Goodman creates six characters drawn from the strong women of her southwestern Virginia childhood mountain roots. Each tale can stand alone, but together they form a sga of the mountains that shaped the six lives. The clear, srtong voices created by Goodman's pen lifts the women from any stereotypical stigmas. They are very real, some, eerily real. Warning: Despite it's division into six parts,do not expect to be able to put this work down and pick it up again later: Each story is complete, but the power of Goodman's writing hold you until all six tales are read and you will ache for more. As a read-aloud it has even more power. Her ability to make the story "live" in two worlds is a testament to her poetic abiliteis and skill as a storyteller.

Rating:
Summary: Weavings
Review: These are powerful stories that weave both family and history into one cloth. I have seen her perform some of them. They live equally in the performance and on the page.