If the Creek Don’t Rise Blog Tour
Sourcebooks Landmark
Publication Date: August 22, 2017
He’s gonna be sorry he ever messed with me and Loretta Lynn
Sadie Blue has been a wife for fifteen days. That’s long enough to know she should have never hitched herself to Roy Tupkin, even with the baby.
Sadie is desperate to make her own mark on the world, but in remote Appalachia, a ticket out of town is hard to come by, and hope often gets stomped out. When a stranger sweeps into Baines Creek and knocks things off kilter, Sadie finds herself with an unexpected lifeline…if she can just figure out how to use it.
This intimate insight into a fiercely proud, tenacious community unfolds through the voices of the forgotten folks of Baines Creek. With a colorful cast of characters that each contribute a new perspective, IF THE CREEK DON’T RISE is a debut novel bursting with heart, honesty, and homegrown grit.
Praise for If the Creek Don’t Rise
An Indie Next, Okra Pick, and LibraryReads
"This one nearly broke my heart. With deeply human characters I will not easily forget, Weiss captures the fierce pull of desperation and the formidable power of hope. An impressive debut from a talent to watch.... " — Kathleen Grissom, author of the New York Times bestsellers
The Kitchen House and Glory Over Everything
“Weiss’ debut novel reveals the best and worst of human nature… The author’s masterful use of language, including dialect unique to the area, builds another layer of connection between these characters while she develops a greater sense of inner isolation and distance from those outside the community. Weiss’ novel is a great suggestion for fans of the Big Stone Gap books, by Adriana Trigiani, and Mitford series, by Jan Karon.” – Booklist, STARRED review
“Part gothic, part romance, part heartbreaking Loretta Lynn ballad—Weiss' tale is a beguiling, compelling read.” — Kirkus Reviews
“…tender but powerful debut...” — Publishers Weekly
“If the Creek Don't Rise is a satisfyingly complete novel….With its bewitching residents and rugged landscape, a journey to Baines Creek is a trip worth taking, and Weiss is likely to find many readers eagerly willing to travel with her again.” — Maximum Shelf Awareness
Writing with a deep knowledge of the enduring myths of Appalachia, Weiss vividly portrays real people and sorrows.” —Library Journal, STARRED review
"Every page of Leah Weiss' debut, If the Creek Don't Rise, has a pulse as fierce and unyielding as its Appalachian setting. Told through an ensemble of narrators, men and women of all ages bound by the inescapable power of place and belonging, it is a lush exploration of the darkest rooms in the human heart, and the brightest fires of the human spirit. Weiss' remarkable gift for language left me breathless, and her characters, distinctive and unapologetically-human, will haunt me for some time."
—Erika Marks, author of The Last Treasure
REVIEW
If The Creek Don't Rise immediately caught my attention when I saw the cover and even more so when I learned that it had an Appalachian setting. I grew up in a small town in Eastern Kentucky so I love reading fiction set in a similar area to what I grew up in, though Baines Creek is definitely a lot rougher than the hills and hollers of my youth.
As I began reading, I fell hard for Sadie Blue, as a reader. I wanted to know more about her, learn more about her struggle and how she planned to fix the wrongs in her life. Her life was broken and sad and not uncommon for areas of living like hers. She lost her heart too quickly, got caught in the romance and flew off with the wrong sort of man but discovered way too late. Also, growing up listening to Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn, I had a fondness for Sadie's innocence and how determined she was to not let the holler end her life. She wanted to be strong and break free like Loretta and I found that to be an admirable quality.
I will admit that, through the first half of the book, I found the constant changes in point of view to be a little bit much. The amount of characters that had a story to tell was almost overwhelming but, but by the end of the book, I realized that each character had their own place and their own part to play. Each of their stories needed to be told for the sake of understanding what life was like in Baines Creek and how each person and their actions intertwined and affected one another as a whole.
I really enjoyed this glimpse into poverty-stricken Appalachia and Leah Weiss did an amazing job at creating well rounded characters with personalities and colloquialisms all their own. If The Creek Don't Rise is a beautifully haunting tale of Appalachian life.
Rating: 4 Stars
As I began reading, I fell hard for Sadie Blue, as a reader. I wanted to know more about her, learn more about her struggle and how she planned to fix the wrongs in her life. Her life was broken and sad and not uncommon for areas of living like hers. She lost her heart too quickly, got caught in the romance and flew off with the wrong sort of man but discovered way too late. Also, growing up listening to Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn, I had a fondness for Sadie's innocence and how determined she was to not let the holler end her life. She wanted to be strong and break free like Loretta and I found that to be an admirable quality.
I will admit that, through the first half of the book, I found the constant changes in point of view to be a little bit much. The amount of characters that had a story to tell was almost overwhelming but, but by the end of the book, I realized that each character had their own place and their own part to play. Each of their stories needed to be told for the sake of understanding what life was like in Baines Creek and how each person and their actions intertwined and affected one another as a whole.
I really enjoyed this glimpse into poverty-stricken Appalachia and Leah Weiss did an amazing job at creating well rounded characters with personalities and colloquialisms all their own. If The Creek Don't Rise is a beautifully haunting tale of Appalachian life.
Rating: 4 Stars
About the Author:
Leah Weiss is a Southern writer and novelist born in North Carolina and raised in the foothills of Virginia. Her debut novel, If the Creek Don’t Rise, will be released in August of 2017. Her short stories have been published in The Simple Life magazine, Every Day Fiction and Deep South Magazine. She retired in 2015 from a 24-year career as Executive Assistant to the Headmaster at Virginia Episcopal School. She now pursues writing full time.
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