If The Creek Don't Rise By Leah Weiss

This story takes place in the mountains of Appalachia in the 1970's. What struck me was how insulated this world really is. Sadie Blue young and pregnant is newly married to Roy Tupkin who beats her on a regular basis. My favorite character's are Sadie, Marris and Kate Shaw, the new school teacher from the valley.

In this story Baines Creek, which is a fictional town of North Carolina the setting comes alive and is as richly drawn as the characters. I enjoyed every page of this book from cover to cover. The character's were all vivid and came alive on the page to me. Marris, who was always ready to help any of the character's in this community was a favorite for me. I truly enjoyed seeing Kate Shaw adapt to the community of Baines Creek. I thought Kate Shaw was brave to live up on the mountain by herself and was warmed by how kind she treated the children that she taught, giving them penny candy for answering a question. Watching her learn and have a desire to learn and respect the way of life of Appalachia.

I don't remember the last time I read a book that I loved some of the character's so deeply and intensely, as some of the characters of this story. This was a debut book for this author and would love to read more of her future work. This book is one of the reason's I enjoy reading so much. I can't praise this book high enough and do hope reader's enjoy it as much as I did.
Highly Recommended. Five Stars Plus!!!!!

Thank you to Net Galley, Leah Weiss and Sourcebooks, Inc. for the pleasure of reading and reviewing this book for a fair and honest Review. Leah Weiss you have talent more than words could describe.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I didn't know "if the creek don't rise" was a saying. The phrase is "God willing and the creek don't rise".

I'll be honest. It was hard for me to stay with this book at first. The main characters speak a dialect that is hard to understand and to follow. However, please stick with it. This is a stunning debut. I nearly gave up, and I would have missed this.
The novel is set somewhere in Appalachia. Sadie Blue is facing a terrible future. She's married to a dangerous drunk named Roy. She thinks that this is her only future, but something may change. She's had a terrible life and has been abused by so many. You are rooting for her. There is hardship, murder, love, hatred, and some redemption.

I am surprised that this is a debut as Weiss is fantastic. I am a fan of fiction set in the south. A good read.

I am from a small town in the south so all these southern drawls and references made my heart melt. Her description of people and their situations felt so real. I was pulling for Sadie all the way. I give this book 2 thumbs up. heartfelt writing

Leah Weiss does an incredible job showing the hard life in 1970 Appalachia. The Appalachian people are different from all others and Ms. Weiss shows their strength as well as their weaknesses.

This book is absolutely BREATHTAKING! It's been quite a while since a book has had such an impact on me that I forgot that books could actually do this! Leah Weiss is an absolute GENIUS and I couldn't recommend this book more to fellow book lovers. This is definitely a book I will share with my friends over and over again!

Set in the Appalachian mountains, this story gives us a glimpse into the community of Baines Creek from several viewpoints. There is no doubt that life is hard in this economically depressed area where no one ever seems to have enough of anything. Yet the spirit, kindness, and community of so many outweighs the mean-spirited and even evil deeds of others. At times this story is heart-wrenching and at others uplifting to see folks caring for one another when times are toughest. Filled with truly interesting characters, the good and the bad, this feels like a very real story and the reader just stepped in to visit for a time.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this ARC of If the Creek Don't Rise.

This book is centered around a young woman name Sadie Blue who lives very unfortunately in the Appalachians. Sadie is very unlucky in love with Roy Tupkins who, only a day or so after their wedding, begins abusing her. Her story is told through the voices of all the people who are in her life including her grandmother, the local preacher, the new school teacher, Roy's best friend Bobby and from Roy himself. We also get the short stories of these individuals as well, so Sadie is simply the adhesive that binds them all together.

