Robert Morgan's "Gap Creek" is written in a simple manner, easy to read, but raw. If you think your life is rough, read this book. The primary root of trouble in this story is the land of Gap Creek itself. In fact, the earth itself is so extraordinarily pervasive and alive, that Morgan almost allows it to become its own rich, cumbersome but generous character. In this story, the land of Gap Creek rears itself up and fights against the main characters Julie, Hank and the other mountain people on the boarder of South Carolina at the turn of the century. Death, floods, winter storms, poverty, childbirth, accidents... they were as common place as the amount of work on the homestead that Julie went through from sun up to sun down. Morgan also depicted Julie as the earth itself; she struggled against it, but it made her who she was. Although it wore out both Julie and Hank, the land itself forged their character for better or for worse. There were no pretenses in this book; the sheer arduous difficulty of life brought out quickly each character's true inner person, testing them and causing them to change in ways they probably would not have, had they been born in another century or town.

This book, written by a North Carolina native who was born and raised in the very lands he writes about, sensitively brings back to life a now distant time, and a way of life that has all but completely vanished except in rural Appalachia. It reminds those of us sitting comfortably in our easy chairs, sipping lattes, and reading books how difficult life once was just a century ago. Set in the Blue Ridge mountains, along the border of North and South Carolina, it is the story of a poor, young, newlywed couple's hardships and struggles during their first year of marriage while living in Gap Creek, South Carolina. Relentless hardship causes them both to grow up in a very short period of time. Written as a first-person narrative, Julie's story will leave you thinking.

Not a bad book. Interesting take on the marriage of two young mountain folks, Julie, age 17 and Hank, a year older. Set circa 1900 in SC near the SC-NC state line. These young folks, especially Julie, would put modern teenagers to shame with their know-how and work ethic. Julie is simply a peach from beginning to end. No one is perfect but Julie is about as good-hearted and well-intentioned as they come. She is an extremely hard-working young lady who seemed to be born with an indomitable spirit. There are hardships and victories for the young couple. I especially enjoyed the section on the local preacher. He came across as a genuine Christian and his talks, prayers and sermon spoke to Julie's heart. He told Hank and Julie that "the church is where we strengthen each other and support each other." (My idea of a real church.) I also enjoyed the detailed descriptions of daily life. Nothing easy. Hard work in and around the house and farm. Enjoyable, well written story.

This was a revisit to one of my favorite books. I read it first several years ago, and when I picked it up this time, I expected to love it again. I did (eventually) really enjoy it. The characters grow, and find strength for very difficult things. However… the voice of the main character (Julie) near about drove me crazy.

A story of the hardships involved in making a young couples marriage in appalachia work, at the turn of the century. Loved the ending, hated the trials to get there. Robert Morgan's captures the world through the eyes of adolescent girl and her trials in being a women in appalachia. Robert gives such apt discriptions of their world, you are transported back in time. What I find interesting is how he takes characters you do not like at first, and by the end are cheering for.

I hated this book for so many reasons! Here are the top five.

1. I don't buy Robert Morgan writing as a female. It just doesn't wash.

2. The sex scenes are beyond unbelievable - they read like some weird hill-billy acid trip synthesia. It's very distracting.

3. I don't buy that such a strong female character would tolerate such an abusive, whiny husband. My tough ol' granny would have shot him and thrown his ass in the creek.

4. On a related note, I hated Hank and was waiting for him to die. I was disappointed when he didn't.

5. The book is written in the first person, and the charcter's grammar wasn't consistant. It slipped between normal and dialect for no apparent reason and pulled me right out of the story.

This book was good in parts, almost exhausting just to read. I found myself zoning out frequently while reading. Maybe just not my type of genre.

4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

This is Appalachian literature at its best. Robert Morgan gets the language. He gets the grit and determination of hill people. He gets the love of a spouse who is willing to forgive the worst. He gets the time these people lived. He just gets it and it’s unfortunate so many people who read this book didn’t. I’m so glad I finally got around to reading this one.

This was a high school read since it took place in NC. I hated it then, Amd reflection has not improved my opinion. There was a bit of the “Precious based on the novel Push, by sapphire” schtick to it. Everything weird and gross and difficult that could happen did and I’m just over that stuff. I mean, I get it, poor white Appalachian dwellers also had it hard. I just don’t care.

And the sex from a woman’s point of view, written by a man, was all too eye roll worthy. I’ll never forget him referring to her first orgasm as “the sweetest little kerchoo” from her middle. No thank you.

Set in South Carolina (roughly) near the end of the 1800's, this is the story of Julie, narrated by Julie. By the time she is 16 or 17, she has seen a lot of suffering and worked very hard. She falls in love with Hank, and they get married. They are both very young, and the first year of their marriage is difficult. The book is really about the marriage, as seen through Julie's eyes.

There were times (when Hank gets angry and smacks her) when I was really frustrated and wanted her to just leave the marriage, but then I reflected that a man writing a book set in the late 1800's is not likely to have his heroine ponce off home to her mother in a feminist huff. Once I adjusted my frame of reference, I thought it was an amazing story. It could have been about my great-great grandparents who settled in Eastern Utah about the same time period - minus the flooding. In my Great great grandmother's memoir, she writes about having almost nothing and making shoes for her son out of old boots of her husbands' and not being able to see the stitching because she was crying so hard.

As they struggle with life, hardship and sorrow together, both Julie and Hank grow up a lot and learn about how to make their marriage work. While the ending is not a "perfect" happy ending, it is happy and beautifully done.

Beautifully written telling a story of marriage and day to day work of a rural family in the Carolina mountains. Reading this really takes reader back in time and place and felt was right there with Julie and all the work she did every day and held things together for those around her.

This short excerpt is taken from my full review on Into the Hall of Books. Read more here: http://www.intothehallofbooks.com/201...


There are no words that I can use to adequately describe to anyone how much I truly love this book. It's not only the story itself, nor just the author, but the time and the place. Robert Morgan is from the area that he has written about in this story and it is obvious in reading his work; there is an ease with his setting and a comfort as well. He has written an honest depiction of this time and the struggles that it carried as well as the day-to-day activities of living back during this time in our history, which I love. He is able to write from a young female perspective in a shockingly easy way and I love how he wrote Julie Richards. I recommend Gap Creek to fans of historical fiction, fans of American history, fans of the Appalachian region, fans of doggone good books, and fans of great, incredible, wonderful characterization. This book isn't unicorns and rainbows all the way through but neither was this time in American history - however the hopeful ending is wonderful and I hope adult fiction readers will pick it up and give it an honest chance.