A career lawman will bear witness to the final judgement, as a man he put away twenty years ago is about to be executed for the brutal slaying of t...
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Jan 18, 2010
Anne Hawn
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Frankie Silver was a real mountain woman convicted and hanged for the murder of her teen-aged husband in 1823. The fact that she killed him and dismembered him and burned him in the fireplace makes the community rise up against the brutality and she is quickly convicted of the crime and sentenced to be the first woman to ever be hanged in the state.
As time goes on and more facts surface, the townspeople begin to conclude there was much more to the murder and sympathy develops for th More...
As time goes on and more facts surface, the townspeople begin to conclude there was much more to the murder and sympathy develops for th More...
Dec 22, 2009
Jessica
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Didn't really hold my attention. Weird subplot that I'm guessing was meant to parallel the main story, but didn't really. Odd details and foreshadowing that didn't lead anywhere and/or their resolutions were anti-climatic (for example, Burgess mentioned the death of his brother a few times and within the context, made it sound like the death would be an integral part of the story later on. . . of which it was certainly not. And such a big deal was made about keeping the newest murder news away f
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Sep 25, 2010
Larry
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Frankie Silver was a real person,the first woman hanged in the state of North Carolina, on July 12, 1833. Hers was a tragic story - 18 years old when brought to trial for the murder of her husband, mother of an infant daughter.Convicted in a two-day trial, she was not allowed by law to testify in her own behalf. Her appeals denied by the state supreme court, a grass-roots effort in the community arose to secure a pardon ,but it was not to be. As she stood on the gallows, about to speak, her own
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Nov 27, 2011
Debbie
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I enjoyed this half fiction and half non-fiction story of life in the North Carolina and Tennessee mountains. The story alternates between the 1830's and 1990's. Sheriff Spencer Arrowood is recuperating from a wound. While recuperating, Spencer contemplates his first murder case and the arrest and trial of Frankie Silver. The underlying theme is the blood oath among the mountain community that deters punishing the guilty individuals. Sometimes I found the Southern genealogy to be tedious an
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May 21, 2011
Mayda
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Sharyn McCrumb does a masterful job of weaving together two stories – one from the past and one from the present – that mimic and parallel each other. The true story of Frankie Silver, a tragic figure condemned to hang and the imaginative story of Fate Hardkryder, also sentenced to die, ebb and flow throughout the novel. Crimes have been committed, and debts should be paid, but by whom? And just knowing the truth sometimes is not enough. This is more than a novel about two people whose live
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Aug 25, 2011
Petra
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I really enjoyed this story. It's not so much about murders as it is about justice, mercy and right & wrong.
The book contains 2 parallel murder stories. Frankie Silver's case is an actual happening of the 1830's, which makes it very interesting. In an interview given by the author, she states that the records are quite sparce and she had to research the legal system of the time, the countryfolk vs. cityfolk dynamics, wealth vs. poverty and family ties. She then tried to decide how the eve More...
The book contains 2 parallel murder stories. Frankie Silver's case is an actual happening of the 1830's, which makes it very interesting. In an interview given by the author, she states that the records are quite sparce and she had to research the legal system of the time, the countryfolk vs. cityfolk dynamics, wealth vs. poverty and family ties. She then tried to decide how the eve More...
Aug 30, 2009
Melissa
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Really much better than I expected. I ran across this book some time ago, probably while we were vacationing in the western North Carolina mountains where this book takes place. For whatever reason it did not appeal to me at the time, but I am glad to have taken my friend's recommendation and picked it up at last. The author weaves together the stories of two young people convicted of murder and sentenced to death, though over 150 years apart. Apart from these circumstances, these two seem to ha
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Feb 13, 2010
Bobbi
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Do you know who Frankie Silver is? In 1833, Frankie Silver was the first woman to be hanged in North Carolina. She was convicted of killing her husband by chopping him up and hiding the parts. Luckily, the story doesn't go into too much detail about this. Since then, there have been many legends about Frankie, some of which are true. People think the song, Frankie and Johnnie" was written about her, but not so. There are quite a few books about Frankie Silver, but I think I like this one
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Jul 04, 2009
Pam
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Looking for you Appalachian heritage? Well, it you grew up in North Carolina, you might find it here. If you grew up in Oak Hill, West Virginia, you may have to look to your own memories. We don't have any interesting old stories of hanging in the 1800s. McCrumb uses a modern day murder and execution to contrast with the murder, trial, and execution story from the 1800s. It is a good book, but not a great book. I enjoyed it and learned from it, but I would never have picked it up to r
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Nov 22, 2011
Melanti
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There's a bit less going on in this book than there is in most of the Ballad series.
The general theme behind this book is miscarriages of justice - people accused and put to death for a crime they didn't commit but wouldn't confess who did. And considering the theme, it makes sense that there's only two examples/story threads instead of the normal 4 or 5 that are going on. Maybe there could have been more plot threads added by generalizing the connecting theme, but that might have More...
The general theme behind this book is miscarriages of justice - people accused and put to death for a crime they didn't commit but wouldn't confess who did. And considering the theme, it makes sense that there's only two examples/story threads instead of the normal 4 or 5 that are going on. Maybe there could have been more plot threads added by generalizing the connecting theme, but that might have More...
Sep 16, 2009
Sheather
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This was a second read on this. I'm enamored of all these mountain ballads and I like Sharyn McCrumb's characters. I really like her take on what happened to prompt the Silver murder and its aftermath. But she is sort of clumsy at segues between fiction and the researched material she includes. (It's worse in some of her other books.) People start relaying information in a way that no one actually talks, or include a bunch of information that clearly came from historical records but isn't releva
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Jan 02, 2009
Jenny
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This book deals with a mystery 20 years old along with a mystery that is 170 years old. Surprisingly, the older case is the topic that gets the most coverage in the book.
