One of the reasons we love books is because we love stories. This is a book about stories and how they shape lives.

In 1932, Cumberland Island off the coast of Georgia is a place where the rich gather for the season in their mansions. Promising young men come to hunt, the debutant comes to find a husband, and the artist comes on a promise. Plum Orchard hosts the party this year, but things get out of hand and the storytelling and the atmosphere cause strange things to happen and no one is ever the same.

In 1959, Cloe Woodbine still lives on a sliver of land near the mansions. Francis Flood comes looking for answers about her mother, who is recently passed away. Audrey Howell is newly widowed and running the inn in town. As these three women's lives collide in the racial tensions of the 50s and 60s, secrets come out and everything is not what it seemed so long ago.

I gave this one ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25. It is beautifully written! The atmosphere and descriptions make you feel like you were there. I almost felt like I was in a fever dream in the setting of the night that changed everything. It is told in dual timeline and she labels certain sections "Fable" which I really loved. It touches on sexism, good old boy society, racism, and how the rich cover up anything that doesn't fit into their reputations. However, it also has the good of humanity. It is a book where the setting is almost a character of itself.

Thank you to @@harpermusebooks for an arc and @netgalley for an audio copy. I went back-and-forth between the two and they were both wonderful!!

Kimberly Brock’s best novel yet is The Fabled Earth, a richly woven tale as hauntingly beautiful as the gorgeous descriptions of the coast of Southern Georgia. I so loved getting caught up in this small Southern town of the past. There was so much meaning in every word, and I really felt like the deeper themes of race and class in this book were well-written and impactful. I also loved the intertwinings of art and literary symbolism and reccomend this book to anyone who loves Southern, Historical, or Women's Fiction. Kimberly Brock is a strong voice and you won't read The Fabled Earth without being moved.

First off let me thank NetGalley, HarperCollins, and Kimberly Brock for this ARC copy of The Fabled Earth by Kimberly Brock. The narration by Cassandra Campbell was done perfectly. Kimberly Brock's style to be leisurely, calm and reflective.

From her blurb: Sometimes the truth is found in a folktale.

Set among the wild and tamed elements of Cumberland Island, this novel tells the stories of 4 women and the island itself. There are 4 points of view: Cleo, Frances, and Audrey (real life women finding their place among the stories of their lives and Fable the truth behind the happenings of the 1932). I loved the opening chapters of The Fabled Earth where we meet 1950s Cleo gliding through the salt marshes of Georgia. The descriptions and scenery gave me lots of Where the Crawdad Sings vibes. Reading the chapters was peaceful, calming, and immersive.

Exploring Cleo’s world in both timelines was entertaining. There are many different stories packed into this novel, but all of them move along in a leisurely way. If you are looking for a novel rich in history with complex characters, then The Fabled Earth is for you!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins Focus for introducing me to a new place and author.

I listened to the audio book, and I was immediately immersed in two different timelines. Kimberly Brock did such an amazing job with how beautifully written this story was. I enjoyed every minute of it. The characters were well thought out and descriptive. With the descriptive setting, I felt like I was right there in the moment. I found this to be such a good book, and I can't wait for more from this author. Also, the narrator was epic, and she made this story come to life. I highly recommend this audio book for the history/historical fiction readers.

Thank you Net Galley ARC, Harper Collins Focus, and Kimberly Brock.

The past shapes our future. Taking place on Cumberland Island, the setting becomes a character in this story of regret, racism, and nature.

I plan to read this again. It had a lot of information, plots and characters so I want to read it again.

I was super excited to read this book due to the hype around It; however, I struggled to fall into the story. Told via a dual timelines, I feel like this book needed clearer indications of which time the chapters/scenes were being told from. I did enjoy the characters and following their journey but this book is. a great example of how we all have different preferences and it's okay to enjoy what you like. Wasn't for me but may be for you!

Actual Rating 2.5

I struggled a bit with this one. It’s told from multiple POVs in dual timelines, and all of the POVs are women. Unfortunately, I had a hard time finding the narrators’ voices to be distinct, which made it even more difficult to keep track of who was who, who was in what timeline, how people were connected to each other, etc. Part of what contributed to this was that the historic settings (1932 and 1959) didn’t feel distinct enough to aid in keeping the timeline and characters straight.

What I enjoyed most was seeing the changes and growth in Cleo’s character throughout the book. The author did a wonderful job showing how the events in Cleo’s past shifted her and impacted her (both negatively and positively) well into her adult life. The other two FMCs had interesting backgrounds, and I think I would have liked them more if their voices had been more distinctive.

I listened to the audiobook version and there was only one narrator, so I wonder if I’d used a physical copy if the characters would have bene more distinguishable. Overall, this is a decent one if you like slower historical fictions. My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Cassandra Campbell narrated The Fabled Earth. The narration was promising but I was bored at times. There were many characters and they all sounded the same. I listened at 2.0x because I was able to pair with a physical copy as well.
This was my first book by author Kimberly Brock. It was a slow burn historical fiction story with a dual timeline and multiple points of view. I found that the novel had many characters to track. The sense of place and genre mashup made the story interesting.

