In a Nutshell: A well-written historical fiction focussing on the years after the Great Depression. I would have enjoyed more layered characters but the historical elements are good enough to make this an interesting experience.

Story:
Delwood Reese (Del) is a cocky womaniser who gets caught by his own bad deeds and needs to escape from his current employer before it’s too late. He finds a job as a tree worker in a turpentine camp in Swallow Hill, Georgia, hoping to find a better future.
Rae Lynn and her kind but clumsy husband Warren run a turpentine camp together in North Carolina. When Warren’s blundering goes a step too far, Rae Lynn is forced to escape her home. The only place she can think of is Swallow Hill.
And thus the two narratives of Del and Rae Lynn come together, depicting in gritty detail the life in the turpentine camps. It is a journey of personal redemption and professional horror.
Most of the story alternates between the perspectives of Del and Rae Lynn. The story is written in a 3rd person omniscient narration.

Where the book clicked for me:
👌 While I knew a little bit of cotton and sugar plantations which mistreated Blacks, I had had no idea about turpentine camps. For those who enjoy factual details in their historical fiction, this book is a treat. Every aspect of the camps and the harsh living circumstances in them is fleshed out remarkably. The living conditions in those camps were gut-wrenching and the book shows the truth as is. The historical details seem well-researched.
👌 When there is a male lead and a female lead in a fictional story, there is a great chance that there is a romantic connection between them. This book is no exception. Where it goes on a different path is in how this romantic connection proceeds. I liked how the relationship “developed” naturally as the chapters progressed.
👌 Del, Rae Lynn, Warren, and to a certain extent, Cornelia (the wife of the camp’s commissary owner), are well-sketched characters with layers to their personality. These three characters hold the book on their shoulders and make the story what it is. While I didn’t appreciate a certain character trait assigned to Cornelia (it initially felt like a needless addition to create a complication in the story and felt very abrupt when it first appeared), the story does make good use of this trait later.
👌 While Rae Lynn’s character stays true to the time period of the story, she is still not a typical historical heroine. She is courageous, and her attitude in times of trouble is quite unlike the girls one normally reads about in historical fiction.
👌 Unlike usual such historical narratives which narrate the story from the perspective of the upper class Whites or the Black slaves, this book chooses to narrate it from the point of view of the lower class Whites, This view from the mid-point of the social structure serves as an interesting insight into how life was for people of this background, and also depicts their attitude towards the Blacks, who were even lower than them on the societal rung.
👌 The initial chapters seem a little slow and I wondered where the story was going. But once the momentum began, the story kept a pretty good pace and didn’t get boring for me at least in terms of the events occurring through it.

Where the book could have worked better for me:
⚠ Except for the four characters I mentioned above, the rest of the characters are very uni-dimensional and stereotypical. There are no layers to them, and their behaviour stays predictable throughout. I prefer more grey characters than hackneyed black or white ones.
⚠ The ending is too perfect and ties everything neatly with a ribbon and a pretty bow on top. The epilogue felt like a step taken too far. I would have preferred a somewhat more realistic ending, with some ends sealed and some on the way to closure.

The audiobook experience:
The audiobook clocks at 12 hours 13 minutes and is narrated brilliantly by Amy Melissa Bentley. Her accent is spot on, her character voices are impeccable, and her enunciation is perfect. I enjoyed her performance thoroughly. While the initial 3-4 chapters become a little confusing in the audio version, it doesn’t take time to figure out the plot. So I would definitely recommend the audiobook.


If you want a story about two plucky individuals who tried to face the problems of life head on and individually, and you want a historical fiction that stays away from the over-used topic and aims to throw a spotlight on an unseen part of history, do give this a try. Regardless of the somewhat flat secondary characters, it is worth a read.

3.75 stars from me.

My thanks to Tantor Audio and NetGalley for the ALC of “The Saints of Swallow Hill”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.

This novel takes place during the Depression in North Carolina in the 1930's. Set among the turpentine camps, showcasing the lives of three people trying to save themselves and find a better way of living.
After The Four Winds, I've done more research about those years and the way people survived and this book really present another amazing story that is not related to cotton, but in this case the brutality of turpentine industries and the abuse behind it. This is a book I highly recommend!

