Through the Ballad Novels, McCrumb celebrates her ancestors and the land of the mountain South, crafting a story rich with tradition and the true character and spirit of that breathtaking region. The novels are listed in order most recently published.
An account of the Greenbrier Ghost, The Unquiet Grave, published by Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster.
"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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.$45 plus $5 domestic shipping. Virginia state sales tax added to orders shipped to Virginia addresses. Expect delivery in 3 to 4 weeks.
"Some wars don't end when the generals shake hands and go home." -- Malinda Blalock, from Ghost Riders
Trace one American family from the Revolutionary War to the present by following an English ballad as it is handed down through the generations.
Free With Book Orders From SharynMcCrumb.com
While supplies last, when we send out orders from this website (www.SharynMcCrumb.com), we will enclose, as a thank you, a card with Nora Bonesteel’s Scripture Cake recipe on it. The Scripture cake is an old frontier tradition. In "The Rosewood Casket" Nora Bonesteel bakes the cake to take to a funeral.
In the old days a prospective bride was given the recipe and told to make the cake, but instead of having ingredients written down, the recipe consisted of a series of Bible verses. The bride had to look up each verse to learn which ingredient was needed. (Example: 4 ½ cups of- 1st Kings 4:22- “And Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour and threescore measures of meal…” When the bride made the cake, her future mother- in-law learned two things: whether she could read and whether she could cook.
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.
Her Stories Live On
Charlotte Ross, the Appalachian scholar and storyteller who was the inspiration for Nora Bonesteel, passed away on April 5, 2021 at her home in Boone, North Carolina. Charlotte Ross and Sharyn McCrumb shared many years of adventures, from Ireland to the Kentucky moonbow, and on the research trail for many of the Ballad novels. Charlotte could never be persuaded to write a book, but some of her stories were recorded on CD so that this keeper of the legends would live on.
CHARLOTTE ROSS, THE LEGEND LADY CD Stories told by the real Nora Bonesteel. This CD features 4 stories told by Charlotte Ross, the inspiration for Sharyn's famous character. Includes: Nancy Black, Clara's Ring, Long Dog and Dorcas Henry ~ Order on the SHE WALKS THESE HILLS page: http://www.sharynmccrumb.com/she_walks.html $7.50 plus $4 domestic shipping. Virginia state sales tax added to orders shipped to Virginia addresses.
"Dying cost nothing and could be done alone; otherwise, Randall Stargill might have lived forever."
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/
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.
"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.
The first stirrings of The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter were a series of images that bobbed up out of my subconscious...
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.
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.
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.
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.