Come and Go, Molly Snow: A Novel

Kentucky Voices

by Mary Ann Taylor-Hall

In a novel as sad and sweet as a bluegrass fiddler's song, Carrie Mullins falls for a heartbreaking man, loses her daughter, and learns the healing power of music and daily routine from two caring, older women.

Genres: Fiction, Novels

Hardcover

First published February 1, 1995

Reviews

[Diane Strong]

Really great beginning, but the middle got tooooo long. I pretty much didn't care if she went back with the band after all the sulking and drama. I have a short attention span, it takes a writer who waves a bunny in my face to keep me reading. I'm sure it ended just the way I expected it too. I never rate a book I don't finish. The writing was really good. No complaints in that department.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book about a bluegrass fiddling woman, the death of her child, her descent into crippling grief and slow recovery with the help of a pair of old Kentucky country ladies. Lyrical, thoroughly engaging.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Oldie but Goodie, as they say. A lot of sadness in this book about Carrie, a young woman who sets off to seek her fortune in bluegrass music the day she graduates from high school. Mistakenly, she ends up in Lexington, Kentucky, thinking that it was the heart of bluegrass music. She adapts, as the young so often can, and makes a life for herself and joins the local music scene. She falls in love from afar, with Cap, an up and coming musician. Carrie knows that Cap is not a one-woman man and she knows that her first love will always be the music. The relationship she and Cap have is based on music and friendship. One night she gets pregnant on a whim - with a musician just passing through. Having Molly changes everything for Carrie but life goes on and it is mainly good. Until it isn't. After Molly is killed, Carrie falls completely apart. Cap brings her to his two elderly aunts, hoping they can heal her brokenness. The characters are all relatable, and well-drawn. The writing, especially about the music is lovely, lyrical and haunting. As a non-musician myself, I was enchanted by the descriptions and feelings, longing to have a passion like that in my own life. I imagine that people who know music will find it even more irresistible.

[Elise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended to me in Rodney's on Broadway one night. It was not on Kindle, so I forgot about it. Ate dinner again with Ellen, who insisted I must read it (she, as I do, loves all things southern women authors), so I ordered the hardback. Well, it is the best book I've read (in its genre) since A Gracious Plenty, The Poisonwood Bible, The Rapture of Canaan, etc. Really, better than all of those, especially if you love reading a novel written as if it's an album of songs. A wondrous study of southern women helping women suffer through womanhood, as well as a gut-wrenching depiction of how the swooning over a man, who will never settle down, can completely upend a mother and daughter's worlds.

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a hidden gem, a book you’ve never heard of but well worth your time. I won’t say anything about the plot since others will cover that better than I can. What I will say is that I enjoyed reading it very much. Get out the hankies for end. And this would be a great book club book. Lots to discuss. Loved the characters and the sense of place. Definitely thumbs up!

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

4+ Stars

[Cierra · Rating 5 out of 5]

some of the most beautiful and precise writing about grief i've ever read.

[Anna Gulewich · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favourite reads.

[Shira]

Heartbreaking and beautiful. A little slow at points, but some things can't be rushed. I'm glad she chose herself, and not Cap. Curious about what happens to these characters!

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a narrator with a strong, unique voice and Carrie fit the bill. The writing is imaginative and it’s hard not to get swept up in its energy — it’s more music than prose.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

About a talented young bluegrass musician who has, and loses, a daughter - and how she learns to keep going. While I have never had, or lost, a child, the book seemed to capture that unendurable pain. The descriptions of bluegrass were also wonderful -- I read this years ago and still remember that they said about how in bluegrass they sing about love and loss without being as earnest about it as country music is.

I love a book that really evokes a region, and this one does. Like Lee Smith, this author writes about Appalachia with understanding.

[Martha☀ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The death of a loved one puts you at a crossroads in your life. In this book, even the question of carrying on living is analyzed. Taylor-Hall does a fine job of explaining the abstract and often bizarre feelings that Carrie has after losing her daughter, and her decisions about which path is worth following in the aftermath. It took me a while to get into the story and characters, but in the end I put everything aside to finish it.

[Tracy O · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOVED this book, but I read it before I had Charlie. For my friends without children I would recommend this in a heartbeat. It is very quick paced and I loved the characters - I felt close to them. I also loved the whole milieu - the whole scene of it. But, for those of you with kids, I would not recommend that you read this - let's just leave it at that.

[Lucy Guerra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book at least 3 times, but lent it out a few years ago and never got it back. I love the lyrical quality of the book. The way the author weaves music into the entire story is incredibly moving, sad, and ultimately triumphant. If you are a new mother, though, stay away until you can handle reading about the loss of a child.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written book about the impact of a child's death on the child's mother. Amazing since the main character is a bluegrass musician and the author is neither a musician nor a mother. Mary Ann, whom I have met several times, is the widow of writer and photographer James Baker Hall. I think she is the better writer of the two, giving her characters real humanity.

[Nona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carrie, against tradition is a fiddler of bluegrass music, she play in a band with Cap, a man she has obsesses about for years. When her five-year-old daughter is killed in a senseless accident Carrie falls apart. Cap bundles her up and takes her to his grandmothers farm to heal.

[Deanndra Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to go hunting for this book, and finally found it at a used and antique bookseller. I wanted to read it because Ms. Taylor-Hall is the wife of our former poet laureate in this state. I was not disappointed - it was an excellent read.

[Bonnie Tharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taylor-Hall brought the music world to live in this novel of a woman fiddler who wants nothing more than to "make it big." Life has a way of taking unexpected turns and Carrie's life is no different. This bittersweet novel is well worth your time.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the character, but I read for plot and there wasn't much plot here - simply an account of how a young single mother learns to deal with the accidental death of her five year old daughter. A bit too mystical for me.

[Misty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great piece of KY literature! It captures the feel of someone who thinks they are ready to leave small town America, only to find they are most comfortable at home.

[Terri Kempton · Rating 5 out of 5]

My friends, this is a really moving story of a young bluegrass musician who loses her daughter. It's heartbreaking and freeing in waves. Written in a unique voice by an under-read author!

[Jessica Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it in the beginning but then it got so repetitive and dry and I don't know... I think I need to read t again, but that might be hard.

[Hollis Fishelson-holstine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written, heartfelt story about grief and reclaiming one's life

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Lexington, Ky. Story of a fiddle player and her daughter.

[Paul Servini]

Some beautiful writing here, but at times it really seemed to drag.