3.9. but rounding up to 4 I liked Jeanette Walls other books, Half Broke Horses and The Glass Castle. She spins a good tale on rural American life. In this historical fiction, set during 1920s Prohibition in Virginia, we meet Sallie Kincaid, the daughter of a scion from a wealthy family in that area and de facto ruler of a rural Virginia county in the mountains. Sallie lost her mother at a young age but was sent away to live with her impoverished maternal aunt due to an accident involving her younger half brother. Sallie returns to her family home and meets more challenges from an overbearing paternal aunt, her new stepmother, and then her older half sister who takes over the family holdings. Sallie has a lot of spunk and through unforeseen circumstances ultimately takes control of her father’s empire. The novel delves into many issues: complicated family relationships, family secrets, pain and loss, religious and moral fervor, rural life, inheritance, bootlegging, gang wars, and a Tudorian Henry VIII type saga. For the most part, a well written engaging novel with good character development; however I found the ending a little too clean and contrived. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me an advanced copy for a candid and unbiased review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
Sallie Kincaid is such an awesome character! I love her spunk and feistiness. She faces a lot of tough times and tragedies (no spoilers from me) and how she handles life can get a bit crazy. This was a fun book to read with a lot going on.

As always a book by Walls is a very good read, with realistic interesting characters, that hold your interest and keep you turning pages to see what happens next. Recommended for all readers who are looking for a good read set in the early part of the twentieth century

I have read the author's previous Memoirs and enjoyed them, especially "The Glass Castle", so was happy to be auto-approved for her new, historical fiction novel, "Hang the Moon". This one has a plucky MC, Sally Kincaid, daughter of a Virginia moonshiner, Duke. Lots of family drama in this one, which is sort-of the author's "thing", and it's also a coming-of-age story, as well. I found it interesting, and enjoyable & recommend to those into historical fiction that isn't set in WWII or Britain, lol! My sincere thanks to the publisher for the complimentary DRC, all ratings & opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed Walls’ memoir Glass Castles, so I was really looking forward to this novel. However, I could not even get through the prologue. Any book published in this age with a Black maid manned Old Ida is going to be an automatic no for me.

Hang the Moon illuminates the positives and negatives of the prohibition era especially in rural counties in the South where income was scarce among so many. Also, the results of extramarital affairs dominate this novel with one family secret after the next being shockingly revealed as well as one death after the next. Perseverance by the heroine is prominent which makes for an exciting novel throughout. I loved it.

While I didn’t always think Sallie was making the choices I would, I admired her defiant and mostly fearless actions as she dealt with family shifts, deaths, births, proposals, feuds, successes, and failures. This was a book about how tough life could be for a woman in the 1920s, and it was a nearly constant battle. I preferred this title to Glass Castle, so I hope the many fans of her previous winner are drawn to this as quickly as I was.

Having loved The Glass Castle, I was excited to read Hang the Moon. A historical fiction based on several true events; set during the days of prohibition. Sallie, the main character is a strong woman who faces many adversities involving her family’s business of bootlegging moonshine in the South. She is a compassionate woman in spite of her difficult upbringing, and a woman you will root for throughout the book.
The story is full of intrigue, family drama including many power struggles. I enjoyed the book and learned a bit about this particular time period.
Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC.

How did I fall in love with this book? It is so completely different than my usual picks. That tells you that this is a true storyteller who knows her stuff. I love Sallie. She’s a wonderfully strong young woman who learns the hard way that love and marriage come with a big risk and it rarely works out. I love this-“There are two kinds of family, those you’re born into and those you put together from pieces that don’t go anywhere else, and this is one of those families. Like mismatched buttons that still keep your shirt closed “. Amazing book.

This book has all the Walls signature move. It will take you on a roller coaster and leave you breathless. While I did not like it as much as Glass Castle, it will definitely be a book that I recommend to my students who love her work.

Throughly enjoyed this book, interesting historical background, coupled with characters who are engaging and full of life. I can recommend this to anyone who likes a good story.

Hang the Moon
Motherless Sallie Kincaid is the daughter of the wealthiest man in a small Virginia town. She idolizes her father who runs the town, but an accident forces her to go live with her aunt for nine years. When she returns to her family home, Sally must grow into a brave, strong, and independent woman and eventually help run her family business. She must contend with gender inequality, grief, uncovering family secrets, and the moral struggle of making the family money by bootlegging. Some of the events that happen in this Prohibition era novel are based on real life events. This is another great book by Jeannette Walls who never disappoints. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Sallie Kincaid adores her larger than life father who rules their small Virginia town. He is loud, he demands respect and he loves to be adored until it is a nuisance. Duke marries whenever he tires of or loses the current wife so Sallie is shipped off to her aunt's house for most of her childhood until summoned home. In spite of this, Sallie strives to stay in her father's good graces and take over the business - not something that women did. She sidesteps marriage and learns the rum running family business which is booming since Prohibition as well as gaining respect of the townspeople. Most people she loves let her down but she refuses to stay there. Through family secrets , unkept promises and a dangerous Hatfields and McCoys feud Sallie continues to protect her investment and her people. We have come to trust in the stories of Jeannette Walls that highlight the unshakeable spirit of the hardworking mountain people. The author's many fans as well as those of LAST DANCE ON THE STARLIGHT PIER and THE FOUR WINDS will take to heart this gritty historical tale. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