The Saints Of Swallow Hill, Wow, What a story, Donna Everhart really did her homework on this book, I am a Historical History reader, I never knew about this happening. The story follows two people, Blair, a teenager, lives in Ireland, there is a terrible famine, people are starving to death, his only hope for survival is to go to Philadelphia and start a new life, with no money for passage, he agrees to work it off once he arrives, the agreement is 4 years as an Indentured servant. Then there is Mallie, a teenager, she is a thief basically, she gets caught for pickpocketing, and is sentenced to 7 years, as a Indentured servant, Both endure very harsh treatment, worse then slaves, the treatment is heartbreaking to listen to at times. A few years later they meet, the story just gets better and better from there, this is a must read.. I will look for more by Donna Everhart. I received the copy and agreed to give my honest review about the book

This was an excellent story. I enjoyed learning more about the Great Depression and the industry of turpentine. Characters were well developed. It was an excellent book and I really enjoyed it on audio.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced audio version of the book. A great story about the Great Depression, specifically the Turpentine camps. I learned a lot about the Turpentine business during this time and the awful camps that people were forced to work at due to the depression. Rae Lyn loses her husband and starts off disguised as a man to Swallow Hill due to questionable outcomes at her home. The story takes us through her trying times as a man in the camp, her discovery of friends and loves and eventually returning home. Great sweeping story about love and loss. I enjoyed the story and especially the audio.

A must-read for anybody who loved Where the Crawdads Sing! The depth of the characters and descriptive tone sucked me up right away. I couldn't put it down. I felt as if I was there with Del Reese and Rae Lynn Cobb. An emotional read and one that will stay with you. Highly recommended.

The publisher indicates this is The Four Winds meets Where the Crawdads Sing. I'd agree with that although there is no mystery in this one.

The author's story takes place in North Carolina during the Great Depression - specifically at a Turpentine Camp. (I didn't know what they were.) She does not cherry pick what she wants to present as there is poverty, abuse, racism, evil, friendship, survival and love that is all well portrayed. Some of the characters are very easy to hate and be disgusted by. But no worries there is a bit of a love story in there!

This is my first book by Donna Everhart and it did not disappoint.

Regarding the audio: I have to give a nod to the actor Amy Melissa Bentley. Her soft southern accent and ability to tell the story really enhanced the listening experience. I will also look for her work in the future.

The Saints of Swallow Hill is historical fiction set in the American South during the Great Depression. Much of the story is set in a turpentine camp in Georgia. I had no idea the turpentine industry existed so was fascinated to learn about it via this book.

Delwood and Rae Lynn arrive at the camp around the same time. Both are trying to escape from their pasts, and manage to get on the wrong side of Crow, a racist, bullying foreman and also Otis, owner of the camp’s commissary. This novel is told from their alternating points of view as they try to survive and make better futures for themselves and others.

I got off to a rocky start with the book. The opening chapter included too many of Del’s sexual exploits for my taste. Thankfully the section isn’t lengthy and it does play an important role in setting the plot in motion.

I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the book. I was soon absorbed in the plot and rooting for Del, Rae Lynn and later Cordelia, all gritty characters with interesting backstories who were presented in a nuanced way. The villains of the story were portrayed in a more one-dimensional manner, but I cared not a jot, being content to rail against their bullying and cruelty. The North Carolina pine forest and the workings of the turpentine camp were really well drawn. All my senses were engaged and it was easy to imagine myself transported there, to picture events unfolding around me.

One aspect of this story that particularly caught my attention was the working conditions in the turpentine camp and elsewhere. The lack of care paid to workers’s safety was startling. It was impossible not to notice the connections between slavery, the sharecropping system and the operation of the turpentine camps - foremen with whips, cruel inhumane punishments, payment in scrip which could only be spent at the camp commissary, which of course carried overpriced goods meaning workers were always in debt to the company and thus unable to leave its employment.

Highly recommended for historical fiction fans who love a unique setting, an absorbing storyline, and characters they can root for.

Many thanks to @netgalley for the audio ARC.

𝘌𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦!

What a beautiful and mesmerizing story, I love Historical Fiction and I had no idea about the turpentine camps. I just loved everything about it and I can’t wait to read more from this author. All the stars.

Thank you Tantor Audio and NetGalley for this gifted copy.

𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦: 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘍𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭, 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘍𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘍𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢, 𝘈𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘍𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

Unfortunately this was not a book I was able to get into. Try as I might I found it to be slow moving and to detail oriented. I found the excessive detail distracting from the main story and had a difficult time finishing. I enjoyed some of the characters but didn’t feel like there was enough development to make a real connection with them.

The Saints of Swallow Hill focuses on two people working at the same turpentine camp during the Great Depression. The first perspective is Del Reese who is a single man who treats "negros" with respect and draws the ire from his racist boss. The second perspective is from a young woman named Rae Lynn who goes into the camp pretending to be a man. They strike up a friendship and we follow what happens afterward. The treatment of these desperate people during The Great Depression was awful and most likely illegal. This was incredibly eye-opening. I gave the story 4 stars because while I enjoyed most of it, I felt the ending was a bit saccharine. I was given this as an advanced audiobook copy by Netgalley for my honest review. The book is released today, January 25th, 2022.

