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A Land More Kind Than Home

3.87 of 5 stars 3.87 · rating details · 4,228 ratings · 1,005 reviews

A stunning debut reminiscent of the beloved novels of John Hart and Tom Franklin, A Land More Kind Than Home is a mesmerizing literary thriller about the bond between two brothers and the evil they face in a small western North Carolina town.

For a curious boy like Jess Hall, growing up in Marshall means trouble when your mother catches you spying on grown-ups. Adventurous...more

Hardcover, 320 pages

Published April 17th 2012 by William Morrow (first published April 25th 213)

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A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash

Kirkus Best Fiction of 2012

1st out of 100 books — 32 voters

Best Books of 2012

232nd out of 2,647 books — 7,563 voters

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Feb 27, 2013 karen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: appalachian-noir-southern-gothic

You show me a woman who calls herself a Christian up in these parts, and I'll show you a woman who knows how to heal. It ain't un-Christian to make do when you're poor, I can promise you that. You just show me a Christian woman up here, and I'll show you a woman who knows what to pick and where to find it. If you don't know how to heal yourself, then you don't know how to live when times are hard.

ahhhh, another "salt of the earth," "take care of your own business" kind of book.

and another great...more

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Oct 10, 2012 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Those interested in Southern Literature, particularly in Appalachian settings

Recommended to Mike by: Jake Reiss, Owner, The Alabama Booksmith

Shelves: 2012, 20th-century, appalachia-southern-literature, childhood, contemporary-southern-literature, dark-fiction, death, faith, faith-and-reason, fathers-and-sons, good-and-evil, grandfathers-and-grandsons, grief, guilt, infidelity, killers, loss, loss-of-innocence, ministers, mothers-and-sons, murder, north-carolina, religion, responsibility, signed-edition, signed-first-edition, southern-class-and-culture, southern-literature, snake-handling-in-religious-ritual, wiley-cash, author-s-first-novel

A Land More Kind Than Home: The Debut Novel of Wiley Cash

Wiley Cash

Wiley Cash takes his title from the final lines of You Can't Go Home Again by Thomas Wolfe. The epigraph Cash chose sets the tone of the work that follows.

Something has spoken to me in the night...and told me I shall die. I know not where. Saying:

"[Death is] to lose the earth yo know, for greater knowing; to lose the life you have, for greater life; to leave the friends you loved, for greater loving; to find a land more kind t

...more

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Feb 20, 2013 JoAnne Pulcino rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction, adult-fiction-and-e-book, audio, large-print, playaway

A LAND MORE KIND THAN HOME

By Wiley Cash

A stunning debut novel that is a tender yet poignant coming-of-age literary thriller about two brothers, and the evil they face in a small western North Carolina town.

This compelling story is captured in the rhythms of Appalachian speech and in the pitch perfect voices of the narrators. The three narrators are young Jess Hall; adventurous, precocious, and very protective of his older mute brother called Stump, Adelaid Lyle, the town midwife and moral consci...more

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Oct 27, 2012 Rick Fisher rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: drama

I was torn between rating this debut novel by Wiley Cash with 3 or 4 stars. The story is superbly written. And, being from a small town nestled in the foothills of the Applachian mountains of Virginia, not to far from the setting of this story, I can relate to the characters and their way of life very well.
The only issue I had was the pace of the story. Of course, this is a genre that normally runs slow. For a dramatic piece, it moves fairly steady through each characters segments. It gives gr...more

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Aug 21, 2012 Connie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: challenge, southern-lit, favorite-books, kindle-fire, best-sellers-group

I really love this book. It grabs the reader by the throat from page one and does not let go! It is different from anything I have ever read, and I like that. It is beautifully written; the characters rise up from the page and come alive. The author has crafted the diction and dialogue with such precision the the prose sings. One of the best books I have read in a very long time, and I found myself thinking about this book weeks after reading it.
I am greatly anticipating Wiley Cash's next book.

9 likes · like · see review

Feb 22, 2013 Lou rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, literature

A southern story that holds true to the ways lives were led. Ways family moved, interacted and their beliefs. The story read as if the people, place and events had come from writers such as Faulkner and Joe Lansdale, to name a few.

