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Requiem by Fire
Charles Frazier called Cataloochee, Wayne Caldwell’s acclaimed debut, “a brilliant portrait of a community and a way of life long gone, a lost America.” Now, in Requiem by Fire, Caldwell returns to the same fertile Appalachian ground that provided the setting for his first novel, recalling a singular time in American history when the greater good may not have been best for everyone.
In the late 1920s, Cataloochee, North Carolina, a settlement tucked deep in the Great Smoky Mountains, is home to nearly eleven hundred souls—many of them prosperous farmers whose ancestors broke the first furrows a century earlier. Now attorney Oliver Babcock, Jr., has been given the difficult task of presenting the locals with two options: sell their land to the federal government for the creation of a national park or remain behind at their own financial peril.
While some of the area’s inhabitants seem ready to embrace a new and modern life, others, deeply embedded in their rural ways, are resistant. Silas Wright’s cantankerous unwillingness to sell or to follow the new rules leads to some knotty and often amusing predicaments. Jim Hawkins, hired by the Parks commission, has relocated his reluctant wife, Nell, and their children to Cataloochee, but Nell’s unhappiness forces Jim to make a dire choice between his roots and his family. And a sinister force is at work in the form of the deranged Willie McPeters, who threatens those who have decided to stay put.
Requiem by Fire is a moving, timeless tale of survival and change. With humor and pathos, this magnificent novel transports readers to another time and place—and celebrates Southern storytelling at its finest.
In the late 1920s, Cataloochee, North Carolina, a settlement tucked deep in the Great Smoky Mountains, is home to nearly eleven hundred souls—many of them prosperous farmers whose ancestors broke the first furrows a century earlier. Now attorney Oliver Babcock, Jr., has been given the difficult task of presenting the locals with two options: sell their land to the federal government for the creation of a national park or remain behind at their own financial peril.
While some of the area’s inhabitants seem ready to embrace a new and modern life, others, deeply embedded in their rural ways, are resistant. Silas Wright’s cantankerous unwillingness to sell or to follow the new rules leads to some knotty and often amusing predicaments. Jim Hawkins, hired by the Parks commission, has relocated his reluctant wife, Nell, and their children to Cataloochee, but Nell’s unhappiness forces Jim to make a dire choice between his roots and his family. And a sinister force is at work in the form of the deranged Willie McPeters, who threatens those who have decided to stay put.
Requiem by Fire is a moving, timeless tale of survival and change. With humor and pathos, this magnificent novel transports readers to another time and place—and celebrates Southern storytelling at its finest.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published February 23, 2010
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July 15, 2022
I have made countless treks into the Blue Ridge Mountains, growing up in North Georgia and having people in Tennessee. To my shame, I don’t believe I ever gave a thought to how many people were displaced by the establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, how their land was taken from them, or the personal heartache that was suffered in order to give the land over to the enjoyment of the population in general. That is, I never gave it a thought until I stumbled across Wayne Caldwell’s Cataloochee.
Requiem by Fire is the continuation of the Cataloochee story and deals directly with the establishment of the Park and the almost cruel way in which people were evicted from their homes to make it happen. Caldwell is one of the most even-handed writers I have ever encountered. He does not draw black and white pictures, he paints in color. He lays all the facts and feelings before you and he lets you decide. After all, these are human beings and there are all kinds of motivations and emotions that go with that. I understood the desire to protect the area and build the Park, but I mostly felt the anguish of the men and women who had already invested lifetimes into this soil and these mountains, being told they might not even be allowed to be buried next to their kin in their own family cemeteries.
The mountain flavor here is genuine, the dialog perfection. Silas Wright, an old timer, says these words to Jim Hawkins, the newly minted warden who also happens to be born and raised in Cataloochee himself:
”What’s fine at seven in the morning can be awful at midnight. Seven in the morning, a man’s got some small reason to hope he’ll have a good day. Come dark, he knows he ain’t had one, and he’s got eight more hours to put up with whatever ghosts his mind might care to entertain.”
For me, this rang so true.
There is a way of life being lost, and as the older Cataloochians reminisce, we realize it was a way of life already abandoned in the valley, years ago. I became very attached to several of these characters, Silas, Mary Carver, and Jim; I cringed at at least one of them, the despicable Willie McPeters, and pitied the young ones, riding off to the city, who would never know what they had lost.
