Award-Winning Southern Writer

Sharyn McCrumb is best known for her Appalachian "Ballad" novels, including the New York Times best sellers The Ballad of Tom Dooley, The Ballad of Frankie Silver, and Ghost Riders, which won the Wilma Dykeman Award for Literature from the East Tennessee Historical Society and the national Audie Award for Best Recorded Book. Her current novels are Prayers the Devil Answers, the story of the last public hanging ever carried out in the United States, and The Unquiet Grave, the story of West Virginia's Greenbrier Ghost.

New Edition of She Walks These Hills

With Serpentine Chain Essay and New Introduction

Now Available ~ The new edition of my New York Times bestselling novel "She Walks These Hills" is here. It contains a new introduction analyzing the structure and symbolism of the book, and the essay "The Serpentine Chain," discussing the ties between the culture of Appalachia and Britain. If you are teaching this book, or featuring it in your book club, this is the edition you need.

To order, scroll down to the bottom of the page where the books are listed, and click on "She Walks These Hills."

"The Marvin Chronicles" Now Available ~ Volume 2 Scheduled for August

The Saga Continues with New Weekly Episodes on Sharyn McCrumb's Facebook Author Page

"The Marvin Chronicles," a collection of the stories told by a "raccoonteur" called John of Gaunt, has been published by Blackacre Press, and signed copies are available from this website. The stories report on the adventures of the Glorrifat tribe of raccoons on Sharyn McCrumb's Blue Ridge Mountain farm. Marvin and his family have become reader favorites, receiving Christmas cards, care packages for the winter, and artwork from talented readers.

A new book on the further adventures of the Glorrifats, including Flora, Kudzu and Sue-Mack will be available in August. Meanwhile, Marvin, Major the Bear, Frostkin the Possum, their great-grandmother The Duchess and the other inhabitants of the woods appear each Tuesday on Sharyn McCrumb's FaceBook author page. https://www.facebook.com/SharynMcCrumbAuthor

KINDLE EDITION

of New Edition of "She Walks These Hills"

NOW ON KINDLE ~ The new edition of "She Walks These Hills," with a new detailed introduction and the "Serpentine Chain" essay comparing Appalachian culture to Britain, is now available as an eBook on Amazon. Click on the link below to order. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014LH28TS/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&fbclid=IwAR1TOEwnNa1k5xYojCyvmoc3jVEse--E6y3bpWsfjL1rx6OdgYQ74YLONps&qid=1651717508&ref_=tmm_kin_swatch_0&sr=8-1 * HOWEVER: You cannot order the PRINT version of the new edition of the book from Amazon. The books they sell are the old editions without the new material. If you want the print version of the new edition of "She Walks These Hills," it is only available from this website.

This new Kindle edition of the New York Times bestselling novel "She Walks These Hills" contains a new introduction analyzing the structure and symbolism of the book, and the essay "The Serpentine Chain," discussing the ties between the culture of Appalachia and Britain. If you are teaching the book, or featuring it in your book club, this is the edition you need.

New Brochure Comes With Nora Bonesteel's Necklace

Fairystone Necklace and the Tale of How Young Nora Acquired It

Nora Bonesteel's necklace now comes with a new brochure, telling the story of how young Nora received the necklace when she "wandered off the path of time." The necklace, made of Appalachian minerals: serpentine for the Serpentine Chain; unakite, the seer's stone & state stone of Virginia; and a southwest Virginia fairystone (staurolite) pendant is available in very limited quantities. The mineral occurs naturally, embedded in the surrounding rock in a twinned crystal formation in the shape of a cross. Mountain legends attribute them to the little people, the magic beings in Cherokee lore.

Each necklace (ca. 20") comes with the new brochure explaining the minerals it is made of and telling the story of nora Bonesteel's necklace. $40 plus $4 shipping. Expect delivery in 1 to 2 weeks.

Requiem for Frankie Silver Website

A Musical Drama about Frankie Silver

Frankie Silver was executed 189 years ago, but her tragic story is being recognized in an oratorio by two American composers, Craig Fields and Craig Carnahan, whose requiem for the mountain girl will debut in 2020. Performances will take place in Minneapolis and in at least one city in North Carolina or Virginia. (An oratorio is a large-scale musical work for orchestra and voices, typically a narrative on a religious theme, performed without the use of costumes, scenery, or action. Well-known examples include Bach's Christmas Oratorio, Handel's Messiah, and Haydn's The Creation.)