Set during the great depression, Rae Lynn finds herself in an impossible situation. Soon she must take off and pretend to be a man in order to get work at a turpentine camp. She meets Del Reese and Cornelia here. Both Del Reese and Cornelia have pasts of their own. Each of the characters, all had dark secrets from their past that they were trying to escape from. The writing was very vivid and emotional. The descriptions on the landscape and the development of each of the characters were wonderful. Everhart did a thorough job with her research. I learned so much about North Carolina and why it is called the Tar Heel State. This is a beautiful and emotional journey about survival, resilience, and desperation. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was fantastic.

Where the Crawdads Sing meets The Four Winds as award-winning author Donna Everhart's latest novel immerses readers in its unique setting—the turpentine camps and pine forests of the American South during the Great Depression. This captivating story of friendship, survival, and three vagabonds' intersecting lives will stay with readers long after turning the final page.

It takes courage to save yourself...

In the dense pine forests of North Carolina, turpentiners labor, hacking into tree trunks to draw out the sticky sap that gives the Tar Heel State its nickname, and hauling the resin to stills to be refined. Among them is Rae Lynn Cobb and her husband, Warren, who run a small turpentine farm together.

Though the work is hard and often dangerous, Rae Lynn, who spent her childhood in an orphanage, is thankful for it—and for her kind if careless husband. When Warren falls victim to his own negligence, Rae Lynn undertakes a desperate act of mercy. To keep herself from jail, she disguises herself as a man named "Ray" and heads to the only place she can think of that might offer anonymity—a turpentine camp in Georgia named Swallow Hill.

Swallow Hill is no easy haven. The camp is isolated and squalid, and commissary owner Otis Riddle takes out his frustrations on his browbeaten wife, Cornelia. Although Rae Lynn works tirelessly, she becomes a target for Crow, the ever-watchful woods rider who checks each laborer’s tally. Delwood Reese, who’s come to Swallow Hill hoping for his own redemption, offers “Ray” a small measure of protection, and is determined to improve their conditions. As Rae Lynn forges a deeper friendship with both Del and Cornelia, she begins to envision a path out of the camp. But she will have to come to terms with her past, with all its pain and beauty, before she can open herself to a new life and seize the chance to begin again.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author and publishers for the opportunity to listen to and review this book honestly.
Wow!
This book took me back in time to a place, people and things that I had completely no idea about at all, it was beautifully written, the characters fully formed, developed and believable. The story and the characters were gut wrenching heartbreaking and mostly I found educational. I love when I walk away from a novel feeling like I have learned something, I learned a whole lot, the importance of friendship resounds throughout, I absolutely loved it. Thank you so much.

I loved this book! I read both the four winds and where the crawdads sing and I felt the vibes of both of these books! It takes place in the great depression in the south we follow dell and Raylynn. Although there are some hard subject matters in here I think the author goes about these topics in a great way. She writes it beautifully so its not to intense for the reader but also you feel as though you are there. The atmosphere is described well and character development is really good also! overall I would give this book a 5/5 stars. Thank you for this lovely read. the narrator is great as well! it was really easy to follow the story even without the physical copy of the book in hand.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to listen to an ARC audio of this book.

This book was a surprise, a pleasant surprise. I had no idea what to expect, had never heard of the author, and just read it based on the title. The story mostly takes place on a turpentine ranch in North Carolina during the depression where blacks and whites try to work together. These are poor folk and lost souls trying to get by. It starts out slow concentrating on two people--a man and a woman who have yet to meet.
At some point, the story becomes very compelling and I cared what happened to these people.
While reading, I went on Goodreads to learn more about the author and found that she was communicating with readers. She directed me to background research about the Tar State during the depression and I began to appreciate how much work she put into the book.

The book is well-written by a likable author. It is an education of a time long gone although the human conflicts described in the story are with us forever. I especially enjoyed listening to the narration. It was well done and the voices of each character felt true.

This book was just not for me. It’s not comparable to Where the Crawdads Sing, in my opinion, which is as stated in the description. It runs along the same story line as The Four Winds, only in the fact that it’s about work camps during the depression era and really nothing else.

I listened to the audiobook version, which almost had me quitting several times. The narrator spoke with a slow, Southern drawl. I can understand a slight drawl when reading for a character, but the WHOLE book was done in this southern accent. There was too much of the, Rae said, Del said, then Rae said, then Del said. I’ve never read a book with quite so much of the he said, she said.

