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On Agate Hill

Lee Smith

Start date: April 1, 2012

Finish date: May 31, 2012

Discussion: Group Book Discussion

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Apr 04, 2012 Suzanne Moore rated it really liked it

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I randomly picked up this audio book while living in Texas. It turned out to be quite a coincidence that I chose to listen to this book at the precise time that I did. Let me begin with a little background on the novel. First there are two related story lines in this book … a past that contributes to a present.

In the present Tuscany Miller, college student, is living in the mountains of North Carolina with her father and his partner. They have been restoring a recently acquired house into a bed I randomly picked up this audio book while living in Texas. It turned out to be quite a coincidence that I chose to listen to this book at the precise time that I did. Let me begin with a little background on the novel. First there are two related story lines in this book … a past that contributes to a present.

In the present Tuscany Miller, college student, is living in the mountains of North Carolina with her father and his partner. They have been restoring a recently acquired house into a bed and breakfast inn. While Tuscany is exploring the attic of this house, she finds a box of old letters and diaries from the post Civil War era. She becomes so absorbed in the hidden stories behind these documents that she uses them as a basis for her thesis paper. This brings the past alive on Agate Hill.

The diaries are written by Molly Petree, a young girl, orphaned by the Civil War and follow through her early years. She is sent to an all-girls school in the Appalachian mountains and settles there as an adult, working as a teacher. Letters and more diaries, along with newspaper clippings are saved though the years, telling Molly's story. The people she becomes close to and her mysterious benefactor are referred to often, becoming characters in the unfolding drama. When Molly marries, she returns to her childhood home and faces multiple tragedies. She has numerous still-born children and then her husband is murdered. It is uncertain what exactly took place … a fire destroyed the crime scene. Molly continues to survive despite her hardships. I'm inclined to believe there were secrets she took to her grave. What Tuscany finds are remnants of an extraordinary life along with clues to a cold case … an unsolved mystery. The ending left me wondering???

Okay so what is the coincidence between this book and my world …

At the time I was listening to this book, I was looking for a job in the Appalachian mountains. As I said, I randomly picked up this book and thought how cool it was that the setting was in the mountains. I had sent out email alerts to notify me of available library jobs near Sparta, NC. Sparta is my father's hometown. In fact my grandmother who recently passed away lived there and I wanted to find a job in the vicinity in order to buy her house. One afternoon I opened my email and found an alert for a county librarian's job in West Jefferson, NC at the Ashe County Public Library. This was only 28 miles away from my grandmother's house and I immediately began the process of applying for the position. While driving home that evening, anxious to tell my husband of the available job, I turned on the audio for Lee Smith's book. At that precise moment, Tuscany was going to the reading room at the Ashe County Public Library in West Jefferson, NC to research background on Molly Petree! It was like an omen! Several weeks later I received a telephone call from the Appalachian Regional Library Director to schedule an interview. What a coincidence it was when I learned her name was also Molly!

Now I have the job at Ashe Library and am living in my grandmother's old house! I visited the mountains many times growing up and have always wanted to live here. One of the most exciting things about this dream-come-true was the opportunity to meet Lee Smith. Ashe County Library has an annual literary festival every year and when I was hired, the festival was about to kick-off with a community read …. Lee Smith's collection of short stories Mrs.Darcy and the Blue-eyed Stranger. Lee is a charismatic speaker and I loved hearing about her background and how she develops her stories. After listening to her talk, I became inspired to write more myself. Funny how this all came to be … isn't it? ...more

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Apr 01, 2014 Jessica rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is the second book I've read by Lee Smith and I am hooked. I will actively seek out more of her books.

This story is told from different narrators chronicling the life of Molly Petree from her early days as on orphan living with family and on through all the major events of her life from the late 1800's thru the 1900's in the south.

Smith has a real talent for bringing life to her pages and making me feel completely submerged in another time and place. She does an amazing job with historica ...more

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