The child narrative was captivating, the blessed mute child, the family struggle to break from dark past. The closed church with papers blocking view from passing eye. A Gothic story that's tragic that touches strings of the heart and puts a spotlight on extremities.

T...more A southern story that holds true to the ways lives were led. Ways family moved, interacted and their beliefs. The story read as if the people, place and events had come from writers such as Faulkner and Joe Lansdale, to name a few.

The child narrative was captivating, the blessed mute child, the family struggle to break from dark past. The closed church with papers blocking view from passing eye. A Gothic story that's tragic that touches strings of the heart and puts a spotlight on extremities.

This story has a community that have their daily dosage of God talk delivered by a Pastor who has ways that tend to tip to a more extreme practice as the eyes of a young boy in this story testifies. This boy, who has a brother that has been mute since birth, he can't make out all this emotion in belief in this Godly world these adults talked about, his world was still innocent and a learning curve. He can't quite figure out evil at his age but what he sees speaks waves, echoes of fear and sorrow. He can't understand why the secrecy, when he finds out what occurs behind closed doors he fears of being found out and feels sorrow for what could happen to his mute brother in the hands of the evil that men do. Many a wolf adorn a sheep's clothing and in this story you feel an evil lurks in peoples ignorance, blinded by desire and wanting a greater good man falls and fools. Man is no prophet or God and but you see in the world man is playing being actors prophesies when there is no need and playing the prophet, messenger and dictator when there is no need.

The land shall always abide but many shall fall will false notions and convictions instead of embracing the beauty and the visible miracles of God around. The characters in this story choose to take matters in their hands and the end result can only be tragic and how you will feel for one young soul in this story and how you will warm to this great story full of many great things.

The authors way of telling this story has you thoroughly immersed and captivated you feel and connect for the vulnerable and wonder at the ignorance, the secrets people allow to have covered until its too late. The price weighs so heavy on the victim and the heart weeps so endlessly with those they leave behind.

"That kind of belief has been up here a long time before I arrived on this earth, and it's my guess it'll be around for a long time after I'm gone. But I've seen his work firsthand, and I still can't put my finger on what it is and why it affects folks like it does. Ten years ago i saw a man set his own barn on fire while his family just stood out in the yard and watched it go, just because he thought it was the right thing to do."

"I suddenly understood the kind of mind that could convince Gillum to set his barn on fire, and I suddenly understood why a group of folks would hide behind newspaper-covered windows while they worshiped, and I finally realized what was in those little crates they carried in and out of that church on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings. But other than suspicion, what did I have? What could I do? Arrest a man for exercising his religious freedom?"

That child was touched, and I just don’t know what else you could call it. He never cried once as a baby, and by the time he was three years old those two kids knew he wasn’t ever going to speak. He’d hum sometimes or maybe even grunt when he wanted something, but that was about it. He was quiet, all right, but you couldn’t say he wasn’t peaceful. He could spend all day sitting still on the porch steps with just his eyes creeping around the yard to take measure of the things resting just out of line with your won gaze: the tree line, the ridge, an earthworm inching itself along through the dirt. I used to sit with him when he was just little bitty thing, and sometimes I got to believing that I could feel his eyes on me. When I did, I’d whip my head around right quick to try and catch him staring, but I never could. I’d find him instead just siting there with his eyes locked on a black spread of birds moving in silhouette against a bright sky or else watching the edge of the breeze rustle the dried leaves on the oaks crowding the ridge behind their little house.”

"It's a good thing to see that people can heal after they've been broken, that they can change and become something different from what they were before."

Revie also @ http://more2read.com/review/a-land-more-kind-than-home-by-wiley-cash/(less)

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Aug 03, 2012 Allison rated it 2 of 5 stars

I planned on liking this book. It had a great deal of promise from the get go with it's setting in a small town in Western NC, and a title taken straight out of Thomas Wolfe. Unfortunately, Wiley Cash didn't quite live up to the Wolfe legacy, and it seemed he could have, but just missed the mark.

