Hill Women

Finding Family and a Way Forward in the Appalachian Mountains

By: Cassie Chambers

Narrated by: Cassie Chambers

Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

After rising from poverty to earn two Ivy League degrees, an Appalachian lawyer pays tribute to the strong "hill women" who raised and inspired her, and whose values have the potential to rejuvenate a struggling region.

"Destined to be compared to Hillbilly Elegy and Educated." (BookPage starred review)

"Poverty is enmeshed with pride in these stories of survival." (Associated Press)

Nestled in the Appalachian mountains, Owsley County is one of the poorest counties in both Kentucky and the country. Buildings are crumbling and fields sit vacant, as tobacco farming and coal mining decline. But strong women are finding creative ways to subsist in their hollers in the hills.

Cassie Chambers grew up in these hollers, and through the women who raised her, she traces her own path out of and back into the Kentucky mountains. Chambers' granny was a child bride who rose before dawn every morning to raise seven children. Despite her poverty, she wouldn’t hesitate to give the last bite of pie or vegetables from her garden to a struggling neighbor. Her two daughters took very different paths: strong-willed Ruth - the hardest-working tobacco farmer in the county - stayed on the family farm, while spirited Wilma - the sixth child - became the first in the family to graduate from high school, then moved an hour away for college. Married at 19 and pregnant with Cassie a few months later, Wilma beat the odds to finish school. She raised her daughter to think she could move mountains, like the ones that kept her safe but also isolated her from the larger world.

Cassie would spend much of her childhood with Granny and Ruth in the hills of Owsley County, both while Wilma was in college and after. With her "hill women" values guiding her, Cassie went on to graduate from Harvard Law. But while the Ivy League gave her knowledge and opportunities, its privileged world felt far from her reality, and she moved back home to help her fellow rural Kentucky women by providing free legal services.

Appalachian women face issues that are all too common: domestic violence, the opioid crisis, a world that seems more divided by the day. But they are also community leaders, keeping their towns together in the face of a system that continually fails them. With nuance and heart, Chambers uses these women’s stories paired with her own journey to break down the myth of the hillbilly and illuminate a region whose poor communities, especially women, can lead it into the future.

©2020 Cassie Chambers (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Women in Kentucky’s Appalachian community come into focus in lawyer Chambers’s powerful debut memoir, which aims to put a human face on a stereotyped region.... This is a passionate memoir, one that honors Appalachia’s residents." (Publishers Weekly)

"A family memoir that celebrates the inspiration of strong women within a rural culture most often characterized as patriarchal... [Chambers tells] stories that illuminate the hardworking spirit and flashes of hope among the populace, the women in particular." (Kirkus Reviews)

"Hill Women is a gritty, warm love letter to Appalachian communities and the resourceful womenwho lead them.... [It] feels especially urgent now, in our post-2016, post - Hillbilly ElegyAmerica. In a sense, Chambers is responding to the ‘bootstraps’ narrative of J. D. Vance’s controversial memoir, which has been criticized for blaming Appalachians for their own circumstances. Hill Women shows an Appalachia that Hillbilly Elegy obscured.” (Slate)

Tennessee

very accurate telling the story of rural life in the appalachian mountains,felt like my family story

A tale of our family’s beginnings!

I married an Owsley over 50 years ago and first heard about Owsley county about 20 years later when a friend was doing genealogy for us. It peaked my interest and that of my children. In the last several years 2 of my kids have visited the area. This amazing book, however is the first real peak we’ve had into the fascinating story of the people that shaped us. I enjoyed every word and cried more than a little bit with the family’s losses and the hill people’s struggles. Thank you so much for giving this next generation of Owsley’s a glimpse of what they came from and a vision of what they may strive for. Rebecca Owsley

Truly enjoyable

Loved the opportunity to get a glimpse of the complexity of being a women from Appalachia.

awesome story

kept seeing this book come up periodically, looked interesting. I enjoyed the book. And the narration, the deflection and the accents.

My Favorite Appalachian Memoir

I throughly enjoyed this book. This book has everything Hillbilly Elegy does not. Empathy not Sympathy is the true catalyst for change. She shows a form of intelligence that isn’t gained by achieving an Ivy League degree, an emotional intelligence that is vital to the future survival of not only Appalachians but Americans as a whole.

Beautiful

This book is filled with beautiful stories! However, the epilogue is so painful to hear.

OK

I was hoping for more focus on the people of Kentucky. As with everything else these days the book turned to political views in places and common language in my home seemed forced. overall a good book.

Fantastic book

A lot thought and care was put into this book. Fantastic story. I appreciate the audio version read by the author.

Resinates in me

I loved this story so much. The connections between these ladies are so full of love for each other. The grit and determination to carry on and move forward is uplifting. I highly recommend it.

Perfect memoir living in modern world with country

I loved this memoir. It hit upon important national issues by sharing her personal story.