Wayne Caldwell is an amazing writer and a consummate storyteller. I hope to see many more gripping tales penned by his hand before he is through. I know he admires Wendell Berry, he quotes him in his opening to this book, and he is one of a rare handful of writers who might be able to fill his shoes.
Requiem by Fire is the continuation of the Cataloochee story and deals directly with the establishment of the Park and the almost cruel way in which people were evicted from their homes to make it happen. Caldwell is one of the most even-handed writers I have ever encountered. He does not draw black and white pictures, he paints in color. He lays all the facts and feelings before you and he lets you decide. After all, these are human beings and there are all kinds of motivations and emotions that go with that. I understood the desire to protect the area and build the Park, but I mostly felt the anguish of the men and women who had already invested lifetimes into this soil and these mountains, being told they might not even be allowed to be buried next to their kin in their own family cemeteries.
The mountain flavor here is genuine, the dialog perfection. Silas Wright, an old timer, says these words to Jim Hawkins, the newly minted warden who also happens to be born and raised in Cataloochee himself:
”What’s fine at seven in the morning can be awful at midnight. Seven in the morning, a man’s got some small reason to hope he’ll have a good day. Come dark, he knows he ain’t had one, and he’s got eight more hours to put up with whatever ghosts his mind might care to entertain.”
For me, this rang so true.
There is a way of life being lost, and as the older Cataloochians reminisce, we realize it was a way of life already abandoned in the valley, years ago. I became very attached to several of these characters, Silas, Mary Carver, and Jim; I cringed at at least one of them, the despicable Willie McPeters, and pitied the young ones, riding off to the city, who would never know what they had lost.
Wayne Caldwell is an amazing writer and a consummate storyteller. I hope to see many more gripping tales penned by his hand before he is through. I know he admires Wendell Berry, he quotes him in his opening to this book, and he is one of a rare handful of writers who might be able to fill his shoes.
September 9, 2022
Late 1920's into the early 1930's, deep in the Smokey Mountains is the settlement known as Cataloochee. Touting the greater good, the government is taking the land in order to turn it into a national forest. The folks who live there can accept the money offered to them for their land and pull up stakes and leave immediately. Or they can stay until they die, albeit with a whole pant load of restrictions. These are people whose roots run deep, their entire lives lived in this place. Many will not be leaving willingly.
Times was different then . . . When something needed doing, it got done - one way or another.
If you are of a certain age, there will be plenty of things you recognize here. Those little metal tins of Bayer's aspirin that held only 12 tablets, Brownie cameras. Meals cooked on wood-burning stoves, cat-head biscuits, making butter mint candy.
Always at the mercy of the weather. . . . a farmer's simple plea for rain - or for it to stop. Keeping "beans on the table", knee babies, "gabbing starlings".
...life's just one damned thing after another.
Times was different then . . . When something needed doing, it got done - one way or another.
If you are of a certain age, there will be plenty of things you recognize here. Those little metal tins of Bayer's aspirin that held only 12 tablets, Brownie cameras. Meals cooked on wood-burning stoves, cat-head biscuits, making butter mint candy.
Always at the mercy of the weather. . . . a farmer's simple plea for rain - or for it to stop. Keeping "beans on the table", knee babies, "gabbing starlings".
...life's just one damned thing after another.
July 6, 2022
This is the follow-up to Cataloochee, which I read in January. That was the story of a community in the Appalachians, a thriving farming area home to around 500 people that had the bad luck to lie in the path of the Smoky Mountains National Park. In that novel, I grew to know and love (and hate a few) of the families that had been there since it was first settled.
This book is the story of its demise, courtesy of the Federal Government.
The citizens were given a choice of selling their property to the park and leaving immediately, or taking a much lower price to continue to live on their farms until the death of the owner, with so many restrictions it meant they could no longer make much of a living. Of course, a few diehards chose to stay anyway, and this is their story. The game warden assigned to Cataloochee had been raised there, and turned a blind eye to a lot of rule breaking, which helped some, but he had problems of his own with a new wife who hated the place and wanted to go home to Asheville.
Caldwell knows his people and tells their story with stories of their own, those famous mountain "tall tales" dished out to people from other places. One of the things I loved best was the way these "dumb mountaineers" always got the best of the government men who came to check up on them. They could win one on one, but in the end they couldn't fight the beaurocracy that took their land for the greater good. However, turning the park into a vast wilderness did allow the wildlife to make a comeback. The people lost their homes, but the original owners of the forest regained their habitat.