The creators of the musical drama "Requiem for Frankie Silver," inspired by Sharyn McCrumb's novel has a new website giving information about the work and its upcoming debut. The premiere has been delayed for many months by Covid, but plans are underway for fall 2022. http://www.requiemforfrankiesilver.org/

If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O

Now Available on Kindle

The first of the Ballad novels, "If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O," is now available on Kindle. The award-winning, novel, a New York Times Notable Book, introduces Tennessee Sheriff Spencer Arrowood in a tale of haunted pasts and memories of the 60's in the mountain town of Hamelin, TN.

The Unquiet Grave

The Unquiet Grave, an account of the Greenbrier Ghost, published by Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster.

The Unquiet Grave

An account of the Greenbrier Ghost, The Unquiet Grave, published by Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster.

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Prayers the Devil Answers

"Years later, after the tragedy, someone remembered the Dumb Supper and what had happened there. That was the cause of it, they said, because the ritual wasn't a game after all. It really was magic, but magic has rules, and she broke them."

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Nora Bonesteel's Christmas Past

In a story of spirits, memories, and angels unaware, Sharyn McCrumb revisits the mountains we call home, the folk we call family, and a familiar message that there is more to this world than the eye can see... especially at Christmastime.

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King's Mountain

The story of the Revolutionary War battle that changed the course of the war. Told from the points of view of Patriot leader John Sevier and Tory camp follower Virginia Sal, the novel brings to life the people and events in the southern front of the Revolution - a story largely ignored by the history books.

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The Devil Amongst the Lawyers

When a pretty young schoolteacher is charged with murder in 1930's Appalachia, the national press use it as an excuse to sell papers - and to demonize the region, raising social issues that go well beyond the fate of one defendant.

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The Ballad of Tom Dooley

Now from the pen of the award-winning Appalachian writer comes the true story behind the most famous mountain ballad of all: the legend of Tom Dula. The Ballad of Tom Dooley brings to life the star-crossed lovers of this mountain tragedy.

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Ghost Riders

"Some wars don't end when the generals shake hands and go home." -- Malinda Blalock, from Ghost Riders

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The Songcatcher

Trace one American family from the Revolutionary War to the present by following an English ballad as it is handed down through the generations.

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The Ballad of Frankie Silver

On July 12, 1833, Frankie Silver became the first woman in the state of North Carolina to be hanged for murder. Burgess Gaither, the 1832 Clerk of the Court for Burke County, narrates the story from her arrest to her execution. As he began to understand the true nature of events, he wonders if there is such a thing as equal justice under the law.

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The Ballad of Frankie Silver (Paperback)

On July 12, 1833, Frankie Silver became the first woman in the state of North Carolina to be hanged for murder. Burgess Gaither, the 1832 Clerk of the Court for Burke County, narrates the story from her arrest to her execution. As he began to understand the true nature of events, he wonders if there is such a thing as equal justice under the law.

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The Rosewood Casket

"Dying cost nothing and could be done alone; otherwise, Randall Stargill might have lived forever."

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She Walks These Hills

"Don't shoot! It might be Harm!" say the new bumper stickers in east Tennessee. Hiram (pronounced in mountain dialect Harm) Sorley is the focus of a manhunt involving most of the area's law enforcement officers. There's just one problem: nobody wants him caught.

This edition contains a complete introduction to the novel, including an analysis and themes for book groups and classroom study, as well as Sharyn McCrumb's essay The Serpentine Chain, which traces the cultural and geologic connections between Appalachia and Celtic Britain.

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The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter

The first stirrings of The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter were a series of images that bobbed up out of my subconscious...

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If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O

Strange days tracks everyone down in the little mountain town of Hamelin, when the high school reunion of the class of '66 awakens old ghosts from the past. This first novel in Sharyn McCrumb's acclaimed Ballad series was a New York Times Notable Book.

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Faster Pastor

Camber Berkley, a young stock car driver, wrecks his car on a winding mountain road. The local authorities give him a choice: serve jail time, or teach the local ministers to drive stock cars.

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Once Around the Track

The adventures of story of an all-woman NASCAR team that hires a "pretty" male driver. With a female version of Viagra for a sponsor and the driver’s evil manager thwarting the team’s efforts, it is a wild ride both on and off the track.

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St. Dale

Winner of the 2006 People's Choice Award in Fiction by the Library of Virginia and the James River Writers Association and the 2006 Book of the Year Award from the Appalachian Writers Association.

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