Appalachian literary fiction has long drawn me for its language and texture, its attention to place and socioeconomic class, and the complicated relationships among family, land, labor, religion and survival. Having grown up as a young girl in northern Appalachia, I return particularly to writers who resist flattening the region or its people into stereotype. These are the novels I have read, admired, obsessed over and returned to—the books that have shaped my thinking about Appalachia literature and my own writing.
Selected Appalachian Literary Fiction
Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
“In ‘Where Moral Authority Begins: Part II,’ I am curious about what truth costs a child and her family in Dorothy Allison’s Appalachian literary fiction, Bastard Out of Carolina. I have obsessed over this novel for years, not only the story but also the language—authentic, textured, defined in place and socio-economics to which I am particularly drawn having grown up as a young girl in northern Appalachia….”
“An essential novel.” — The New Yorker
Read “Where Moral Authority Begins: Part II: Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison” by Rae Cline
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
In a world where children can so quickly be forgotten and thrown away, Demon Copperhead is fierce in his survival of foster care, child labor, school, success, addiction, heartbreak, and loss. Demon’s unshakeable tenacity speaks to me personally as a reader and writer, and to my own girlhood growing up in northern Appalachia.
Winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
The Dollmaker by Harriette Arnow
My grandmother was named Gertrude, “Gert” for short. She taught me to make cornhusk dolls and chicken and dumplings and fried catfish. I was immediately drawn into the texture and authenticity of The Dollmaker and Gertie Nevels, strong and self-reliant. What a woman will do for her children is endless.
“Deeply sincere and moving.” — Chicago Tribune
Storming Heaven by Denise Giardina
In Storming Heaven, coal, labor, land and corporate interests are inseparable from the lives of the people who inhabit the mountains. The socio-economic stories of West Virginia are vivid and essential to the making of this country. The people of Appalachia are so often forgotten in the national conversation. Giardina reminds us of this.
“Brilliant diamond-hard fiction, heartwrenching, tough and tender.” — Los Angeles Times Book Review
Strange as This Weather Has Been by Ann Pancake
The environmental cost of mining sits fetid within the families who live in and love West Virginia and Appalachia. Pancake captures a struggle that is ongoing and so often waylaid by national interests and lobbying.
“Powerful, sure-footed, and haunting” — New York Times Book Review
Writing in the Appalachian Literary Tradition
Precious Ugly is a searing debut novel for readers of Bastard Out of Carolina and Demon Copperhead. Set in Reagan-era West Virginia, this work of Appalachian literary fiction follows Clementine, a thirteen-year-old living in a van with her father, a preacher and cult leader. She must decide whether the miracle he promises will save her or destroy her.
“Maybe the most powerful debut of the year.” —Largehearted Boy, Book Notes
Appalachian Literature & Research Resources
Harpers Ferry National Historic Park
The Harpers Ferry Park Association
Algonkian Writer Conferences. “A Conversation Between Rae [Cline] and Michael Neff. 2008.