The story of Carson Chambliss, a sinister, snake-handling preacher, and the hold he has on his congregation, is told through three different points of view. There is Adelaide Lyle, a elderly midwife who...more

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Jul 08, 2012 Tammy rated it 5 of 5 stars

One of the best things in life is to start a new book. And what makes it even better is when you can't put the book down because it's so incredibly good. Maybe because I'm picky or get bored easily new books don't always hold my attention and my excitement to seems to fizzle halfway into them.

Well this book is the exception as it was amazing, heartbreaking, gripping and haunting. If Goodreads allowed me to give it 10 stars I would. I'm not sure how I came across this book, but was glad to see t...more

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Feb 22, 2013 Karen Malena rated it 5 of 5 stars

I'm in awe of a new author who can have a best seller. I'm in awe of a story that grabbed hold of me from the very beginning and didn't let me go. It's been quite a while since a book has done this for me. In Wiley Cash's thrilling book, I found myself immersed in a land I never knew, and people I've never met. But they came to live vividly in his page turning book. Yes, a little dark, but personally, I like books of this nature. Pat Conroy is a favorite author of mine, and Mr. Cash is right up...more

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Jun 12, 2012 Alice Webb rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am a fan of Southern stories, so was excited to find this book to read on my library's e-book shelf. Think William Faulkner, Harper Lee or Olive Ann Burns. Layers of emotions and gripping events told by three different narrators.

Jess witnesses a terrible scene involving his brother, who is mute, and his mother inside a snake handling, fanatical church. The pastor holds an iron grip of fear on his church members and Jess's dad is unaware of nearly all that is swirling around beneath the surf...more

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May 18, 2012 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc-edition, goodreads-authors, southern-lit

Great Southern flavor, wonderful characters, and a heartfelt and too-often tragic story all add up to make for a great summer read. I'm a sucker for Southern lit, and this book, with its poison-drinking, snake-handling Christians, with kids caught in circumstances beyond their control, with dialogue that seemed so right to me, did not let me down. My only issue with the book came in the last chapter where a character I met at the beginning of the book and very much liked, wrapped up the story. T...more

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Feb 06, 2013 Cindy Huffman rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This was another book club choice but this one with the virtual book club that just started this year. We haven't met yet so not sure how that whole concept will work...

...But the book itself was an enjoyable read.

***Spoilers***
The novel is set in Marshall, NC, which made this even more delightful for me since I tend to enjoy local fare. I guess I like Southern fiction too (in addition to my realization that I like fantasy) because the writing style and mood reminded me of Michael Parker, a loca...more

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Apr 27, 2013 Trudi rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: a-sense-of-place, crime-mystery, family-ties, good-country-people, heart-of-darkness, modern-lit, love-the-title, prose-that-sings, 2013-reads, audiobook, awesome-audio, secrets

This book has everything I love -- a Southern setting, secrets, family tragedy, religious zealotry run amok, and strong narrative voices. If I had read it, it would have been an easy four stars. But because I listened to it, and the audio version is one of the best I've ever heard, it's getting five stars.

This is a debut novel -- is it flawless? No. But you know what? I didn't care. I don't think you will either. I got so swept up and carried away by the story I was being told I was living it....more This book has everything I love -- a Southern setting, secrets, family tragedy, religious zealotry run amok, and strong narrative voices. If I had read it, it would have been an easy four stars. But because I listened to it, and the audio version is one of the best I've ever heard, it's getting five stars.

This is a debut novel -- is it flawless? No. But you know what? I didn't care. I don't think you will either. I got so swept up and carried away by the story I was being told I was living it. I was right there in that small town watching it all go down with a flutter of anxiety in my stomach, and a lump of sadness in my throat.

What really made me love this story as an audiobook is that we have three narrators read by three different readers-- 1) Jess Hall, a precocious nine year old who has a penchant for spying and will eventually see something he wishes he hadn't that will change his life and the life of his town forever 2) Adelaide Lyle, a feisty old woman who has born witness to much of the town's history and dark secrets and 3) Clem Barefield, seasoned Sheriff with a painful past who must confront the evil that has taken hold of his town like a cancer.

