Can we have a book about Appalachia that isn't about miserable people, please?

filled star filled star filled star star unfilled star unfilled
randomutopia Avatar

By

Disclaimer: I'm from Appalachia, and I'm extra-sensitive to perceptions of stereotyping or lazy characterizations of people in the area (and the area itself). I still wanted to read this book because of my interest in the historical themes. So first, this book is well-written, with a strong narrative voice in the main character. Some of the plotting could be better, but overall, it's not in the book itself that I have any issues.
But the "we're so poor and this area is a mud-pit" theme just kept grating on my nerves. I grew up a few miles from the area Cussy is from, so I know it well, and while yes, in some impoverished and strip-mined areas it isn't as beautiful as it once was. But it's still overall a gorgeous locale, with a variety of people from a variety of backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses. Even the poor and uneducated people weren't always 100% downtrodden and miserable. I felt the story traded too much on the same tired old stereotypes, and I'm just done with that.
I would LOVE it if people from Eastern Kentucky would write it as a fully-developed land rather than always just Misery Central.