The Shepherd of the Hills (Paperback)

by Harold Bell Wright (Author) "THIS, my story, is a very old story..." (more)
Key Phrases: big mountaineer, moonlight things, brown pony, Aunt Mollie, Old Trail, Jim Lane (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Originally published in 1907, "The Shepherd of the Hills" is Harold Bell Wright's most famous work. Pelican Publishing Company is honored to bring this classic novel back to print as part of the Pelican Pouch series.

In "The Shepherd of the Hills," Wright spins a tale of universal truths across the years to the modern-day reader. His Eden in the Ozarks has a bountiful share of life's enchantments, but is not without its serpents. While Wright rejoices in the triumphs, grace, and dignity of his characters, he has not naively created a pastoral fantasyland where the pure at heart are spared life's struggles and pains. Refusing to yield to the oft-indulged temptation of painting for the reader the simple life of country innocents, Wright forthrightly shows the passions and the life-and-death struggles that go on even in the fairest of environments that man invades.

The shepherd, an elderly, mysterious, learned man, escapes the buzzing restlessness of the city to live in the backwoods neighborhood of Mutton Hollow in the Ozark hills. There he encounters Jim Lane, Grant Matthews, Sammy, Young Matt, and other residents of the village, and gradually learns to find a peace about the losses he has borne and has yet to bear. Through the shepherd and those around him, Wright assembles here a gentle and utterly masterful commentary on strength and weakness, failure and success, tranquility and turmoil, and punishment and absolution.

This tale of life in the Ozarks continues to draw thousands of devotees to outdoor performances in Branson, Missouri, where visitors can also see the cabin where the real Old Matt and Aunt Mollie lived.

From the Publisher
"Here and there among men, there are those who pause in the hurried rush to listen to the call of a life that is more real. He who sees too much is cursed for a dreamer, a fanatic, or a fool, by the mad mob, who, having eyes, see not, ears and hear not, and refuse to understand." ---"The Shepherd of the Hills"

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Pelican Publishing Company; 1st Pelican ed edition (February 29, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0882898841
• ISBN-13: 978-0882898841
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #175,790 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book outshines movie, play, May 30, 2002

By	SLO (Illinois) - See all my reviews

Once I read this book a few summers ago, it quickly became my all-time favorite book. I had seen the play, which is spectacular, and I had seen the movie (a bit disappointing to me), but nothing could prepare me for the book.
Harold Bell Wright creates a masterpiece. And that is an understatement. Several plots develop throughout the story, each one seeming irrelevent when compared to another, yet they are all interwoven masterfully by the end of the book. There is the lonely stranger, who wanders into the hills, and changes the community and then learns something about himself and the meaning of life. Readers then watch Sammy Lane struggle to become a "sure 'nough lady," and will most likely cheer on Young Matt as he fights to steal Sammy's heart from Ollie Stewart, though he knows Ollie promises Sammy a rich city life. Readers are also involved in Young Matt's and Wash Gibb's struggles to the title of "Strongest Man in the Hills." And Old Matt, Aunt Mollie and the Shepherd are forced to relive the past and learn from it, no matter how strong the pain is.
In conclusion, I just want to recommend this book to all people looking for some quality summer reading. The book may seem somewhat long, but it is hard to put down and you'll go through it quickly, wishing it would never end. Read this book and enjoy!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Shepard, February 20, 2002

By A Customer

This book was so good. I first read it when I seven and have read it a million times since. My parents have gone to see the play of it and they say the book is better. This book is truly better than any one of the many books I had to read in school. I wish they would make it part of the reading list in schools. Kids would enjoy it so much. If you are looking for a great all around book. This one is it. It has action, suspense, love, comedy, and of course drama. It is neither too long of a novel or too short.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some people take the high road, and some take the low road., November 23, 2004

By	Kevin M Quigg (Carol Stream, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This is an inspirational message. I recently visited Branson, Missouri and picked up a copy of this book. Branson residents assure me this book is true and is based on Wright's visit to this region in the late 1800s. At the end of the story, Wright's image appears as the artist painting the Ozark mountains. I saw the cabin where much of the story takes place.
For those interested in a book that is as lively as Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn, this is a good addition. Why, because the language is much the same as what Twain uses in his book. The author was once a minister, and the main character in the book is a former minister working as a shepherd of a flock of sheep.
The reader should understand there are plenty of references to God in this book, but this is not the main tenet of this book.

This is a pleasant read and there is an inspirational message in the story. I read this 250 odd page book in less than a day, so the reading is light and at first difficult due to the language used. However, I would recommend this book to anyone desiring to read about the endless conflict of right versus wrong. This book is based on true events.