The ending surprised me greatly, but not in a bad way :)

The best ending I can remember! Throughout the book, Weiss shows us tiny sparks of light and energy in the lives of a tight-knit, down-on-its luck Appalachian community in the 1970s. She switches point on view from one character to another, starting and ending with Sadie Blue, beginning with her sad. violent reality and ending with an ending that still makes me smile. The characters range from the pathetically hopeful preacher Eli to the extremely tall teacher with her own secrets to Sadie's nasty husband and his sad but equally despicable buddy, to Grandma who has flat-out given up and an aunt whose good cheer keeps her going. This is an incredible debut novel, with a story arc built through solid character development. I will look with eagerness for Ms. Weiss's next novel. Thanks to NetGalley for offering me this review copy.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32804703-if-the-creek-don-t-rise" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="If The Creek Don't Rise" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1478043967m/32804703.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32804703-if-the-creek-don-t-rise">If The Creek Don't Rise</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16013248.Leah_Weiss">Leah Weiss</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1864642826">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
It is 1970, and we follow the story of a young Appalachian girl, Sadie Blue age 17, pregnant and newly married to an evil young man who is abusive.<br /><br />This story takes place in a small town in the mountains of North Carolina and we are introduced to quite a cast of characters.<br /><br />I really enjoyed this book. I hope there is a follow up to learn more about the people we met in this town.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/12851291-karen">View all my reviews</a>

If the Creek Don't Rise is a book about a girl name Sadie Blue and the town she was raised in.
There are fourteen chapters in this novel and eleven are told by a different character, three told by Sadie Blue. This is about a poor town and how the people live by relying on each other but also trying to get away from the bad town folk.
Each chapter weaves the tale of the characters giving a little back story and coming current. It all ties together in the end but at the same time leaves so much to the imagination. Is there going to be another book letting the readers know what happens to Preacher Eli or Miss Shaw? Or any of the other characters? We can only hope.

4 1/2 Stars

A gem of a story, richly told and beautifully woven together. This novel was cleverly written by using a different voice for each new chapter. With the storylines overlapping, we really got a feel for each unique character. A haunting debut that was very hard to put down with a doozy of an ending! ❤

Interesting story told through different viewpoints of life in Appalachia. The characters are engaging and the story unfolds smoothly. Great ending.

Sadie Blue. Pregnant, seventeen, still a newlywed, if maybe a little less optimistic about her hopes for her marriage since her husband Roy Tupkin knocked her around a bit. Her only weakness, if you can call it that, is her love of Loretta Lynn. She can’t read the magazine she carries around with her since she only knows how to read but a few words, but she knows all her lyrics from listening to her on the radio. Her daddy, Otis Blue, has passed on, but continues to give advice to Sadie on saving herself from Roy’s temper. Her mother, Carly, left Sadie’s father when she was just a baby, leaving town with a “fancy man full of flashy promises and little else.”

In the here and now of 1970’s Baines Creek, the person Sadie counts on most of all is her grandmother, her mother’s momma, the first of their family still living to come to live in Baines Creek. Mary Harris Jones, named after Mother Jones who once upon a time visited their little town of coal mine families. Born in 1898, she’d lived in Rock Bottom, West Virginia with her parents and brothers, a coal mining family among other coal mining families.

When Mary Harris Jones, called Marris as those two names slid into one, arrived in Baines Creek at ten years old, she saw colours for the first time, having never seen any in Rock Bottom where the sky and everything else was always coated in gray. The blue sky and white clouds seemed to be a glimpse of heaven.

"When I was born, my folks don’t live in Baines Creek in the highlands of North Carolina like now. Baines Creek don’t have coal to dig in its heart that breaks a man in two. When I come along, we live over Rock Bottom way in West Virginia, on the airish side of the mountain where coal dust sifted through slits around the windows, and spindly houses can’t be scrubbed clean. Where we lived looked the same inside as it did outside. Gray."

Part of her family left behind. Coalmines are dangerous work. Their family is smaller now.

"Rock Bottom cut the heart outta folks and let em walk round thinking they was alive when they won’t.""

Sadie is still a bit of an innocent, hard to believe anyone could be in this place where moonshine is a primary source of income. Her heart is still open to people, despite everything life has tried to teach her, and when Miss Kate Shaw comes to Baines Creek to be the new teacher, they bond quickly. Sadie wants to help Kate, and Kate wants to help Sadie, help her learn to read and more. Others join in, an alliance, each intent on helping Sadie, but also the “others” within this group.

