What do you think?
Annaliese From Off
The year is 1900 and young mother Annaliese Stregal is forced by her husband, John, to leave their comfortable life in Louisville, Kentucky to live in a lumber camp in the north Georgia mountains where he has launched a timber business with his brother. Joining her there with even more outrage and dismay is the prickly sister-in-law she loathes, Lucenia, who is full of opinions about every women's issue of the day - social justice for the oppressed, equal rights, birth control, the morality of female sexual pleasure - and possessing not one domestic skill. To protect their children and battle the mountain enemies they have in common, the women strike a fragile truce, but a new national controversy is gaining steam: the annihilation of America's forests, and this one Annaliese cannot ignore. The brothers pick up their pace in scraping their fortune off the pristine hillsides just as John begins to unravel, putting the families' future in jeopardy. Unlikely help comes from a pair of Cherokee Indian brothers, but it is Annaliese who must act decisively to save John from the grisly reckoning he foresaw all along and save the mountains from him.
370 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2014
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 30, 2019
This book rates a 4.5.
I really expected this story to follow a formula. A well-to-do city gal moves to the country against her will, hating everything about it, in her very superior way, and, of course, the simple, charming county folk win her over in the end. NOT what happens.
I don't want to spoil anything, so all I will say is, Annaliese is a wife, mother, sister, friend, aunt, educator, consevationist, survivor and one strong woman whose story is worth reading.
I really expected this story to follow a formula. A well-to-do city gal moves to the country against her will, hating everything about it, in her very superior way, and, of course, the simple, charming county folk win her over in the end. NOT what happens.
I don't want to spoil anything, so all I will say is, Annaliese is a wife, mother, sister, friend, aunt, educator, consevationist, survivor and one strong woman whose story is worth reading.
February 15, 2016
This book had it all---great characters, interesting plot, and a grabbing writing style. It was a quick read because I couldn't put it down. The author tackled thought provoking themes that included the forestry business, Native Americans, and mental illness. I read it twice!
October 7, 2018
Lindy Keane Carter grabs the readers attention quickly and soon you are enveloped in a powerful novel that follows a brave, unstoppable lady named Annaliese Stregal.
The year is 1900 when Annaliese is uprooted from her comfortable lifestyle in Louisville, KY and placed in the remote mountains of Georgia. It is here where her husband-John and his brother-Ben start a lumber camp. Though reluctantly, both families move to support this new business venture.
Annaliese is resilient with the adversities that challenge her in this new way of life. Along the way, she finds her inner voice and strength she never thought she had but must follow through with in order to survive. Annaliese finds the most support from those she befriends and help her along the way.
This book includes thought provoking subject matter including the forestry industry, mental illness and the Native Americans. Annaliese's story will touch you and stay with you long after you are finished reading it. This is a great read that I highly recommend. (less)
6 minutes ago · delete
The year is 1900 when Annaliese is uprooted from her comfortable lifestyle in Louisville, KY and placed in the remote mountains of Georgia. It is here where her husband-John and his brother-Ben start a lumber camp. Though reluctantly, both families move to support this new business venture.
Annaliese is resilient with the adversities that challenge her in this new way of life. Along the way, she finds her inner voice and strength she never thought she had but must follow through with in order to survive. Annaliese finds the most support from those she befriends and help her along the way.
This book includes thought provoking subject matter including the forestry industry, mental illness and the Native Americans. Annaliese's story will touch you and stay with you long after you are finished reading it. This is a great read that I highly recommend. (less)
6 minutes ago · delete
August 26, 2017
A story revealing the building of a family and an industry in th 1900 s.
Literally could not stop reading this book. Two women united by marriage to brothers must learn to live together in a logging camp in the Mountains of Georgia in 1901. How they learn to cook, clean, and make a life for their husbands and children, while building a relationship neither thought possible, reveals much of the human spirit. Insight into the beginning of the logging industry and dealing with the mental breakdown of a husband keep this story alive until the last page.
Literally could not stop reading this book. Two women united by marriage to brothers must learn to live together in a logging camp in the Mountains of Georgia in 1901. How they learn to cook, clean, and make a life for their husbands and children, while building a relationship neither thought possible, reveals much of the human spirit. Insight into the beginning of the logging industry and dealing with the mental breakdown of a husband keep this story alive until the last page.
June 27, 2021
I absolutely loved this read! At some point I started to think “Ok, this is how I think it’s going to end,” and then pow! the ending just starts slapping you in the face with a one/two punch! I read the last third of the book on a day I had a million other things I needed to get accomplished, but I just couldn’t put it down. I am a big fan of historical fiction, though this was a time and place with which I was unfamiliar. Thanks to Annaliese from Off, I am now and looking forward to starting the sequel later this evening.
May 13, 2018
Strength
This book is about strength. Strength of will, relationships, nature and the strength the characters didn't know they possessed. The beginning was a little slow to reel me in, but once I was I wanted to keep reading. I loved the development of the women's characters and the blending of the previously important classes. The descent into madness was alarming but well described. You want more when the book ends.