I guess the Cataloochee story is done now, swallowed up by the National Forest, but I sure hope Wayne Caldwell continues to write novels about the NC mountains.
This book is the story of its demise, courtesy of the Federal Government.
The citizens were given a choice of selling their property to the park and leaving immediately, or taking a much lower price to continue to live on their farms until the death of the owner, with so many restrictions it meant they could no longer make much of a living. Of course, a few diehards chose to stay anyway, and this is their story. The game warden assigned to Cataloochee had been raised there, and turned a blind eye to a lot of rule breaking, which helped some, but he had problems of his own with a new wife who hated the place and wanted to go home to Asheville.
Caldwell knows his people and tells their story with stories of their own, those famous mountain "tall tales" dished out to people from other places. One of the things I loved best was the way these "dumb mountaineers" always got the best of the government men who came to check up on them. They could win one on one, but in the end they couldn't fight the beaurocracy that took their land for the greater good. However, turning the park into a vast wilderness did allow the wildlife to make a comeback. The people lost their homes, but the original owners of the forest regained their habitat.
I guess the Cataloochee story is done now, swallowed up by the National Forest, but I sure hope Wayne Caldwell continues to write novels about the NC mountains.
July 23, 2022
After reading Cataloochee at the beginning of the year, I knew I just had to finish the story that Wayne Caldwell began. I fell in love with this region of North Carolina where the people living among the Smoky Mountains for generations were forced or paid (depends on how you look at it) to leave their homes for the US government was creating the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Beginning in the 1920’s through the 1930’s, park commissions were created in order to begin accruing the half million acres of private property for the park. At the end of Cataloochee, it was understood that the people would be compensated whether they left willingly and moved on or decided to stay. Some residents looked upon ‘take it or leave it’ as not much of a choice at all because in the end, the land wasn’t theirs to enjoy any longer. The tourists would enjoy it now. In Requiem by Fire, the story picks up where it left off with the people making their decisions about what they would do.
We get to follow along with Silas Wright, the stubborn old farmer who will not leave his home. You just fall for his straightforward, principled attitude toward life following the only ways he knew. He represents the old ways that are now being replaced by the new: horses to cars, washboards to washing machines. Now that federal restrictions are in place for the residents who remain, local boy Jim Hawkins, park warden for the Cataloochee area, tries to ease his long-time neighbors minds as they learn to live under the new rules. They couldn’t farm and had to abide by hunting and fishing restrictions and wouldn’t be able to pasture their animals in certain places. And the most disheartening for the mountain folks was not having access to their family burial plots which meant more to them than living.
I enjoyed this but not quite as much as Cataloochee. This story does such an excellent job drawing out the characters, those you love and those who make you squirm through their back stories and current dialogues. There is drama centered around who is setting fires around Cataloochee and concern for a marriage in trouble. But Caldwell makes no decision for the reader about whether the people were encroached upon unjustly or not. He makes cases for both sides and reminds readers that the creation of the park was for the enjoyment of the American people. But knowing that this had to happen in the first place, makes this reader sad for the people who lost their way of life and all that they held dear.
April 2, 2022
Wow! I did not expect to love this as much as Cataloochee but I did. I've come to care for these mountain people who experience so much hardship but persevere with kindness and genuine neighborliness. I love our National Parks, so it was a bittersweet read, understanding what had to take place in order for the government to create these parks. I love how the hold-outs in Cataloochee began to see the return of the animals that had been almost eradicated due to hunting. My favorite character in this second book was Jim Hawkins, born and raised in Cataloochee, but now working for the Park Service. He is portrayed so well, seeing both sides of the "battle" in creating the Great Smoky National Park; and torn between the love of his job and his wife. My least favorite was the despicable, nasty, deranged Willie McPeters.
"All Cataloochee-a burnt offering"
I had tears in my eyes finishing the last chapter.
Perfect closure.
"All Cataloochee-a burnt offering"
I had tears in my eyes finishing the last chapter.
Perfect closure.
July 29, 2022
Since I gave Cataloochee a rating of 4.5, i will rate the sequel Requiem by Fire at 4.4, just slightly less enjoyable than the first one.
