A Land More Kind Than Home

By: Wiley Cash

Narrated by: Nick Sullivan, Lorna Raver, Mark Bramhall

Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

A stunning debut reminiscent of the beloved novels of John Hart and Tom Franklin, A Land More Kind Than Home is a mesmerizing literary thriller about the bond between two brothers and the evil they face in a small western North Carolina town....

For a curious boy like Jess Hall, growing up in Marshall means trouble when your mother catches you spying on grown-ups. Adventurous and precocious, Jess is enormously protective of his older brother, Christopher, a mute whom everyone calls Stump. Though their mother has warned them not to snoop, Stump can't help sneaking a look at something he's not supposed to - an act that will have catastrophic repercussions, shattering both his world and Jess's.

It's a wrenching event that thrusts Jess into an adulthood for which he's not prepared. While there is much about the world that still confuses him, he now knows that a new understanding can bring not only a growing danger and evil - but also the possibility of freedom and deliverance as well.

Told by three resonant and evocative characters - Jess; Adelaide Lyle, the town midwife and moral conscience; and Clem Barefield, a sheriff with his own painful past - A Land More Kind Than Home is a haunting tale of courage in the face of cruelty and the power of love to overcome the darkness that lives in us all. These are masterful portrayals, written with assurance and truth, and they show us the extraordinary promise of this remarkable first novel.

©2012 Wiley Cash (P)2012 HarperCollinsPublishers

Great Audio Book

A Land More Kind Than Home is a good story made great by a terrific audio performance, I'd recommend it to anyone.

Can't believe this is a debut novel!!

Would you consider the audio edition of A Land More Kind Than Home to be better than the print version?

Yes! The narrator's were superb!

What did you like best about this story?

Loved the way the author really seemed to understand the workings of the religious fanatic leaders like Chambliss. He nailed it!

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes, this one was excellent! The accents and voices were perfect for the characters they were reading.

Any additional comments?

Hard to believe this is a debut novel! So well written, I could not put it down. I try to only listen to my audiobooks during my morning runs as a kind of motivation to run each day but I found myself "cheating" and listening while working around the house so I wouldn't miss anything! Loved the book. Can't wait for his next.

Great story, well written book, awesome narration

Where does A Land More Kind Than Home rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It is definitely in my top 5.

What other book might you compare A Land More Kind Than Home to and why?

None

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

Being from the south, born and bred in NC - these narrators are spot on with their dialect, metaphors and accent.

If you could take any character from A Land More Kind Than Home out to dinner, who would it be and why?

I would take Adelaide Lyle out to dinner and talk about her faith in God, yet her fear of Pastor Chambliss.

Any additional comments?

This is an awesome book. My only complaint is that it was too short - only 8 hours.

Purty good debut

This is Wiley Cash's first novel and a pretty good one at that. Maybe not so good as Fred Chappell or Clyde Edgerton say it is--and they should know--but pretty good. The narration is good, especially the voices and accents of Lorna Raver and Mark Bramhall. And the story is fine, though I didn't find the main evil character, Reverend Chambliss, believable and Jess is only nine years old, not a teenager (as other reviewers have noticed). Worth a listen, but only once. And this is not Cold Mountain, which I consider a good thing, despite Cold Mountain's being a bit more gripping.

Compelling performances - all but one.

What made the experience of listening to A Land More Kind Than Home the most enjoyable?

I was immediately drawn into the story by two of the narrators - Lorna Raver and Mark Bramhall. I know it's hard for a grown man to sound like a boy of nine, but for me, the narrator who read the part of young Jess was a bit off and distracted me from the story.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Loved the sherif. Very well developed character and beautifully portrayed by the narrator.

A hit from Wiley Cash's pen

I loved it. It would make s must see movie in the Jessie Stone tradition.

Brilliant work of literary art.

This book had it all, drama, love, the depth of human condition. It was, in one word, riveting! Enjoy.

Excellent!

I really enjoyed this book. Great story, kept my interest from the start, the narration was spot on. Looking forward to other books by this author.

An excellent writer

Having a snake phobia, I didn't like all the ssssss parts of the story, but it was very well written, and the narrators did a splendid job.

A Compelling Story

This story is told from multiple points of view and read by different actors. All of them are excellent. I could hardly stop listening. Each character brought their own point of view to the unfolding events. I thought the voice of the young boy was very good. This book started out a little slow but it wasn't long before I was caught up in the story.