The Songcatcher

Another evocative ballard by McCrumb putting her other books on my to read list. Nails setting and character development. Love the large print, no glasses needed to read in bed! Read Georgia author Amanda DeWess’s teen series set in the Appalachians for a fun diversion.

I've had this one on my bookshelf for some time and just recently, in the mood for a good story, I picked this one up. I wish I hadn't finished it. It is a tale of a people that traveled from Scotland to the USA to the Tennessee/North Carolina mountains. This book travels back and forth from 1751 to present ~~ tracing the footsteps of a lineage and a haunting ballad that has been preserved in the family over the generations. Lark McCourry is on her way home when her plane crashed in the mountains. She is haunted by the memory of a song that she had heard as a child, a song that was brought over to the States by her ancestor, Malcom McCourry, who was kidnapped as a child off the coasts of Scotland. He eventually became a lawyer in the States, fought in the Revolutionary War, raised a family, and headed off to the Wilderness Road to North Carolina, where he raised a second family. He passed the song onto his descendants, one of whom is Lark. Lark is a famous folksinger on her way home to seeing her dad, with whom she has a rocky relationship with and is trapped in the plane that crashed. While waiting for help, she also asked for help in relocating this ballad to preserve it. While the song travels over the years, McCrumb writes of people who lived in different times and their little stories become enmeshed with one another in a trickle of humanness and bits that make up the world today. Those ancestors of Lark's were all unique individuals who struggle to get ahead and still have a deep abiding love for their mountains and heritage. It is a beautiful haunting story ~~ one to keep as a reminder that there are just some things that are worth preserving, a family song, a memory and family. It's a great book ~~ and one to cherish. 8-4-06

Sharyn McCrumb's Ballad Series is one of the best out there. Ms. McCrumb is a master of plot and character development. Weaving fiction and non-fiction into a wonder story, the author gives the reader a real understanding of how this country developed. Ms. McCrumb also has a great and wonderful understanding of the people who settled and live in the rural Appalachian Mountains. Yes, there really are people living just like Ms. McCrumb describes in her books. I know I'm from there. I'm not going to bore you with a recap of the plot. If you want that read one of the other reviews. The Songcatcher is a little bit different than her other ballad series books, if that doesn't make it any less entertaining. There is no murder mystery, but there is plenty of mystery. So if you enjoy a good mystery, written very well. This is the book for you. In fact, you don't even have to be a mystery reader to enjoy any of Sharyn McCrumb's books. She is a wonderful writer and I feel that anybody, who enjoys a good book, would enjoy Sharyn McCrumb.

Continuing in her successful ballad series, Sharyn McCrumb reaches back to her own family tree for the source of this satisfying tale. The reader is immediately captivated by the story of young Malcolm McCourry, kidnapped in the 1700's, by sailors from his native Scotland and brought to the colonies. On board the ship, the young boy hears a haunting ballad which stays with him his entire life.The focus of the novel is the search for this ballad by a contemporary folk singer, McCourry's descendent. She is the "songcatcher" of the title.Along the way, the author gives us an informal tutorial in how the classic appalachian ballads were "found" by musicologists. The author's love of her heritage is felt in every page. Its also great to see some of the familiar characters from the earlier ballad novels here as well. Altogether, this is one of her very best. Couldn't put it down.

The Songcatcher was several stories at once, all of them good. Since Joe LaDonne is my favorite of her repeating characters, I wished his part was bigger, but it was good just the same. Sharyn can take a time or a setting and put you in the middle of it. You feel the roll of the sea, the fear of a crashed airplane rolling, the beauty of the Appalachian Mountains. Every time I read one of her books, I fell like I've been on a journey, seen friends, met new people, and lived another part of time.

In 1751 Islay, off the Scottish coast, Malcolm McCourry is abducted and turned into a slave on board a ship heading to the New World. On the trek, he hears and learns a haunting ballad. In America, Malcolm makes the most of his fate and soon becomes a lawyer and starts a family. He hands down the ballad to his sons. Over a couple of centuries later, country singer Lark McCourry flies from her California home to see her ailing father. When her plane crashes in the Carolina Mountains, she calls police dispatcher Ben Hawkins. However, she wastes her cell phone battery by asking for his help in finding the family song she vaguely remembers from her youth rather than for her rescue. He turns to Nora, who can help with the song, but not with finding Lark. THE SONGCATCHER is a tremendously rich epic that sweeps across two and a half centuries. The story line is loaded with depth as readers get a deep glimpse into strong characters that cross the American generational spectrum since the birth of the nation in a combined historical and contemporary plot. Sharyn McCrumb's latest novel turns into a delightful gourmet meal for anyone who wants a deep ballad filled with humor and poignancy as reading material. Harriet Klausner