In Requiem by Fire we find subsequent generations of the same families previously introduced to us and they are dealing with the sad fact that their homes and homelands are being turned into a national park.
The only thing I can say about families who met with such a fate is that their unwelcome sacrifices helped to protect some of America’s most beautiful places for all citizens of our country. Our national parks are the gemstones of our country, so there is a nobility owed to those who had to make way. That beauty is now owned by us all and we should treasure it, honor the sacrifices that made them possible, and make sure they are supported in perpetuity.
Not that this book purports to be a history; it does not. And not that the book has any good things to say about a government that would evict them, limit their ability to stay until they gave up, and eventually would torch all evidence of their heritage.
But it is an engaging story with great characters, humor and pathos, and an unfailing ear for the colorful language of the hardscrabble mountain people of the Smokies. Although they could stand alone, I would recommend reading Cataloochee first and Requiem second, to spend more time with these remarkable families.
In Requiem by Fire we find subsequent generations of the same families previously introduced to us and they are dealing with the sad fact that their homes and homelands are being turned into a national park.
The only thing I can say about families who met with such a fate is that their unwelcome sacrifices helped to protect some of America’s most beautiful places for all citizens of our country. Our national parks are the gemstones of our country, so there is a nobility owed to those who had to make way. That beauty is now owned by us all and we should treasure it, honor the sacrifices that made them possible, and make sure they are supported in perpetuity.
Not that this book purports to be a history; it does not. And not that the book has any good things to say about a government that would evict them, limit their ability to stay until they gave up, and eventually would torch all evidence of their heritage.
But it is an engaging story with great characters, humor and pathos, and an unfailing ear for the colorful language of the hardscrabble mountain people of the Smokies. Although they could stand alone, I would recommend reading Cataloochee first and Requiem second, to spend more time with these remarkable families.
July 28, 2022
Caldwell puts it best in his acknowledgements, “it’s a pretty darn good story.” Caldwell is one of the best at sharing and remembering how lives went about day to day in the North Carolina mountain region.
June 23, 2011
A large proportion of the people who populated the Smoky Mountain area were tenant farmers in Britain who had been dispossessed of their land to make room for the grazing of sheep. In America they made sure that the land was theirs thinking that it wouldn't ever be taken away from them or their descendants. They were wrong. My historical perspective makes me angry on behalf of the mountain folk. No one cared for them or the lives they had created for themselves in 18th century Britain, and they were no more valued in 20th century America. Today the website about Great Smoky Mountain National Park boasts of preserving the history and heritage of the place, but heritage really resides with people, not land. It's the history of the individuals and families who were dispossessed to make room for the park. Requiem by Fire powerfully illustrates this poignant theme.
I identified most with Silas Wright who opted for a lifetime lease and stayed on. Yet Jim Hawkins who adopted a "if you can't beat 'em, join em" philosophy when he became a park warden turned out to be an equally moving character. He didn't become a warden because he wanted to lord it over the people who stayed, but because he felt a tie of kinship to them and to the home that was built by his ancestors. I really had to respect that and his deep integrity.
As a city woman myself, I found the perspective of Jim's city wife, Nell, very understandable. In real life I would be more like Nell than Jim, but as a reader I wanted Nell to feel differently about living in Cataloochee.
I identified most with Silas Wright who opted for a lifetime lease and stayed on. Yet Jim Hawkins who adopted a "if you can't beat 'em, join em" philosophy when he became a park warden turned out to be an equally moving character. He didn't become a warden because he wanted to lord it over the people who stayed, but because he felt a tie of kinship to them and to the home that was built by his ancestors. I really had to respect that and his deep integrity.
As a city woman myself, I found the perspective of Jim's city wife, Nell, very understandable. In real life I would be more like Nell than Jim, but as a reader I wanted Nell to feel differently about living in Cataloochee.
October 28, 2024
Requiem by Fire left me all choked up with feeling. The Great Smokey Mountains National Park is being born, a great gift to all Americans to love and enjoy. Hundreds of people who made their home on the mountain found their homes within the park bounderies. Many of the folks from the first book Cataloochie continue their story in the second . It is a story of hard options and gut wrenching sorrow. The slow death of a community, a loss of the the old ways,a sense of home. Each homestead must sell out to the government immediately and leave the mountain or stay til the deed holder dies for far less selling price. No fishing or hunting, great restrictions on the farming practices, and no harvesting trees for winter wood made surviving next to impossible. A son of the mountain is appointed to act as the park's law enforcement. With a bit of a blind eye, he cares for the land and its dwindling people. Even as nature's bramble and vines take over the old abandoned settlements, the wildlife begin to return. One by one, as the residents move or die,the community fades away until only the mountains remain.