Getting the story from these three very distinct voices and points of view is fantastic. It makes what is essentially a simple and straight forward story feel richer, more layered and emotional. I loved the reader for the Sheriff. What a fantastic performance. That voice married to the author's prose is a match made in heaven. In the best ways it reminded me of Tommy Lee Jones's performance in No Country for Old Men.

A Land More Kind Than Home is set deep in the heart of snake-handling country where you better hope that when the preacher arrives in town, he ain't the devil in disguise.

Read this book -- and if you do the audio thing -- listen. You won't be able to stop, I promise.

And since I have a thing for book trailers, this one does a great job of capturing the edgy, southern Gothic mood of this novel that's so portent with revelation, betrayals, and tragedy.

This review can also be found at Busty Book Bimbo.(less)

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Jun 24, 2012 Kalen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reads

I liked this one fine but not as much as everyone else, it seems. It reminded me a lot of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter (which I loved.) What I really did enjoy about this one was the effortless appearance of Cash's writing. Nothing ever felt forced. And typically I'm not a fan of dialect but this just worked. It was so subtly executed that it never felt tried or in the way. Good read for book groups.

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Jan 13, 2013 Paula rated it 3 of 5 stars

Would probably give 3.5 stars. Love--as always--stories written in first person, and this novel is written from the points of view of 3 people. Good writing with a nice feel for the language of the time and setting, and distinct voices of the 3 narrators.

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Jul 08, 2012 Joyce rated it 4 of 5 stars

At first I thought, "Oh no, more Madison County and serpent handlers!" However, I did get into the story and found it a well-written fast book. It does speak beyond Madison County, which is good since the author is from Gaston County, I understand. Resolution a bit weak, maybe, but I'll await Cash's next offering.

I do suspect some members of the Appalachian community are a little weary of snake handling congregations and preachers, but their stories are probably just better material than, say, M...more

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Apr 07, 2012 Chelsea Miller rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

I have to say, this first reads giveaway was only ok. Although the writing was decent and there were a few jaw dropping moments, this novel is not particularly memorable. Too often the narrator strayed from the original story to tell a tidbit from the past and it ended up leaving me feeling disconnected from the action at hand. The plot had potential but unfortunately fell short for me.

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May 18, 2013 Mary Overton added it

The voice of Adelaide Lyle:
"The name of our congregation got changed ... to River Road Church of Christ in Signs Following. Under that new sign, right out there by the road, Chambliss [the preacher] lettered the words 'Mark 16:17-18' in black paint, and that was just about all he felt led to preach on too....
"I'd seen people I'd known just about my whole life pick up snakes and drink poison, hold fire up to their faces just to see if it would burn them. Holy people, too. God-fearing folks that h...more The voice of Adelaide Lyle:
"The name of our congregation got changed ... to River Road Church of Christ in Signs Following. Under that new sign, right out there by the road, Chambliss [the preacher] lettered the words 'Mark 16:17-18' in black paint, and that was just about all he felt led to preach on too....
"I'd seen people I'd known just about my whole life pick up snakes and drink poison, hold fire up to their faces just to see if it would burn them. Holy people, too. God-fearing folks that hadn't ever acted like that a day in their lives. But Chamblis convinced them it was safe to challenge the will of God. He made them think it was all right to take that dare if they believed. And just about the whole lot of them said, 'Here I am, Lord. Come and take me if you get a mind to it. I'm ready if you are.'
"And I reckon they were ready, at least I hope so, because I saw a right good many of them get burned up and poisoned, and there wasn't a single one of them that would go see a doctor if they got sick or hurt. That's why the snake bites bothered me the most." Kindle location 87-96

The voice of Sheriff Clem Barefield:
"... my mind suddenly recalled the new sign out by the front of Chambliss's church. I recalled the exact verses on it: Mark 16:17-18. I hung up with Nicks, and when I got home that night I took Sheila's Bible out of her nightstand and flipped through the pages until I found the verses and whispered as I read them out loud: 'And these signs will follow those who believe: In my name they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will place their hands on the sick, and they will get well.'" location 1521

