Customer Reviews

Daughter of the Legend

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I was raised on the ridge where this book takes place. These people were always real to me, and the way Mr. Stuart describes them is as true to form as possible. I read the book when I was a little girl and then again when I was in my teens, and for the last few years I have not been able to find it. I am happy to have the opportunity to let my kids read this treasured book. My son has actually been in the play that was adapted from the book. This book has been a part of my family's history since it was written, and being from the same places as the characters, and knowing the people of this community I am proud to say that I am a raised in the hills of East Tennessee, Newman's ridge runner.

This is easily one of the most unappreciated classic books of all time. I'm not a big Jesse Stuart fan, but this story has stayed with me since childhood. I'm surprised Hollywood hasn't found it and ruined it yet.

It seems everything Jesse Stuart wrote was a gem! In a literary world where there is lot of throwaway writing (thin plots, shallow intents, forgettable stories), here is an author who brought Appalachia alive for the world! I am from Ohio, and as a young boy (having a mother who was an English teacher who adored Jesse Stuart), met him while he was signing some of his books at Leslie's Drug Store in Greenup, KY (which always had a display of his books). He lived right up the road in W-Hollow. I told him how I loved his books and how I wanted to be a teacher like he had been. He was delighted and discussed teaching with my mother and my future career with me. We discussed characters from his books at length. I bought "Come Gentle Spring' and he happily signed it and we were on our way back to Ohio. Since then I've read everything he's written numerous times. I recently read 'Daughter of the Legend' again and it still moves me. No one brings out the color and beauty of the Appalachian Mountains and the people who live there more than Jesse. Without Jesse Stuart, one would probably think of Appalachia as a dirty, smelly region of in breds right out of 'Deliverance'. Jesse shows the gentle, romantic and humerous side of these mountain people: the smell of fresh cornbread baking on a woodstove or the beauty of red rhododendrons blooming on the hill and the warmth and passion of a square dance after a tobacco harvest. I love Jesse Stuart's world and anytime you can get your hands on one of his works, indulge yourself and enjoy!

This book was so great that my 4 sisters read it and we talked about it all the time. My nieces heard so much about it they have read it as well. We talked like the Huntoons and picked out their strange names to call ourselves. I've looked for it for years but I was spelling Stuart wrong so I couldn't find it on the library shelves. Now I can sign it out again and read it and relive my childhood. I also want to read more about the Melungeons.

One of my favorite books. Read it in high school and just recently revisisted it. Still as good as I remembered.