Book Description Review One of the Chicago Sun-Times Books Not to Miss!“With a seemingly effortless touch, Montgomery manages to deftly weave together believable characters, dark historical truths, and an enthralling mystery in The Hollows. The result is genuinely mysterious and utterly satisfying.”―Greer Macallister, author of Woman 99 and The Magician’s Lie”The Hollows is much more than a murder mystery. It weaves racial integration, labor organizing in the Appalachian coal mines, prohibition and women’s rights throughout the narrative, set against an authentic backdrop crafted by Montgomery’s careful attention to historic detail.”―Associated Press”A skillfully told murder mystery that features a rich array of characters and a sophisticated portrayal of a small town grappling with its own racist past and ongoing conflicted present.”―Kirkus”Skilled storyteller Montgomery takes up the issue of racial prejudice as it existed in that place and time in this historical mystery that shines with its strong and appealing female characters.”―Booklist”Realistic characters complement a great sense of place. Montgomery does an admirable job of portraying brave women such as Lily who must become the support of their families in the face of their own grief after their husbands’ deaths.”―Publishers Weekly”Colorful Appalachian dialect and details of geography and nature add to a well-crafted mystery . . . The Hollows [is] dynamic historical fiction as well as a riveting mystery.”―Shelf Awareness”Readers will find Montgomery’s storytelling prowess in full bloom. Enjoy.”―Dayton Daily News”Remarkable . . . memorable and vivid. My best advice: dive into these wonderful novels. It’s an immersive and beautiful experience.”―Aunt Agatha’s“An extremely well researched and perfectly paced mystery. A feminist take on the struggles of Appalachian America . . . Jess Montgomery is one of the examples of a female writer with a unique voice and a story to tell.”―Amy’s Booket List Read more About the Author JESS MONTGOMERY is the Literary Life columnist for the Dayton Daily News and former Executive Director of the renowned Antioch Writers’ Workshop in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Based on early chapters of The Hollows, Jess was awarded an Ohio Arts Council individual artist’s grant for literary arts and the John E. Nance Writer-in-Residence at Thurber House in Columbus. She lives in her native state of Ohio. Read more Customers Review: The strong women who were discounted and told “to behave” enfolds a powerful story of treatment of minorities, mentally ill and of the politics and power in the hands of a few men. The depiction of the geography, of the personalities, of the search for motive underlying behaviors is powerful, enjoyable. It engages the reader and, once finished, the reader finds himself recalling/remembering the ‘friends’ he met in this novel.
This is a worthy successor to the first book in the series. It immerses you in this world and makes you part of it. Keeps you guessing until the end and them surprises you.
Very good book. Well worth the wait. Would love to read more books like this one. Tried read it slowly so it would last but it wasn’t possible. Couldn’t put it down.
The story was about a female investigating a case of a runaway senior found dead. This was an easy read and should be rated PG14. It did not hold my interest.
Very good book. Well written.
I read the first book The Widows and enjoyed it very much. I was eager to read the 2nd book in the Kinship series. I liked it even more than the first book in the series. It will be one of my best reads for 2020 since I gave it five stars.The time is 1925 and the location is Kinship Ohio which is in South East Ohio. It is mining country and close to the Appalachian Mountains. The written descriptions of the area are just beautiful. Several times I would reread passages again savoring the descriptions visualizing them in my mind.The characters seem so real that they seem like they can come off the page. The main characters are three amazing women Sheriff Lily, Hildy and Marvena. Sheriff Lily is doing a nontraditional job after her husband was killed on the job as he was the previous sheriff. The author mentions that there was a woman sheriff around the same time period in Ohio as Lily who took over her husband’s job when he lost it serving as sheriff. Sheriff Lily is a mother of two young children. She could take the easy way out in the current case which the book is about but she wants to find justice.Hildy is a young women who lost her fiance in the War. She cleans the jail and helps Sheriff Lily with whatever is needed. She wants to change the image people have of her and become a strong and independent woman like Lily and Marvena.Marvena who was featured more in the first book is a Union Organizer for the mines and now working on integrating the work force in the mines. In today’s terminology, it could be said that Marvena and Lilys relationship could be termed as “complicated” They both loved the same man and while Lily married Daniel, Marvena had been a life long friend and previous lover. She and Lily now are best friends.A frail elderly lady is found dead from a fall unto a railroad tunnel as the train went through. A railroad worker said he saw someone push her off while everyone else was calling it an accident.I liked that the author told of her research into the past of the location and events. She uncovered things she didn’t know before and put them into the book. One in particular surprised me too as it had the author. At one point, she visited the area and walked without shoes as had the elderly lady in her book. She was is the same area as where the fall unto the tracks took place.If this book was ever made into a movie, there are some plum roles for the actresses. It was an exceptional read.
The Hollows is the 2nd book in the Kinship series by Jess Montgomery. I previously read the first book in this historical / mystery fiction series and enjoyed it a lot. I had to read the second one, and it definitely was equally as strong. The series revolves around Lily Ross, a woman who becomes the sheriff of a small Ohio county when her husband is murdered. In the last book, chapters alternate between Lily and Marvena, the former sheriff’s girlfriend, who has become Lily’s confidante and friend now. In this one, the chapters alternate between Lily and her almost-sister-in-law, Hildy, who has a connection to the latest crime.Montgomery has merged two of my favorite genres together in this series. The setting takes place in the late 1920s, and I enjoy immersing myself in a culture from nearly one-hundred years ago. In the prologue, an elderly woman runs through a wooded area and arrives at The Hollows, where a train is about to pass by. A few chapters later, we learn the woman’s body is found on the side of the tracks after being hit by the train. Was she murdered? An accidental fall? Or suicide? Lily is called to the scene, but no one knows anything about her. She came from a nearby county, but because the death was in Lily’s territory, she’s responsible. As the case unfolds, connections to her own friends and family emerge… all the while, Lily’s fighting to keep her seat as sheriff in the official county election.What I love about these books is how the author quickly transports you to history. As I read along in my head, I have a rhythm which is different from when I read a cozy mystery, a thriller, or contemporary fiction. My inner voice acclimates to the writing style, slow and methodical, descriptive and gentle, almost simple and casual. I mean this fully as a compliment, as that was what life would’ve been like in this time period. Yes, people had it difficult and suffered tremendously, but the rush to get to work or respond to a phone call or meet someone to chat wasn’t like today. When Lily wants to discuss the case with Marvena, it’s several hours journey by horse and carriage to get to her part of town. But I adore the entire series of events to get there.The mystery is strong. I liked seeing the connections to the women’s version of the KKK during this period. I had no idea it existed, nonetheless in the 1920s. Prohibition apparently made it re-surge (or become more widely known). As much as women were prejudiced against, there were strong voices, and some of them were just as evil and nasty as the men of their time (in terms of their hatred of African Americans, Native Americans, etc.). I liked seeing the balance of how women were portrayed because amidst the injustice, there were moments of power and strength. It wasn’t just a sad story about lack of equal rights but one where readers could hear exactly what they tried to do to become more equal. This applies to any of the groups being victimized at the time, not just women. The author does an exquisite job of balancing all the necessary facts and truths of the period.On a few occasions, I thought the book got a little too descriptive and/or left out some information I would’ve liked to know. As an example, the asylum was prominent for several chapters, but in a scene were someone researches patient care, it felt rushed. I didn’t get to connect as much as I had in other areas of the book. All minor stuff, as it doesn’t at all stop me from recommending this series. It’s a great alternative to modern crime fiction or mysteries, and I definitely plan to keep this one in my rotation. I can’t wait for the next book to come out. |
27 reviews