Interesting look into the life of 1900's South Carolina hills. Apparently the author based the book loosely on his grandparent's first year of marriage.

But...such a hard, dark year it was! I was sad even when I wasn't reading the book.

This book was not so bad but it wasn't as intriguing to me as the other books I read. I don't like to read about any sort of books containing rural background.
I really enjoyed how Julie, the main character just gets things done whether she wants to or not. I, on the other hand, cannot be like her because at home when I'm assigned to do chores, I do them when I'm done with my homework or if I really don't like doing it, I don't get it done at all.
Julie is a hard working woman who, had seen her father and little brother die before her eyes. They say "she works hard like a man". In the story she had to chop up the pig into pieces and have them as dinner. In my mind, I was completely disgusted when it came to that part. If I were Julie, I dont' think I can last 1 minute of chopping up that pig.
So, overall, I think this book was okay, not good but not bad. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys learning about family building and... pig chopping.. :)

After almost reading halfway through the book I just couldn't do it any more. This is just not the book for me. Very depressing and too much inappropriate stuff. I would rather use my time to read some more worthy...krb 4/21/17

I asked for a really sad book to read and someone recommended this.

It was "sad", but it wasn't my kind of sad. I love books that wrap me up in the characters so that when something tragic happens to them, I feel it too. This book was just sad because life was hard for the characters and they experienced a lot of tough breaks. But I didn't feel anything for the characters... they were pretty flat. And the writing was pretty boring, often taking three pages to describe skinning a hog or something equally high on the "I didn't need to know that" scale.

Although this book was unrelentingly sad, the characters were wonderful. I loved the way Julie and her husband, Hank, developed through the story. Julie was so wise for her age and knew just how to handle conflict with her husband. Hank changed from an impulsive, willful man to a kind and gentle father and husband. When I read about what it took to do laundry at the turn of the century, I certainly appreciated my washer and dryer. The account of slaughtering the hog also made me appreciate being able to open my refrigerator and take out some bacon slices. Living was so hard back then, especially in Appalachia.

I loved the descriptions of everything and how tenacious Julie was, her husband was such a whiner in the beginning though it was enough for me to deduct a star. She should have left him.

Alright I know this book has been out for years, but I just got around to reading it. I was looking for something to occupy some time over winter break and this seemed to meet my requirement--just about 300 pages. More than that and I admit it, I get distracted! Happy with my choice. This was one of those books where I found myself sneaking away from other things I needed to do, to go back and read more. I guess I found out that I enjoy this type of historical fiction more than I realized. It makes sense, since as a young girl I was ALL about Little House on the Prairie (yes the books, not the tv show). I was captivated by this strong woman (actually, a girl, 17 yrs old) who basically did what she had to do to survive. She was physically strong and knew what had to be done to make it through some tough challenges. I was also intrigued that a male writer crafted this female protagonist and did NOT resort to having her depend on the men in her life. That was pretty cool. An Appalachian Lisbeth perhaps?? No spoilers here, you will have to read it to find out more.

this is a horrible book the man who wrote it is so sexist and classist I cannot believe anyone would read this utter filth I could tell what was going to happen from the very begining it was so bad I could not finish it it is the worst if they would let me I would give this peice of trip the zero stars it deserves

I have reminisced about this story many times and am debating a rare re-read as I loved the feelings that I experienced the first time that I read it. I would like to experience it again, and see if at this stage in my life I still feel the same. I would recommend this to both women and men alike if they are at all interested in the hard times that faced those who were living in the end of the nineteenth century. The love story is present, but the story of survival and overcoming are what you carry with you at the end.

Quite interesting.

I tend to enjoy living fiction books, so there was a lot I enjoyed about this book. The reason I rated it with 3 stars is there were a few parts I had to skip over because of explicit content, which I never read. The ending is also very abrupt and, in my opinion, unsatisfying. It's unfortunate, because this had the makings of a really great read, but these 2 issues really affected the outcome.

The Gap by Robert Morgan A story of a marriage. A sad short book that is full of tragedy resiliency and sadness. A couple marries and travels to N Carolina. They end up settling in with an elderly cantankerous man. The woman cares for him while her husband works. Then tragedy hits and doesn’t stop with a fire or a flood or death. It just keeps coming. They overcome difficulties if struck in todays world would have killed us. They hold onto faith and positivity from within. Their pure love gets them through even in the worst of time.