Each section shares a perspective of time and place and people, and there are many different perspectives. Amazingly this flows effortlessly, and you see their views, how those connect with young Sadie’s life, all of their stories lead you right back into Sadie’s story, a group consciousness, if you will, which reads as though you were sitting in the room with them. Narrated in a stream-of-consciousness type flow, with a uniquely Appalachian colloquial essence, which really adds to the joy of reading this unforgettable story. The narration might require a very slight adjustment. Words such as won’t instead of weren’t, writing by the sound rather than the standard spelling.

I loved this story, these wonderfully authentic characters, with a setting so purely raw, wild and gritty I could see it, the language so convincing I could hear the measured lilt of the drawl.

The ending is the cherry on top of the best sundae you’ve ever wanted to have. After a carefully concocted blend of flavours, it ends with that bit of zing you weren’t quite expecting.

This is Leah Weiss’ debut novel, which is hard to believe. I’m hoping she’ll return to these people in her next novel!

Thank you Net Galley for this advance copy in return for an honest review.
This is one of those books that will stay in your memory for a long time. It was written in first-person, but each chapter was a different "first person". I wasn't sure where the plot was going and in the middle of the book. But when things came together.... WOW! No spoilers... but the when I read the last sentence of this book all I could say was WOW. Great book, I enjoyed reading.

This book had me captivated from the start. It is fascinating and heartbreaking in so many places. This story about Baines Creek and the people in it is beautifully told. Their colourful lives are heartbreakingly different from the books I normally read and I will remember them for a long time.

"We learned the important key to good storytelling - add real people to the mix." ... Which is exactly what Leah Weiss does in 'If The Creek Don't Rise'. She captures a people of true grit that resonate in a solid structure of a good story. The timbre of their language rings hypnotic and true, as Weiss crafts a voice of extraordinary texture. You can't help but pull in close to enjoy the details.
Each chapter is named after the eponymous character it focuses on. They center, in a kind of circular flow, around a few main events - the domestic abuse of a pregnant woman, the arrival of a new school teacher and the disappearance of a local girl. When we read a new chapter, we circle back to those events from the new characters first person POV, offering new insight, keeping the narrative stream clear and fresh.
There are almost a dozen to meet - every one of them unique. Weiss maintains a good command over this list of dimensional characters, most of whom are never lost in the layers of the narrative.

Thank you, Ms. Weiss, for "Sadie Blue" - the prettiest color thread weaved throughout your story. And thank you for "Marris" - for being its heart.

Beautiful prose, deeply developed characters, engaging story-line, unforgettable read.

I wish I could adopt the blurb and make it to my review. It has absolutely everything that a reader needs to know to decide if it is worth it to read this book or not. Honestly, just read the blurb and you will know.

This book is a pure beauty, in words and in a way the story is told. It has a very unique structure, a multiple first person pov. I'm not a big fan of changing POV, and I have never imagined that a multiple viewpoint novel could be such a satisfying read, and even less that a debut author can master the challenge with such ease and style.

Set in a small provincial community, in North Carolina, in the Appalachian mountain, in the 1970s, If The Creek Don't Rise: A Novel tells the story of Sadie Blue, of finding hopes and strength to be able to take fate in her own hands.

Breathtaking nature as an astonishing contrast to the terribly poor living and social conditions.

I absolutely LOVE this book.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. Thank you.

This book. Wow. I couldn't put it down. What a story, so richly told through varying points of view, that is neither repetitious or abrupt. I can't wait to read more from this author. Bravo!

Wow this was a very good book! I was rooting for Sadie Blue from the very beginning. All the characters were so interesting and I would love to read more about these characters. It seem like it was further back in time rather than 1970. It was the fact that time seemed to stand still in Baines Creek. I love how it ended and was left with the odd twist at the end. I loved this book!

Not really a strong plot or story-based book, but I enjoyed it just the same because of the characters, dialogue, setting, relationships and interactions...all developed and authentic. Set in the mountains of western NC, this is the story of everyday life in a very small, Appalachian community and the people who live there.