I would rather not comment too much negative on the book as I am just one opinion of many and should never deter a reader from their own opinions so I will leave my review at that. It just wasn’t my cup of tea. I did, however, learn a little bit from the past, which ultimately is the goal of a historical fiction story.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced audio copy.

Wow! What an exciting and powerful piece of historical fiction! In her latest novel, The Saints of Swallow Hill, Donna Everhart paints a clear and honest picture of what life was like on a southern turpentine camp during the Great Depression. The characters are strong and complex, and the plot is riveting and fast-moving. The writing is impeccably done, and you can certainly tell that the author did her research. Alternating between the dual perspectives of Rae Lynn Cobb and Delwood Reese, the author gives her readers a memorable story about friendship, courage, and survival. If you’re a fan of Martha Hall Kelly or Diane Chamberlain, then this book is perfect for you. The Saints of Swallow Hill releases on Tuesday, January 25th! (My gosh, how is that next week already?) This new release gets 4/5 stars from me!

My favorite kind of book- historical fiction that also enlightens me. I knew nothing of how turpentine was made. Now I do. And instead of reading a technical book, I also got to follow the lives of a few characters trying to survive.

I have one complaint- the word said has to appear several hundred times. It probably would not be as noticeable had I physically read the book, but I listened to the audiobook. There is a LOT of dialogue and most scenes have multiple characters conversing. Raelynn said. Del said. Cornelia said. Crow said. They all said. That said (lol), some synonyms would have been nice.

Other than the word said grating on me, the audiobook is good. Clear narration, easy to follow.

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Saints of Swallow Hill by Donna Everhart was described as “Where the Crawdads Sing meets The Four Winds,” so I was in, but with some hesitation. Those are pretty lofty comparisons, and Crawdads is still one of the best books I’ve ever read. (I didn’t like The Four Winds and quit before I finished it, but that’s another story.)

The Saints is told (mostly) from the POVs of Rae Lynn Cobb and Del Reese, two characters who meet at a turpentine camp called Swallow Hill in Georgia in 1932. Rae Lynn presents herself to the camp boss as a man, “Ray” Cobb, because she’s running from disaster – and possibly jail – in North Carolina. She’s hoping to hide among the men who work in the camp and avoid being caught by people she’s certain are looking for her back home.

Del, an unashamed “lady’s man” (a term I hate but one used in the book), finds himself in need of a quick escape from a different work camp after being caught in a compromising position. He shows up at Swallow Hill intent on keeping his head down and doing the work.

As one might expect, Del’s and Rae Lynn’s paths cross, intersect, and come to a T. The crux of the story is whether they’ll turn the same direction at the T or go their separate ways.

I should say first that I listened to the audiobook version of this book, so my impression of it is, of course, impacted by that. I didn’t love Amy Melissa Bentley’s narration of the story and was not unhappy when I finished. Certain narrators approach the voices of characters from the South in a way that grates on me. They can sound overdone and too syrupy, as if they’re trying just a bit too hard. This one came across that way to me. I bumped the speed up to 1.25, and that helped.

I didn’t love this story, but I didn’t dislike it. I never really cared a whole lot about Rae Lynn and Del, which doesn’t help when they’re the main characters. Del annoyed me from the beginning because of his attitude toward women, and I guess I always felt at arm’s length from Rae Lynn. I think Everhart could have helped me feel closer to Rae Lynn if she had spent more time at the beginning with her and Warren and allowed me to get to know her better in that part of her life so that I could sympathize more with her later.

I think the most interesting character was Cornelia Riddle, who was relegated to the supporting cast. I won’t say much about “Nellie” here, to avoid spoilers, but I’d be curious how many other people wish we’d gotten to know her a whole lot better.

I was given an advance copy of the audiobook in return for my honest review, and I thank #NetGalley and #TantorAudio for that. Let me know what you think of #TheSaintsofSwallowHill when it’s released on January 25, 2022.

What a beautiful story. I've had other books by Donna Everhart on my tbr for some time but this is the first I've actually read and now I can't wait to read the others. The characters were so well developed, complex characters with complex lives. The setting was atmospheric and the history was informative and interesting. The story meanders in a very pleasant way, like life back then compared to now. It was such a good flow for the narrative. I really don't want to give too much away about the specific details because I went in kind of blind and I really enjoyed letting the story reveal itself to me. The narrator was also fantastic.

Thank you NetGalley, Everhart and publisher for the copy in exchange for an honest review. All opiniong are my own.