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The Heart of the Hills
First published in 1913, The Heart of the Hills is the last novel completed by John Fox Jr. and the final piece in his mountain trilogy. This companion to The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come and The Trail of the Lonesome Pine is crucial to an understanding of Fox's views.
In The Heart of the Hills Fox revises his earlier thoughts about mountain people. He depicts more clearly than in his previous work just how they were exploited by outside industrialists-those men who, in the words of Fox's hero Jason Hawn, "got rich diggin' our coal an' cuttin' our timber." He also reveals the long-term impact of this exploitation on the environment. Having witnessed the ravages of clearcutting on his travels through the mountain country of Kentucky and Virginia in 1911-1912, Fox was all the more receptive to the warnings voiced by his environmentally conscious father. From their letters and diaries it is clear that John Fox Sr.'s influence permeates The Heart of the Hills ; in this work, dedicated to his dying father, Fox determined to make amends to the mountain people.
In The Heart of the Hills Fox revises his earlier thoughts about mountain people. He depicts more clearly than in his previous work just how they were exploited by outside industrialists-those men who, in the words of Fox's hero Jason Hawn, "got rich diggin' our coal an' cuttin' our timber." He also reveals the long-term impact of this exploitation on the environment. Having witnessed the ravages of clearcutting on his travels through the mountain country of Kentucky and Virginia in 1911-1912, Fox was all the more receptive to the warnings voiced by his environmentally conscious father. From their letters and diaries it is clear that John Fox Sr.'s influence permeates The Heart of the Hills ; in this work, dedicated to his dying father, Fox determined to make amends to the mountain people.
432 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1913
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63 people want to read
About the author
John Fox Jr.
76 books17 followersJohn William Fox was born in the heart of Bluegrass country in Bourbon County, Kentucky. His father, John W. Fox was headmaster of the Stony Point Academy, which John Jr. attended from 1867 to 1875. After attending the Transylvania University for two years, he entered Massachusetts' Harvard university to study English in 1880, graduating cum laude in 1883.
Fox moved to New York City where he worked for a time as a journalist with the New York Sun and then the New York Times. He then moved to Virginia where he joined his half-brother James in the real estate business, and the rest of the Fox family soon settled there too at Big Stone Gap, now an historic National Monument in memory of the Fox family. The new homestead saw a number of illustrious visitors, including future President Theodore Roosevelt, who became a life-long friend of Fox's. It was in Century magazine that his first story "A Mountain Europa" (1892) was published serially, followed by "A Cumberland Vendetta" a year later. The mountaineer-theme would be repeated in future works. Due to his popularity, he launched into the lecture circuit, travelling around Europe and America, including visits to President Roosevelt's White House, singing accompanying mountaineering songs and reading from his own works and others.
A Cumberland Vendetta and Other Stories (1895) was his first published collection of short stories. It was followed by Hell-Fer-Sartain and Other Stories (1897). The Kentuckians (1897) was followed by the novella A Mountain Europa (1899). Harper's Weekly sent Fox to Cuba in 1898 to report on the Spanish-American War. Crittenden (1900), Blue-Grass and Rhododendron (1901), and Christmas Eve on Lonesome and Other Stories (1904) followed, before he was off to Japan and Manchuria to cover the Russo-Japanese War in 1904. Following the Sun Flag: A Vain Pursuit Through Manchuria (1905) was a result. A Knight of the Cumberland (1906) was followed by his popular romance/coming-of-age story The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1908). This and Little Shepherd were adapted for the big screen in several different versions in 1912, 1916, and 1936.
Fox counted among his friends other popular writers such as Richard Harding Davis, Jack London, and Booth Tarkington. He was awarded many honours in his lifetime including election to membership in the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1899, a medal for his literary contributions from the Emperor of Japan, and his dedication and lobbying led to the passing of the Federal Copyright Act. John William Fox Jr. died of pneumonia at Big Stone Gap in Virginia and is buried in the Paris Cemetery, Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky.
Fox moved to New York City where he worked for a time as a journalist with the New York Sun and then the New York Times. He then moved to Virginia where he joined his half-brother James in the real estate business, and the rest of the Fox family soon settled there too at Big Stone Gap, now an historic National Monument in memory of the Fox family. The new homestead saw a number of illustrious visitors, including future President Theodore Roosevelt, who became a life-long friend of Fox's. It was in Century magazine that his first story "A Mountain Europa" (1892) was published serially, followed by "A Cumberland Vendetta" a year later. The mountaineer-theme would be repeated in future works. Due to his popularity, he launched into the lecture circuit, travelling around Europe and America, including visits to President Roosevelt's White House, singing accompanying mountaineering songs and reading from his own works and others.