This was a wonderful book, with the main characters all being powerful women. The women in the book are independent and strong in a time when this was not the norm for women. All though they all had men in their lives they were not dependent on them. The strongest supports were the other women in their lives.

Jeannette Walls has created a world within a world as readers are taken deep into the Prohibition Era---those who favored the Volsted Act and those who did everything in their power to oppose it. What was right? Watch the family starve or generate illegal liquor and an income? Main character Sallie (meaning "princess") Kincaid struggles with the morality and reality of bootlegging.
Many characters become part of Sallie's life, and the ever-present action should have left her breathless and beaten. Instead, at every turn, Sallie will make the best of the situation. manipulating the situation in her favor and gaining more than she loses.
Readers should enjoy connecting characters of the Tudor era as they play their roles of the 1500s on the Prohibition Virginia stage.
A very clever saga from well-respected author Jeanette Walls.

Another winner by Jeanette Walls. Well researched historical fiction set in the Prohibition era. This exceptional author has created rich and deeply flawed characters that will leave you wanting more as you turn that last page.

I’m a fan of Jeanette Walls writing and this book was another wonderful read.I was drawn right in by the characters the family relationships.I was so involved I read late into the night.Will be recommending.#netgalley #scribner

Hang the Moon was a book I couldn’t put down. I’ve always enjoyed Jeannette Walls and this book is no exception. Sallie, a survivor against all odds, has some big issues. Her daddy, Duke, is the good old boy boss of the town and he rules with an iron fist. While he can be compassionate, he mostly just wants his way. Through a series of deaths and deceptions, Sallie ends up being the woman in charge. She’s a force to be reckoned with.
Excellent book!

Hang the Moon a beautifully written story by Jeannette Walls about the Kincaid Family from Virginia during the time of Prohibition. The main character that lives on throughout this story is Sallie Kincaid the daughter of Duke Kincaid who is from the wealthiest families in Virginia. Sallie idolized her farther a bigger than life hero to all the residents of of their Virginia town. As Sallie return home after she was sent to live with her Aunt Faye in another county, because she almost killed her half brother, Sallie starts to see Duke for whom he really is. Is he the loving father to a daughter who was summoned home upon his second wife's death. Or was he a man of many many dark secrets that start to unfold as Sallie becomes the head of the Kincaid Empire.

I loved Sallie's character and how she evolved throughout the book. She grew from a young girl who lost her mother and had to fight for the love of a man who was the savior to all. She is sent away at a young age which was to be for a short time, then turned into years. She returns to her home where she wasn't even considered a rightful Kincaid because of her mother. She then turns into a strong woman with opinions and beliefs of her own. She proves to her father that she can step into the family business and work to make it better. Even though at that time women had no say in anything. That is until a lovely picnic turns into a horrible nightmare and Sallie learns not to trust everyone and to watch her back. Sallie grows into a smart business women who can now run Kincaid Holdings when a turn of unfortunate events throws her life into a tailspin.

Dark secrets unfold and the father whom she adored and looked up to wasn't the saint people thought he was. Sallie decided to become a better person than her father and began running the business her way and made sure that all the people the Duke harmed were taken care of. Yet what other secrets were the Kincaid family hiding?

This book is about family and being loyal to that family no matter what. Only you have to watch out who to trust and how do to make peace with people and take your lumps along the way. Yet you keep telling yourself that you have to make things better for the future of your family. That is why I like Ms. Walls writing so much. She writes about the wrongs that are done to ones family yet finds a way to overcome the bad situations and make them right.. To overcome the lies and hurt and try and make sure you stop the cycle hurt and pain and move on to a brighter tomorrow.

I would recommend to book to anyone who has read Ms. Walls's previous books. If you like a story of a strong women who accomplishes many things at a time when women were to be seen and and not heard. The story of moving on without someone telling you what you can and cannot do. Thank you Ms. Walls for a great story and to NetGalley for the ARC. I look forward to more from Jeannette Walls.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for an e ARC of this book. This is a Cinderella story set during prohibition without the prince. While I rooted for Sallie, a brave and resourceful young woman, there were too many plot devices and characters moving the story forward. The first half hooked me in and I kept reading to see where she was going to land.