This book is about strength. Strength of will, relationships, nature and the strength the characters didn't know they possessed. The beginning was a little slow to reel me in, but once I was I wanted to keep reading. I loved the development of the women's characters and the blending of the previously important classes. The descent into madness was alarming but well described. You want more when the book ends.
May 5, 2019
The author gave a presentation that piqued my interest about her writing so I purchased her book(s). This is a work of historical fiction but the descriptions of time and place, and the development of characters worked together so well that I felt like I was living in the time. Her characters are believable with a good mix of tragedy and triumph. The first book was such a good story (even with the tragedy) I had to purchase the sequel! Very enjoyable and informative!
February 9, 2020
Tough Women
Enjoyable and educational story of two families who move from city to hill country of Georgia. The story is focused on the struggles of the two women whose lives are dramatically changed by husbands who are driven to succeed in the lumber business . Learning to live with no modern conveniences is minor compared to their personal trials .
Enjoyable and educational story of two families who move from city to hill country of Georgia. The story is focused on the struggles of the two women whose lives are dramatically changed by husbands who are driven to succeed in the lumber business . Learning to live with no modern conveniences is minor compared to their personal trials .
February 12, 2024
There were many intelligent, hardworking, brave and determined women who worked along side and individually to build our country. Annaliese and Lucenia are fictional examples of many such women who happened to leave comfortable, established homes and society to travel to a wilderness and assist their husbands in their endeavors to settle in a strange place and begin a business endeavor.
April 8, 2018
My heart
The only reason this book doesn’t have five stars is because the last like 5 chapters felt rushed, and quite frankly was darker than it needed to be. It was a great read but it had a tragic ending. So bittersweet.
The only reason this book doesn’t have five stars is because the last like 5 chapters felt rushed, and quite frankly was darker than it needed to be. It was a great read but it had a tragic ending. So bittersweet.
September 4, 2017
I really liked this book. I like historical fiction and I love to read about plucky women. Recommend for a book club, would have good discussions, I think.
December 31, 2014
Annaliese from Off, by Lindy Keane Carter
Immense Depth of Character, Dialogue, History, and Mountain Folklore, December 31, 2014
By Robert Hein
If the point of fiction is to write the truth, Ms. Carter has achieved a high level of writing.
The depth of character, dialogue, history, and mountain folklore is immense. You will appreciate the rich, provocative conversations between Annaliese, her sister-in-law Lucenia, and Ruth, a young mountain girl who works for them but turns into a confidant and mentor in the ways of mountain folk.
Annaliese grew up in a privileged family in urban America at the end of the Victorian Era as the 19th Century draws to a close. Forget what you thought you knew about life in the "New South" several decades after the Civil War. Ms. Carter reveals a world far removed from Reconstruction Atlanta, Savannah, and farms of South Georgia.
She is a woman of faith - in her husband, her family, and her religion. Her faith leads her to follow her husband to the rural forests of North Georgia where she will be tested in ways she cannot know. Along the way she learns the haunting, harsh truth of a deep family secret.
Annaliese is caught in the cross currents of change from urban Louisville to the hauntingly beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. But, she also must confront the huge social and political changes that accompany the end of Victorian America and start of the Progressive Era. All of which will test her faith and belief in herself.
By the time you are convinced the story is just a quiet, pleasant, and uneventful walk along a lush mountain road, you realize there is a simmering drama filled with hidden secrets.
Around page 155, the leisurely pace of the first chapters accelerates into a page turner until the story reaches a dramatic climax.
What a great read. Recommend this one to your friends.
Immense Depth of Character, Dialogue, History, and Mountain Folklore, December 31, 2014
By Robert Hein
If the point of fiction is to write the truth, Ms. Carter has achieved a high level of writing.
The depth of character, dialogue, history, and mountain folklore is immense. You will appreciate the rich, provocative conversations between Annaliese, her sister-in-law Lucenia, and Ruth, a young mountain girl who works for them but turns into a confidant and mentor in the ways of mountain folk.
Annaliese grew up in a privileged family in urban America at the end of the Victorian Era as the 19th Century draws to a close. Forget what you thought you knew about life in the "New South" several decades after the Civil War. Ms. Carter reveals a world far removed from Reconstruction Atlanta, Savannah, and farms of South Georgia.
She is a woman of faith - in her husband, her family, and her religion. Her faith leads her to follow her husband to the rural forests of North Georgia where she will be tested in ways she cannot know. Along the way she learns the haunting, harsh truth of a deep family secret.
Annaliese is caught in the cross currents of change from urban Louisville to the hauntingly beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. But, she also must confront the huge social and political changes that accompany the end of Victorian America and start of the Progressive Era. All of which will test her faith and belief in herself.
By the time you are convinced the story is just a quiet, pleasant, and uneventful walk along a lush mountain road, you realize there is a simmering drama filled with hidden secrets.
Around page 155, the leisurely pace of the first chapters accelerates into a page turner until the story reaches a dramatic climax.
What a great read. Recommend this one to your friends.
February 16, 2015
VERY GOOD STORY
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews