Meet Author Ann Hite

A CONVERSATION WITH MOUNTAIN WOMEN

Featuring authors Ann Hite and Karen Spears Zacharias
 
Drawing on the wit and wisdom of characters they have created, Ann Hite, author of The Storycatcher, and Karen Spears Zacharias, author of Mother of Rain, invite you to attend A CONVERSATION WITH MOUNTAIN WOMEN at Smyrna Public Library. The authors will appear on Tuesday, September 17, at 10:30 a.m.

Need a salve to heal an ache? Know a ghost - or a Melungeon- you’d like to be shed of? Got a secret you’re trying to keep? Or a family tradition you’re itching to share?

"A Conversation with Mountain Women" is an engaging, and not at all serious, discussion of these things and more. If Mee-Maw was the one you loved nearly better than Jesus, if you are familiar with Black Mountain or Sapelo Island, if you’ve ever been pearling on the river, or stood under the shower of a waterfall in the Smokies, or if you’ve ever had an encounter with a ghost or a Melungeon, then don’t miss this opportunity for swapping stories infused with mountain lore. Refreshments will be served, and books will be available for sale, courtesy of Book Exchange, Marietta.

Dollywood Drawing: Attend the event and buy copies of The Storycatcher and Mother of Rain and your name will be entered into the Dollywood Drawing. Winner will receive two adult tickets to Dollywood and one night’s lodging in nearby Pigeon Forge.

The Storycatcher by Ann Hite
From the author of the “wonderfully crafted” (San Francisco Book Review) Ghost on Black Mountain comes a haunting gothic novel set in the Depression-era South about two young women who form an unlikely alliance when the spirit of a dead woman takes up residence in their home.  

Shelly Parker, a sixteen-year-old servant who works for the tyrannical Pastor Dobbins and his family, has had the gift of sight for as long as she can remember. She’s grown accustomed to coexisting with the spirits of the dead who roam Black Mountain, telling Shelly their stories and warning her of the dangers that surround her. When the ghost of Arleen Brown, a poor woman who died on the mountain during childbirth five years earlier, begins to pursue the Pastor’s daughter Faith—hell-bent on revealing a terrible secret that she took to her grave—Shelly is the only person that can help her. Thetwo young women soon find themselves tangled up in a web of secrets and lies that takes them from Black Mountain to the murky saltwater marshes of Georgia, uncovering long-hidden truths that put their own lives in danger…   Atmospheric and infused with supernatural elements, Hite’s novel is a rich and wonderfully eerie tale that will stay with you long after the story ends.

Mother of Rain by Karen Spears Zacharias
A haunting portrayal of the hardscrabble lives of Appalachian women. A tale of heartbreak and unending love.

“MaizeeHurd was an easy target for hard times,” according to Burdy Luttrell, the town healer. Burdy is a Melungeon woman with striking features and mysterious ways. She owns the land the Hurds leased following their marriage on June 3, 1940. Maizee moved upriver at the age of ten after tragedy struck, and she was sent off to be raised by a childless aunt and her doctor husband. Shortly after Maizee’s ferry boat arrival in the rural mountain community of Christian Bend - carrying only a small suitcase, her mama’s Bible, and her doll Hitty - the young girl began hearing the voices that would continue to torment her. It was the tender love of her husband Zeb and their shared passion for the Appalachian hills and rivers of Tennessee that helped quiet the voices. But as World War II tears through Europe, and Zeb prepares for deployment, Maizee’s life is rocked by the ripples of war. Despite the love that carried her through the birth of their son, Rain, and the boy’s subsequent illness that rendered him deaf, Maizee can’t silence the demons in her own head. The voices have returned with a vengeance and a plan. An old friend returns to Christian Bend and offers Maizee a helping hand and listening ear when she needs it most. But KadeMashburn is widely considered a no-count, and his presence ignites rumors that spread throughout the community of those unwilling and unable to forget Kade’s past. As troubles mount, neither the doctor’s medicines nor a healer woman’s roots can fix what ails Maizee.