"People out in these parts can take hold of religion like it's a drug, and they don't want to give it up once they've got hold of it. It's like it feeds them, and when they're on it they're likely to do anything these little backwoods churches tell them to do. Then they'll turn right around and kill each other over that faith, throw out their kids, cheat on husbands and wives, break up families just as quick. I don't know exactly how long Carson Chambliss had been living in Madison County the first time I ever ran up against him. And I'm not saying this fanaticism started with him, because I know it didn't. That kind of belief has been up here a long time before I arrived on this earth, and it's my guess it'll still be around for a long time after I'm gone." location 1394

The voice of Jess Hall:
"Pastor Chambliss had his hair buzzed so short that you couldn't hardly notice the little bald spot right there in the back, and I probably wouldn't have noticed it myself if he hadn't been sweating and the light hadn't caught it. He looked like somebody who'd been in the army to me, even though he was probably too old to be a soldier now. The back of his blue dress shirt was dark with sweat, and the shirtsleeve on his left arm was rolled up past this elbow, but he had the right one buttoned right at his wrist, and I knew why - his right hand was scary to look at: bright pink and wrinkled up.... I'd thought about that hand all weekend long because I'd seen it out in the bright sunlight two days before, and I saw the whole arm it was attached to too, and I'd seen where that pink skin ran up to his shoulder and covered his chest like chewing gum does when you blow a bubble and it pops and spreads itself out across your cheeks." location 577(less)

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May 07, 2013 Connie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Once started, I had a hard time putting this one down. The mystery wasn't in trying to figure out what happened, since we know that from the beginning, but in seeing how the characters will react when they find out. The story of a mute boy's death during a healing at church is told by three different characters- his younger brother, the sheriff and the Sunday school teacher. All three characters were very well written with distinctive voices. I was most frustrated by Addie's character. I feel li...more

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Apr 24, 2013 Chad rated it 4 of 5 stars

In this, his debut novel, Wiley Cash demonstrates enormous talent and potential, particularly (I think) in his ability to compellingly narrate from the perspectives of both an eight-year old boy and an eighty-year old woman, and that's why I'm awarding the novel four stars. (And, for the sake of consistency, I enjoyed this novel at least as much as Chad Harbach's debut outing in The Art of Fielding, which I also awarded four stars.)

However, I didn't particularly love the story, which was incredi...more In this, his debut novel, Wiley Cash demonstrates enormous talent and potential, particularly (I think) in his ability to compellingly narrate from the perspectives of both an eight-year old boy and an eighty-year old woman, and that's why I'm awarding the novel four stars. (And, for the sake of consistency, I enjoyed this novel at least as much as Chad Harbach's debut outing in The Art of Fielding, which I also awarded four stars.)

However, I didn't particularly love the story, which was incredibly intense yet slightly boring all at once, and which failed to engage me emotionally, notwithstanding how moving it should have been. In addition, the story-telling itself could have used some tightening up: less superfluous narration,* less superfluous back-story (e.g., the chapter dedicated to Adelaide's girlhood), and more focus on the characters of Ben and Julie, and their failed marriage (which is more or less just thrust upon the reader), and on Preacher Chambliss, who at times seemed little more than a caricature, replete with a past life as a meth cook. (Was he really the penultimate villain, as many reviewers suggest? Was he truly "evil," as Adelaide believes? I just don't know.)

I suspect that if A Land More Kind Than Home had gone through a few more intensive drafts, something truly incredible would have resulted in the end, but the novel as published is merely good, not great, and, as noted, it is also somewhat boring, largely due to the narrative superfluity. (As I remarked to a friend, it reads like something that would be assigned in a lower-level high school English class: over-written and "emotional.") An impressive debut, but a novel that I can only recommend with reservations.

NB: Not sure where this fits in my review, but I couldn't help but be reminded of Donald Ray Pollock's The Devil All the Time when reading A Land More Kind Than Home. Both are to some extent "redneck noir," and both include a young boy to whom terrible things happen, and an "evil" backwoods preacher, but whereas the former aims (and strikes) low, the latter aims high and strikes somewhere in between. The difference between the two authors, however, could not be more stark. (Pollock is cruel, nihilistic, exploitative, sensationalistic, unredemptive; Cash is the very opposite.)

