The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter

I finished this book, by Sharyn McCrumb, almost two weeks ago, so my original thoughts and impressions have faded somewhat, but here goes the review...

I had read this once before, I think in high school, and was not impressed. But then one of my favorite authors, Diana Gabaldon, recommended this author, so I thought I'd give it another try. This time, I did find interesting the history of the Appalachian peoples, the Celtic roots of a lot of the mythology and belief systems of these people. And I was drawn in to the mystery, and I enjoyed the flow of writing just fine. The plot was decent enough as well, and I was a lot more interested in the environmental issues this time around.

BUT. I still felt dissatisfied with the ending. Perhaps because I'd read it before, I sort of knew where it was going, but then when it got there, it seemed anti-climactic, one of those endings that takes just a couple of casual paragraphs thrown together to tie up ALL the loose ends, where you feel there should've been much more.

So. I liked it better than last time, but was sad about the ending. And the part about the young mom and her baby was too hard for me to read this time around, for obvious reasons. Gave me nightmares. Do NOT recommend to sensitive moms of young children. That part was too too sad. But generally, a pretty decent book, especially if you're at all interested in Appalachia.