September 4, 2022
At first, this book completely overwhelmed me with the abundance of characters. I had a hard time getting started because I couldn't keep the characters straight. But as the story unfolded, and Caldwell concentrated the story on fewer characters, I thoroughly enjoyed it - although I do believe that Caldwell introduced me to two of the most despicable and disgusting characters I have ever come across. They will stay with me for a very long time!
Caldwell's book brings up a subject I think few of us in America think about... when private land is appropriated by the federal government to create a national park (and this also occurs on the state level), what becomes of the people who called these places home? As much as I love visiting national and state parks, this is not something I had thought much about. This book has changed all that. I found it really tragic. I may be wrong, but I think this is a uniquely American experience. I never observed it in other countries I have lived. On the one hand, I appreciate the preservation of these unique and beautiful places, but hopefully governments have learned to be more mindful of the needs of the current residents.
I look forward to reading Caldwell's first book, Cataloochee, which also takes place in the Great Smoky Mountains.
Caldwell's book brings up a subject I think few of us in America think about... when private land is appropriated by the federal government to create a national park (and this also occurs on the state level), what becomes of the people who called these places home? As much as I love visiting national and state parks, this is not something I had thought much about. This book has changed all that. I found it really tragic. I may be wrong, but I think this is a uniquely American experience. I never observed it in other countries I have lived. On the one hand, I appreciate the preservation of these unique and beautiful places, but hopefully governments have learned to be more mindful of the needs of the current residents.
I look forward to reading Caldwell's first book, Cataloochee, which also takes place in the Great Smoky Mountains.
August 17, 2015
Wayne Caldwell picks up from the the ending of Cataloochee with Requiem by Fire, an excellent novel that I fully recommend, I really enjoyed picking up where the story left off in his previous novel, my suggestion would be to first read Cataloochee then continue with this one, it may not be a good source of historical information of the Great Smoky mountains national park, but it is a great story that will make you feel that you lived in the beginning when a lot of good folks were displaced, or either lived out their last days fighting against the park that would eventually take their land.
April 15, 2022
I’m so sad this story is over, I want to know more, the next generations. But like the folks in Cataloochee, the story had to have an ending—and a beautiful poignant ending. One of the characters wondered what would have become of those mountain folks had they not been forced to leave. Our world certainly has changed, would they have sustained?
September 14, 2010
One of my favorite pastimes is to read stories about the area I live in or near, so it was natural to read Caldwell's second book about the folks living in the Cataloochee area which is just over the mountains from East TN. The author says this is a pretty good story, but it is not history. I think he writes convincingly enough to allow me to believe the characters and their behavior are pretty representative of what happened when these folks were forced to leave their beloved homesteads so the Great Smokey National Park could be established.
This story is about the power of our environment to shape our lives for better or for worse and how powerless we are most times to do anything about it except accept our fate and move on as best we can. Reminded me of the saying "God deals the cards, but how we play them is up to us". You had to respect these folks for their fortitude, their self-reliance, their humor. It is a shame that it seems to always come down to an either-or choice.
December 9, 2017
A truly wonderful continuation of Caldwell's first introduction of his Appalachian characters in Cataloochee. Here their home is being completely taken over by The Great Smokey Mountain National Park. Mountaineers both good and not good are affected in different ways by the government takeover. The tale ends with sadness for what is lost. Silas Wright asks campers he stumbles upon who have asked to take his picture because he's a real mountaineer, if he's some kind of zoo critter. The loss of his "kind" is felt strongly in the book as though the past was being erased forever. Jim Hawkins does his duty for the Park Service, monitoring the area as people leave their homes behind, but does it with kindness only a person born and raised there can do for his own people. But he loses everything in the process. Caldwell claims none of the story is true, or the characters actual people, but of course you wonder. Both Cataloochee and Requiem by Fire are, as he says, a "pretty darn good story." Definitely worth the read.