A Cumberland Vendetta and Other Stories (1895) was his first published collection of short stories. It was followed by Hell-Fer-Sartain and Other Stories (1897). The Kentuckians (1897) was followed by the novella A Mountain Europa (1899). Harper's Weekly sent Fox to Cuba in 1898 to report on the Spanish-American War. Crittenden (1900), Blue-Grass and Rhododendron (1901), and Christmas Eve on Lonesome and Other Stories (1904) followed, before he was off to Japan and Manchuria to cover the Russo-Japanese War in 1904. Following the Sun Flag: A Vain Pursuit Through Manchuria (1905) was a result. A Knight of the Cumberland (1906) was followed by his popular romance/coming-of-age story The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1908). This and Little Shepherd were adapted for the big screen in several different versions in 1912, 1916, and 1936.
Fox counted among his friends other popular writers such as Richard Harding Davis, Jack London, and Booth Tarkington. He was awarded many honours in his lifetime including election to membership in the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1899, a medal for his literary contributions from the Emperor of Japan, and his dedication and lobbying led to the passing of the Federal Copyright Act. John William Fox Jr. died of pneumonia at Big Stone Gap in Virginia and is buried in the Paris Cemetery, Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 16, 2016
This was a relatively short book but it felt so long.
A story about the Hatfields and McCoys, only they've been renamed Hawn and Honeycutt. I didn't really like the protagonist, Jason Hawn. He was a snot-nosed little brat who grew up to be a snot-nosed big brat. There was one brief moment when I did feel sorry for him when his mother ran off to get married and basically abandoned young Jason.
Despite being dirt poor and homeless, Jason somehow still has the means to go to college and work out his aggressions on the football field. There's some kind of political mumbo jumbo going on that I really didn't understand or cared about understanding. I thought that was going to be the big climax but no, the story kept creeping on to a very unsatisfactory end.
Not a pleasant read at all.
A story about the Hatfields and McCoys, only they've been renamed Hawn and Honeycutt. I didn't really like the protagonist, Jason Hawn. He was a snot-nosed little brat who grew up to be a snot-nosed big brat. There was one brief moment when I did feel sorry for him when his mother ran off to get married and basically abandoned young Jason.
Despite being dirt poor and homeless, Jason somehow still has the means to go to college and work out his aggressions on the football field. There's some kind of political mumbo jumbo going on that I really didn't understand or cared about understanding. I thought that was going to be the big climax but no, the story kept creeping on to a very unsatisfactory end.
Not a pleasant read at all.
August 12, 2016
I didn't love this book, but I didn't hate it either, and I'm not sorry that I read it. The writing style was just kind of off - it was fine for parts, and then it would jumble up to the point where you couldn't quite follow what was going on. A big chunk of the book is about a political situation that he describes in weirdly vague ways, which makes it difficult to keep up with. I don't know if at the time this book was written it would have been a fairly well known event, so he didn't feel the need to explain it over much? Maybe, but either way it was a struggle to get through those parts... I did enjoy the characters, and I won't rule out trying another book by John Fox Jr. in the future.
September 12, 2011
This book was a lot like Freckles by Gene Stratton-Porter. A good read!
November 9, 2020
What a great old book. Aside from the politics which I didn't understand. A story of clashing classes that even love can't bridge, and feuds between families that sowed deep anger and an inability to move on.
May 4, 2020
This is the third of John Fox Jr's series about the hills and buegrass regions of Kentucky. It describes coming of coal mining to the hills the beginning of the 20th century. My favourite book of the series was the second one: The Trail of Lonesome Pine. This one dealt with the feuds and the coming of age friendship of a couple of bluegrass children and a couple of mountaineering children. It felt a little forced.
It was interesting to read about the tobacco monopolies setting prices for farmers. This book seemed like a fairwell ode to the old way a life in Kentucky with its good and bad traditions.
It was interesting to read about the tobacco monopolies setting prices for farmers. This book seemed like a fairwell ode to the old way a life in Kentucky with its good and bad traditions.
June 10, 2012
A book by an author recommended by my mother. She loved his books,and so do I.
Want to read
May 2, 2019This story was filmed in 1919 starring Mary Pickford.
Read this book for free through Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5145....
Read this book for free through Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5145....
December 13, 2015
3.5 stars actually, would be 4 but drawn out too long. Still a good story.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews