Customer Reviews

The Town on Beaver Creek: The Story of a Lost Kentucky Community

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm willing to bet most people (myself included) started this book thinking it was ridiculous. Why would people continue to live in a town that floods EVERY year? Well, after getting a few chapters into this book, I began to understand. This town had become a family, and they couldn't dream of moving away and living elsewhere.

Now, while the author, Mrs. Slatalla, has never lived in Martin, Kentucky herself, her relatives all have. Her mother and aunts were born and raised there, along with her grandparents, and her great-grandparents spent the majority of their lives there. Her family (great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and so on) were very active members of the Martin community. They worked for the coal companies and the C&O Rail Co. that were part of Martin's heyday in the 30's and 40's. Her grandmother Mary worked as a nurse in the local hospital, and oversaw the births of countless of the towns residences.

Overall, I just loved this book. It reads like a fiction novel, but there's no doubt that the folks in this book were real. I have grown an extreme fondness for the Mynhiers, Wolvertons, Flannerys, Salisburys, and all the rest of this town that has now disappeared into to history. I must say that I agree with Mrs. Slatalla though...even though the Army Corps of Engineers is going to rebuild Martin, Kentucky so the yearly floods will no longer be a problem, and planned communities and a new relocated downtown is planned, it won't be the same. It won't be the original Martin, and to those who know it's past, and have spent their lives there, it couldn't possibly still feel like home.

as a resident of martin, i just had to read this book. it was great. i've been to the cemetary and seen where these ppl now rest. i've shopped in e.p. grisbsy's store that is still in business. it does read like a fiction novel which makes it even better. i kept imagining myself at the old train depot and hestas different houses. i know where most of those places once stood and reading this book (even tho we're of no relation to the families that the book is about) it was a lil like going home. like sitting around and hearing your grandparents tell of their history. I couldn't put it down! I read the entire book in one day.

I was born in Martin, and, even though I left with my family when I was 4, I spent many summers at my grandparents. Many of the names in the book were familiar in that I knew the grandchildren of the characters. I also bought copies for my mother and aunt, as they were born there, and went to school at the old high school. They really enjoyed reading stories that they had been told in their youth.

Although I think this book would appeal most to the people with ties to the area (the reason I gave it only 4 stars), it is a good read, and tells the story of a way of life that is slipping away. The people are real, and Ms. Slatalla keeps them that way. Now, if she wants to write another book, my family could tell her a lot more stories :-).

For someone who grew up in Kentucky, though I do not know E. Ky. very well, this is a fantastic book, and a little seen view into the small town areas in Eastern Kentucky who are so adversely affected by the floods on the Big Sandy and others. The author has personalized it in myriad ways and has backed it up with people and documents at every turn. Her style of writing is easy to read and very appropriate to her subject. It's a great read, and I would recommend it to anyone with a deep love of the Bluegrass State and its people.

This was a great seller I got this book from. Shipped fast and packed very well. I love the book, can't put it down, I like to read and this book is about Kentucky, the state I am from. I love seller's like this one. You can't go wrong, but from this seller and you will be happy. Was a very good price and shipping cost was fine.

Phyllis

Michelle Slatalla has done a wonderful job of capturing the heart and soul of this corner of Kentucky, and I thoroughly enjoyed the trip to the land where my mother and her two sisters were born over one hundred years ago. My great-great-great grandfather settled near Beaver Creek in the early years of the 19th century, and his grave was one that was moved when the area was flooded in the middle of the last century, so this was family territory for several generations. I have never visited this area, and that was one reason I found Ms. Slatalla's descriptions of people and places most interesting. Even though I had a personal interest in the place about which she was telling, the research she has done and the stories she tells make for good reading for anyone interested in a bit of American history, both time and place, whether or not there is a family connection.

This book...I couldn't put it down. The author writes with such directness, you feel as if you are there, in this town that refused to give up. The family and town folk are weird, warm, crazy, tough, amazing.

Lots of hard work and research was put into this book. It is well written and fun to read. If you love to read and have a chance to read this book it is really wonderful.

I was somewhat disappointed in the storyline of this book titled "The Town on Beaver Creek". I expected more facts and historical events regarding Martin, Kentucky but only about 25% of the book gives direct information on "a Lost Kentucky Community".