May 7, 2025
After reading Cataloochee, I had to read this book. A brilliant, atmospheric, and beautifully detailed story of the displacement of a mountain community as a result of the development of Great Smoky Mtn National Park. I spent nearly 25 years living near and frequently visiting this region, both in the area of Waynesville, Maggie Valley, Cataloochee (mountain), and into Asheville. While reading this book, I felt those woods and mountains, the smell of woodsmoke from a chimney, and the sounds of rocky creeks. The characters - the good, the bad, and the ugly - draw you in, are wonderfully developed, and are so much a part of the place and time. You feel them. You feel all of it. For me it was a book I truly never wanted to end, but like the community and people in the story, it had to. Change makes its mark on all things. But stories like this keep the “before” alive.
These two books are certain to be my favorite reads of the year, and will always keep a place on my bookshelf. Thank you Mr. Caldwell for these stories, they have truly touched me.
These two books are certain to be my favorite reads of the year, and will always keep a place on my bookshelf. Thank you Mr. Caldwell for these stories, they have truly touched me.
August 8, 2022
Not good literature, but I enjoyed this book, and was glad that I read it. It's important historically. If the author had taken a different approach from a conventional novel, e.g., if he had woven together related short stories, a la "Olive Kitteredge" then he would have created tighter focus.
Having gotten through to the end, thoroughly enjoying bits here and there, I was motivated by this novel to look into the facts of the creation of the Great Smoky Mtns. National Park. What a story!
Having gotten through to the end, thoroughly enjoying bits here and there, I was motivated by this novel to look into the facts of the creation of the Great Smoky Mtns. National Park. What a story!
September 15, 2017
Excellent sequel to Cataloochee. You do need to read Cataloochee first because Requiem by Fire is definitely not a stand alone kind of novel. I read them almost back to back and I enjoyed finding out what happened to the characters from Cataloochee. Especially since I am a transplant to Western North Carolina and I was unaware of the story behind the creation of this national park.
January 24, 2022
Not as good as the first novel, Cataloochee but still very good.
April 20, 2024
4.5 stars! This sequel to Cataloochee was so well written! The southern voices really came to life. I enjoyed reading more about the early days in this area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
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November 5, 2020Wonderful book.
June 30, 2021
Man, this ending was depressing. I'd be tempted to call it bittersweet, but there wasn't much sweet in this tale of the death of a community.
April 15, 2024
An excellent tale of the Great Smokey Mountain National park.
August 22, 2024
I felt obligated to read this after finishing Cataloochee on a trip to GSMNP. I would have liked more follow up about those who moved away. (This one also had some disturbing parts).
March 20, 2025
Superb writing, incredible story. Loved it.
July 30, 2013
This is another I searched for and read for my occasional column called "VISIT A NOVEL IN....."
I started this one just before a trip to Great Smoky Mountain National Park because it was about the "taking" of the land for that park in the early 1930s when everyone living in those then-remote acres was required to sell their land outright to the Gummint.
For a lesser amount of money, they could retain their property until the death of the surviving spouse. However, there were nearly impossible restrictions, and to break one meant the land went to the park immediately. The owners could not hunt, cut green wood (and if you needed 20 cords to heat your place in winter, too bad. You were supposed to rely on deadfall), make moonshine or even have liquor on the property. They could not graze their cattle in wild areas and could not break new ground to expand plantings.
Although the characters, from the park ranger to some mighty strange folks in the back country, are fictitious, the portrayal of the awful cost to them to lose their homeplaces is powerful, authentic feeling and sad.
It was interesting to read about the places we saw ranging from from Clingmans Dome to Cade's Cove, Sugarlands, the Little Pigeon River and Newfound Gap. Most of the properties were burned, but some survive to this day and can be visited on the "motor nature trail." Cade's Cove has a loop road which can be driven, bicycled or taken on a hayride.
Bits of folk lore from how to clean a chimney with a rope and a rock to the ritual of taking burning coals from the stove when moving to a new place, are interesting and integral to the story.
I started this one just before a trip to Great Smoky Mountain National Park because it was about the "taking" of the land for that park in the early 1930s when everyone living in those then-remote acres was required to sell their land outright to the Gummint.