*For example, when "I ran home in the drenching rainstorm" more than could have sufficed, we get this:

I stopped running when I ran out of breath, and I slowed down and walked up the road toward where it curved around in front of the rock wall below the highway right above me. Water ran down from the highway like a little stream, and it spilled off those rocks like a waterfall. I stood on the side of the road and reached my hand over the guardrail and let the water run through my fingers. It ran in the gully beside the road and then got carried down toward the [river]. I followed the gully where it ran alongside the road before it headed down the bank toward the river. I stepped out onto the bridge and looked over the side at the river, where it ran faster and louder than it had when I'd walked over it on the way to Joe Bill's house. There were sticks and leaves and stuff in there and I watched it all float toward the bridge before it went under there and came out the other side. I pushed back off the rail and walked to the other side of the bridge and looked over. A car passed by and slowed down when it saw me like it was going to stop. I waved, but it just kept on going. I figured whoever it was in there probably wondered what I was doing out there in all that rain.

Given that the novel is merely 300 pages long, a great deal of the text is wasted on narrative frolics like the above, which are simply not sufficiently lyrical to justify their inclusion. (less)

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Apr 04, 2013 Becky Haase rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wiley Cash has a way with words. He can make you see a rain storm or love with equal clarity. In A LAND MORE KIND THAN HOME he has written a beautiful elegy for love and death, faith and fear, condemnation and redemption. Told in three very different voices, the tale unfolds in starts and pauses and then backtracks on to itself. Occasionally Cash loses his way and the story loses momentum. But stick with him because in the pulsing end, you will know you have found a wonderful new voice.

A LAND MO...more

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Apr 01, 2013 Rebecca rated it 5 of 5 stars

I truly enjoyed the writing in this book. The story revolves around the death of "Stump" a mute, perhaps autistic boy, who dies during an evangelical "healing." Three narrators tell the tale of life in this town and the ties that exist (or are broken): the near-retirement Sheriff who doesn't really want to see much more; "Stump's" younger brother, Jess, who is trying to cope with his brother's death and wonders if he is somehow responsible; and Adelaide Lyle, an elderly woman who "came down fro...more

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Mar 19, 2013 Leanne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club, book-club-read

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I'd also give this book 3.5 stars. It was engaging and the pacing was spot on. I read this book quickly and had late nights where I just didn't feel like putting it down. That being said, I didn't find the story overly brilliant. I'd recommend to friends, but wouldn't buy a copy for my personal library, as one reading is enough for me.
I felt that the Sheriff's POV chapters were the least engaging, and the boy Jess's chapters to be the most emotionally riveting. His situation is downright heartbr...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Melissa Crytzer Fry rated it 4 of 5 stars

** 3.75 rating **

I’ve finally, despite my rural setting, gotten enough women together for a book club – and this novel was chosen for our first discussion in late March. With its fanatical preacher, Chambliss, and the personification of churches as living, breathing things, it’s sure to elicit quite a bit of conversation. I can’t wait!

A southern novel set in a rural North Carolina town, Wiley Cash’s debut is told in alternating first-person voices: an old midwife named Adelaide Lyle, a nine-year...more ** 3.75 rating **

I’ve finally, despite my rural setting, gotten enough women together for a book club – and this novel was chosen for our first discussion in late March. With its fanatical preacher, Chambliss, and the personification of churches as living, breathing things, it’s sure to elicit quite a bit of conversation. I can’t wait!

A southern novel set in a rural North Carolina town, Wiley Cash’s debut is told in alternating first-person voices: an old midwife named Adelaide Lyle, a nine-year-old boy called Jess Hall, and sheriff Clem Barefield. I have to confess that the story came to life most for me during Clem’s chapters and his personal story. I had some difficulty relating with the young narrator.