This was a beautifully written, atmospheric story. Unfortunately, some of the plot was lost to me with the jumping timelines that I felt were not clearly marked, especially when listening to the audiobook. I enjoyed the ghost story aspects, and I liked the setting.

Overall I think this was a good story, but I listened to the audiobook version and had a hard time following along. The story shifts back and forth between time periods, and two main characters have names that sound very similar so I kept getting confused. I would recommend this book but suggest reading the paper or kindle version over the audiobook.

Secrets. Legends. Memories. Regrets. What is myth and what is truth?

The Fabled Earth is a dual timeline historical fiction novel set on Cumberland Island, Georgia. In 1932, a night of drinking and storytelling at an illustrious estate ends in tragedy. Lives are lost, lives are changed forever.

In 1959, a woman comes to Cumberland Island looking for information about her recently deceased mother and sets in motion a reckoning for that long-ago night.

I was fascinated by the premise of this book. The writing was beautiful and really built a sense of place, time, and atmosphere. In the end, however, the book just didn’t work for me. The author did not do a great job of delineating jumps in time. The writing, while lovely, was extremely slow and got bogged down in unnecessary digressions that didn’t add to the plot. Also, there were so many characters, which made it difficult to follow with only one narrator. This would have worked better in print or as a full cast audiobook.

This definitely wasn’t a bad book, but it didn’t hold my interest through most of it or live up to the potential of its premise. 3 out of 5 stars.

I got about a third of the way into the audio version of this book, but it just didn't grab my attention enough to finish it. It seemed well written, but the coming of age story just didn't resonate with me right now. Maybe for some other readers.

This was a dual timeline between 1959 with flashbacks to 1932 that had back history that influenced the more recent timeline and the characters struggling with shame, guilt, or trying to figure out who they were after losses. It primarily focuses on 3 main female characters, one who is in both timelines.

The book had moments that I engaged with, dealing with the characters trying to navigate class/wealth expectations and disparity between themselves in ‘32, and in ‘59 with civil rights and racism struggles, as well as family issues in a small town, and both with some deaths that influenced the characters.

While the landscape was well described and at times I engaged with the story, most of the time I kept losing the plot and interest. Maybe it was the audio and the printed would have been better as other reviewers considered, but there were so many characters to keep track of I kept getting confused who was who and what role they had, and I honestly just got bored since there wasn’t a ton going on and it was more character driven.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this audiobook. All opinions are mine.

I love reading books with dual time periods or bildungsroman's where we can watch the character grow. However, this audiobook had one reader that didn't seem to change their voice as we traveled from period to period with the same main character. This alone is really my low rating for the ALC, as it was more difficult for me to stay connected since it felt like I was just lost between the transitions. I think this one is best as a read vs listen.
After finishing, I also realized there were many characters to keep in my mind, so stopping the audiobook for work and then trying to get back to listening was more difficult. I was hoping to get the next "Crawdads" but this wasn't it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ALC copy, all opinions are my own.

The Fabled Earth by Kimberly Brock tells a story of the legends of Cumberland Island, and the folks who lived and survived all of its storms.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by the amazing Cassandra Campbell. Her narration was fantastic and literally took me right into this world of characters and stories. I loved it.
Thank you to the author for this story and to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Liked it, fun while I was reading it
I liked the historical dual timeline where both were in the past (1932 & 1959). It's a very subtle story with a lot of characters. I sometimes had trouble keeping them all straight but that's pretty typical of myself. I did really like that you get a very good idea and feel for life in and around Cumberland Island.

The narrator, Cassandra Campbell, did a good job, I had no trouble understanding who was saying what, where, when, with what expression/intension, and the appropriate accent.

Thank you to HarperCollins Focus, NetGalley, and author Kimberly Brock for providing me with a digital ARC copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. The Fabled Earth is out October 1, 2024.

The Fabled Earth unfolds as a historical mystery steeped in Southern gothic charm and set on Cumberland Island spanning two timelines—1932 and 1959. The 1932 storyline offers glimpses of a glamorous and dark original gathering, while the 1959 narrative introduces a folklorist seeking answers and a widow who is forced to reckon with her past.

While the plot doesn’t have the gripping pace of a thriller, the intrigue lies in the question: what led this sociable debutante to become a reclusive artist? This central mystery, combined with a dual timeline structure, gradually draws the reader into the secrets that haunt her life. The story has a subtle allure, capturing the faded elegance of old-school photography, Southern folklore, and the weight of carrying the past forward.

“Everyone of us has a library we’re carrying around right inside us. All those stories just waiting…”

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins Focus | Harper Muse for the ARC audiobook.

Just an okay dual historical timeline read by a new to me author if I'm completely honest. I was intrigued by the book's description and its recommendation for fans of Where the crawdads sings but I struggled to fully get invested in the characters and found it just okay on audio. Not one I would go out of my way to recommend unfortunately. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

The Fabled Earth
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Oh my Heavens I didn't want the book to end. It was absolutely 💯 Fantastic! Kimberly is the Queen of the Marsh. You will cheer on & totally fall for Cleo, Francis and Audrey. Kimberly is a master storyteller. I read the book & listened to the Audio. I LOVED both!!
GOOOO run out & buy this book.
Thank you NetGalley!