For a lesser amount of money, they could retain their property until the death of the surviving spouse. However, there were nearly impossible restrictions, and to break one meant the land went to the park immediately. The owners could not hunt, cut green wood (and if you needed 20 cords to heat your place in winter, too bad. You were supposed to rely on deadfall), make moonshine or even have liquor on the property. They could not graze their cattle in wild areas and could not break new ground to expand plantings.
Although the characters, from the park ranger to some mighty strange folks in the back country, are fictitious, the portrayal of the awful cost to them to lose their homeplaces is powerful, authentic feeling and sad.
It was interesting to read about the places we saw ranging from from Clingmans Dome to Cade's Cove, Sugarlands, the Little Pigeon River and Newfound Gap. Most of the properties were burned, but some survive to this day and can be visited on the "motor nature trail." Cade's Cove has a loop road which can be driven, bicycled or taken on a hayride.
Bits of folk lore from how to clean a chimney with a rope and a rock to the ritual of taking burning coals from the stove when moving to a new place, are interesting and integral to the story.
September 8, 2014
I really loved Caldwell's first novel, Cataloochee, so I was excited to pick up Requiem by Fire. Both books are very similar in scope and formula, with Requiem being a continuation of the families' stories. In this second book, though, the federal government is buying out farms and homesteads in the Cataloochee area to make way for the new Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Caldwell writes in a very comforting, down-home style that uses an appropriate dialect. He is unquestionably authentic in his depictions of Cataloochee residents, mountain traditions, and the local lore. However, the sheer number of characters and plotlines overwhelmed me in this book. I had a hard time keeping people straight and didn't connect with many because their appearances were so fleeting. The McPeters pyromania side plot was the only one that didn't feel quite real, though, and just seemed to provide titillation.
Recommended for fans of local history and those who like to see the places they're familiar with depicted in fiction.
Caldwell writes in a very comforting, down-home style that uses an appropriate dialect. He is unquestionably authentic in his depictions of Cataloochee residents, mountain traditions, and the local lore. However, the sheer number of characters and plotlines overwhelmed me in this book. I had a hard time keeping people straight and didn't connect with many because their appearances were so fleeting. The McPeters pyromania side plot was the only one that didn't feel quite real, though, and just seemed to provide titillation.
Recommended for fans of local history and those who like to see the places they're familiar with depicted in fiction.
September 15, 2013
I recently visited Cataloochee on a trip to the Smokey Mountains. It was a mob scene of tourists with immense cameras trying to catch photos of the reintroduced elk as they wandered through the meadows. The restored historical structures were marred by graffiti. And the trip out was a nightmare as tourists attempted to drive huge campers and double length horse trailers on the narrow, curvy roads. The Smokies almost seem a victim of the park's success. Caldwell did an excellent job of depicting the heartache caused by forcing Cataloochians out of their homes and their communities. Do the results justify their suffering?
January 10, 2015
I have been to the Smoky Mountain National Park many times, enjoyed its beauty and delighted in the time there. That being said, this novel is a sad reminder of the lives and communities that were destroyed in the early 1900's in order to create the park. I have read several stories now from this time in history set in this place of mountain homes and hard working families. Some of them were rough and coarse and some were loving and kind, caring for each other through difficult times and sharing in the joys that came with community.
These stories are always sad to me to see how they were forced to leave their heritage, there homes and love of the land behind.
These stories are always sad to me to see how they were forced to leave their heritage, there homes and love of the land behind.
June 12, 2010
The sequel to CATALOOCHEE, REQUIEM BY FIRE is the second book Wayne Caldwell has written about the people of the Great Smokey Mountains of North Carolina. In his assortment of characters Caldwell creates in words a visual picture of the mountain culture at the turn of the century and the life changing disruption in their existence that took place as they were force from the land following the establishment Great Smokey Mountain National Park between 1915 and 1935. This book, along with CATALOOCHEE, I believe ranks up there with THE GRAPES OF WRATH as wonderful trubute to American folklore.
December 30, 2010
This is Caldwell's follow up to Cataloochee, and I think he did a good job bring the story to a close. In this novel, the reader learns more about how the newly created Smokey Mountain National Forest will effect the community of Cataloochee and its inhabitants. Whereas the first novel, Cataloochee, read more like a series of short stories, this novel has a more cohesive storyline that carries through from start to finish. I often wished for a character chart, though, to keep track of the numerous characters who appeared, disappeared, died off or otherwise came and went.
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