A tragic accident is at the center of this novel; interestingly it is stated at the very beginning of the book, so that there is no wonder about what big event will happen to transform the characters. The reader spends the remainder of the book learning the backstory behind that fateful day and how the characters are tied to it. The surprise comes during the quickly-paced ending, as it ties back to the beginning chapters and effectively concludes the book with some heart-thumping action. Father-son relationships are key throughout this novel – not just in the religious sense – and I thought Cash handled the parallels of various father-son relationships with great skill.

One of the key themes of the story is summed up by Clem: “…I couldn’t keep from thinking about how unfair it would be … But since then, I’ve learned to just go ahead and take fairness out of the equation. If you do, things stand the chance of making a whole lot more sense.”

This story brought back some memories of my own upbringing in a rural church in Pennsylvania. The good and the bad ... It was a reminder of the power behind religious belief (not in a preachy, self-rightheous way. This novel did an excellent job of showing both the good and the evil sides of organized religion ...). Great for discussion!(less)

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Feb 20, 2013 Shirley rated it 4 of 5 stars

A Land More Kind Than Home has borne some comparisons to Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird but I believe it stands on its own merits. Wiley Cash's debut novel shares a similar setting but where racial tension is the predominant issue in To Kill a Mockingbird, faith, genuine and false, are the issues on which A Land More Kind Than Home is plotted.

Cash uses three different characters to present the story: Jess Hall, Adelaide Lyle, and Sheriff Clem Barefield. Each character narrates a chapter or t...more

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Feb 18, 2013 Leeswammes rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book from the very beginning. The book starts with Adelaide telling how she is waiting to see Pastor Carson Chambliss at the church. A church that she hasn’t set foot in for many years, after a meeting in which snakes were used had gone wrong. The church’s windows are covered up with newspaper and no outsider knows what is going on inside.

Adelaide is such a honest and thoroughly decent old lady that I couldn’t help liking her from the start. Jess is very likeable too. He is nine yea...more

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Feb 17, 2013 April rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-reads

The tale of two brothers, Jess and Christopher "Stump" Hall, and the various repercussions that come with seeing things that are meant to be seen. Curiosity can lead to answers and adventure, but also danger. Some questions aren't meant to be answered, especially by the naive investigation of children. One stolen peek into a window changes the paths of the Hall boys' lives forever...

The eccentric and slightly mysterious Carson Chambliss immediately takes over the church in the small town of Ashe...more The tale of two brothers, Jess and Christopher "Stump" Hall, and the various repercussions that come with seeing things that are meant to be seen. Curiosity can lead to answers and adventure, but also danger. Some questions aren't meant to be answered, especially by the naive investigation of children. One stolen peek into a window changes the paths of the Hall boys' lives forever...

The eccentric and slightly mysterious Carson Chambliss immediately takes over the church in the small town of Asheville following the prior pastor's death. He takes down signs, covers the windows with newspaper, and pens a simple verse in black paint on a small sign outside. Those drawn in, stay. Those who question or remain skeptical, stay far away.

Ben and Julie Hall's marriage changed the day Stump was born. He never cried. He was quiet. Too quiet. Time would soon reveal he was mute. Ben understood Stump's quiet ways, often relating, while Julie believed she could bring the words out of him. She also believed in Pastor Chambliss.

Adelaide Lyle had called Asheville home long enough to know all there was to know about the small town's inhabitants. She knew Ben Hall as a child. She knew the church before it was overhauled by Carson Chambliss. She helped bring Stump Hall into this world. And she knew her town well enough to know when trouble was in the air.

On a hot September night, the life stories of Jess, Stump, Pastor Chambliss, Ben, Julie, and Adelaide all intersect with an ending that ultimately teaches two of the small town's residents that "it's a good thing to see that people can heal after they've been broken, that they can change and become something different from what they were before."