It's a long book, but moves fairly quickly. It's interesting how the court system used to work and I think McCrumb does a good job of generating sympathy for Frankie Silver.
The book's ending felt kind of like an argument against capital punishment, but I liked it. While it probably won't cause any morator More...
It's a long book, but moves fairly quickly. It's interesting how the court system used to work and I think McCrumb does a good job of generating sympathy for Frankie Silver.
The book's ending felt kind of like an argument against capital punishment, but I liked it. While it probably won't cause any morator More...
Oct 23, 2009
Linda
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This is the story of the first woman hanged for murder in Tennessee, in the early 1800’s. For current interest, the story of Frankie is made to parallel two 20th century murders, each of which involved Detective Arrowood’s work on solving the crimes. I didn’t like this as much as the other two I’ve read, partly because of the detailed accounts of Frankie’s hanging and the 20th century murderer’s electrocution.
May 04, 2009
Avary
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The story of Frankie Silver's arrest and trial revealed the injustice of the justice system toward the poor. Comments on the inferior place of women were also interesting -- if frustrating to read! The novel, as opposed to She Walks These Hills, was mostly about the historical story rather than what was happening to the contemporary characters. The parallel between the two as, however, well portrayed.
Apr 10, 2010
Cathy
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A contemporary fictional murder case juxtaposed with a one-hundred and sixty five year old North Carolinian true frontier murder case. More emphasis was on the latter, which was the more interesting story. The historical Frankie Silver case provided hours of listening entertainment on my daily commute. The author's note at the end indicated her commitment to painstakingly researching and maintaining the accuracy of many of the revealed facts of this old and mostly forgotten tale o More...
May 27, 2009
Ronda
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As much as I love Sharyn McCrumb's work, I could not finish this story. Now, I should probably preface this by saying that I have a really hard time with stories that have little hope. While I can appreciate the story that McCrumb wove around the tale of Frankie Silver, I just couldn't get past the hopelessness and helplessness of the story itself.
Jul 06, 2011
Jennydall
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I love McCrumb as an author and have always been able to picture the faces and tone of her characters especially as I live in the same area. McCrumb is a superb storyteller that languidly draws the reader in until they are captivated by her tale. I had not read about Silvers before and I enjoyed learning about her and how she lived and died.
May 27, 2011
Becky
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The author weaves two murder convictions together -- one current and one in 1833 when Franki Silver becomes N. Carolina's first woman to be hanged for murder. The story behind the second murder case held my interest enough to finish the book, but I must confess I skimmed some sections. It was "OK" but not one I would recommend.
Nov 15, 2009
Bondama
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Sharyn McCrumb's Appalachian books are true, pure jewels...Each of the books is separate, although there are several characters that wander through all of them. "Frankie Silver" is my favorite -- and I will always love it. Each of the books has the title or a line from a traditional ballad. I would recommend these books completely.
Oct 10, 2011
Sydney
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Sharyn McCrumb is an amazing author no matter what book you are reading. Frankie Silver is set, as well as most of Sharyn's book in the high country of NC, where I live. Even without the personal aspect, her ability to weave stories and create characters is wonderful. Every one of her books is a must, I highly recommend it. You will not be sorry!
Dec 04, 2010
Sarah
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Been a while since I remember reading this book, but I do remember that there were shifts between time periods which made it a little hard to follow. Good read, especially if you like historical fiction. Main reason I picked up this book is because it takes place in northwest North Carolina, where I live.
Jun 30, 2009
Diane
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This book is surprisingly good! I liked the way the author combined an old and a new crime story into one, although the older one is told in much more detail, maybe because that one is based on a factual case in which 18-yr-old Frankie Silver is accused of killing and then dismembering her husband.
Nov 05, 2011
Suzanne
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I like her books and I thought this one was excellent. She deals with the issue of the two souths (one from Scotch Irish and the one from England) very well. The more I read about it, the more I understand the dynamics growing up in our community.
May 03, 2009
justine
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I liked it. Its a well-written story. The story centers on the sad reality that justice is sometimes unfair, and that there are times when your innocence in a crime doesn't matter because you are convicted of it no matter what.
Jan 22, 2012
Tabitha
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This got a little slow near the end but was a really great book. I think it might make a good book club book since it raises a lot of questions about capital punishment and the way our court system operates.
Feb 12, 2009
Susan
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Believe it or not an anti death penalty novel set back and forth between past & present. "There is no graver courtesy than the respect born of ambitious self-interest" p178 in speaking of lawyers
Feb 22, 2011
Jeri
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parallel study of two crimes. one a hundred years ago; hanging of a young woman for killing her husband and the 2nd a death-row inmate for killing two kids. Unraveling the mystery by the sheriff.
May 07, 2009
Kath Ann
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Listened to this on eAudio and read it in hard copy. To hear the ballad sung in the beginning was real treat. Great book, fascinating history. I even spoke with someone at NetLibrary who is related to both families, the Stewarts and the Silvers.
Also especially enjoyed the parallels with more modern day murders (fictional) that she included.
Also especially enjoyed the parallels with more modern day murders (fictional) that she included.
Apr 16, 2011
Diane
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This book will haunt you for days after you have finished the book. Not a scary haunting...but I found it creeping into my thoughts during the course of the day. I have read it three times.
Feb 06, 2010
Patti
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A haunting and historical mystery from the mountains of NC. Learned a lot about those who settled the mountains, plains, and coast. Found myself cheering for Frankie.