Slow moving in parts, I found many of the story lines to be incredibly poignant: the repercussions of a child's curiosity and how it can change his life in unforeseen ways, the resonating effect of a parent's decision, the power of restoration, and the gripping control of revenge. The first book this year to keep and hold my attention the whole way through.(less)

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Feb 07, 2013 Stacy rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is actually 3.5 stars. I liked it a lot. I've always enjoyed good stories from the South (I married one!--Thank heavens he never held up snakes in church though...) There were 2 things I didn't like. One thing I didn't like was how when one of the 3 story tellers were telling the story, they would stop and backtrack and begin telling something different that happened even earlier in the past, to further illustrate what they were originally telling. It just got annoying for me, and I even wa...more

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Feb 06, 2013 Kendra rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookmania-2013

When a book’s setting takes place in a church where the windows are covered in newspaper – you know something bad has happened or about to happen. A Land More Kind Than Home had me captivated from the beginning and didn’t let go the entire 300 pages. A young boy who is mute gets mixed up with a mother who was depressed, a church which had lost its way, and a shady preacher. Through the narration of several different characters, this book highlights the fact that people have a tendency to get so...more

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Jan 30, 2013 Becky rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jess Hall and his brother Stump kind of make a habit of snooping around in spite of their mother's warnings. When the brothers witness something they shouldn't, Stump is singled out and suffers the consequences. In their small town of Marshall, people are used to keeping secrets. This time, though, those secrets result in a tragedy worse than anyone could imagine.

What struck me first about A LAND MORE KIND THAN HOME is the fact that Cash is able to evoke such a strong sense of place with his pro...more Jess Hall and his brother Stump kind of make a habit of snooping around in spite of their mother's warnings. When the brothers witness something they shouldn't, Stump is singled out and suffers the consequences. In their small town of Marshall, people are used to keeping secrets. This time, though, those secrets result in a tragedy worse than anyone could imagine.

What struck me first about A LAND MORE KIND THAN HOME is the fact that Cash is able to evoke such a strong sense of place with his prose. The book reads quite quickly and there's never a feeling of being bogged down by too much information, and yet the town of Marshall and the people who live there are so carefully built and well represented that it all feels real. In his blurb, Ernest Gaines called Cash's writing "... strong, clean, direct and economical...," and I honestly can't think of a better way to sum it up.

The other thing that got me about this book was the deep sense of sadness I felt in reading it. At times I was almost overwhelmed by how tragic the story is. Which is not to say that Cash spends any real time bombarding the reader with depressing detail, but that the underlying implications of this story are heart wrenching. Cash discusses the inspiration of the story in an interview with Adriana Trigiani. That inspiration -- an autistic boy who died as a result of a "healing" -- really is tough to swallow. I can easily see how Cash would feel compelled to tell that boy's story and I think it's quite impressive how he's done that with this debut.

Each of the narrators gives us a different viewpoint into the story. We begin with Adelaide Lyle who makes it clear that Pastor Chambliss is up to no good. Nine year old Jess Hall is the second narrator we meet and his point of view is sharp and clear yet believably that of a child. The third narrator is Clem Barefield, the local sheriff. Clem has a history with Jess's family, one that comes out in more detail as the story progresses. Together, their pieces make up a whole that is addictive in its readability.

From start to finish, I was amazed with this book. I'd seen previous reviews singing Cash's praises but until I dove in myself, I wasn't really sure about all the hype. Now having read it, I can admit that A LAND MORE KIND THAN HOME is 100% worthy of all of the praise it's been garnering. This is the kind of book that appeals to a wide range of readers. It's a fast paced and relatively easy read, it's southern fiction featuring a small -- almost insular -- setting, it deals with compelling and thoughtful ideas, and it's extremely well written.
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About Wiley Cash

Wiley Cash is the author of The New York Times best seller A Land More Kind than Home (William Morrow/HarperCollins). A native of North Carolina, he and his wife currently live in Morgantown, WV. Please visit www.wileycash.com to learn more about Wiley's novel or to schedule a visit with your book club, class, or community.

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“I've heard it said before that those who don't learn from the past are bound to repeat it, and I just don't know what I think about that. I figure I don't have too much use for it. The past will just weigh on you if you spend too much time remembering it.” — 14 people liked it

“But since then I've learned to just go ahead and take fairness out of the equation. If you do, things stand the chance of making a whole lot more sense.” — 3 people liked it

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