The Whispering of the Willows

An Historic Appalachian Drama

By: Tonya Jewel Blessing

Narrated by: Courtney Patterson

Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Set against the superstitions and old time religion in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, author Tonya Jewel Blessing tells a difficult, yet redemptive story of a blossoming young woman who is accompanied by her friends and her foes on a journey towards hope and healing. Love weaves through gut-wrenching circumstances and dismal poverty where Emerald Ashby grows strong despite grievous wrongs committed against her. In this desperate, historical setting, mysterious disappearances lead to traps set for the innocent.

Now, when key individuals begin carving out a rescue plan, Emerald Ashby sets a few of her own traps. What will be their measure of success?

Cleverly suspenseful and sweetly spoken, the storyteller's unassuming voice transforms an Appalachian trail of tears into holy terror against an evil that stalks the innocent. In The Whispering of the Willows, an Appalachian marriage practice might be compared to the modern sex trade which exploits young females.

Not since Catherine Marshall's strong heroine named Christy, has an Appalachian drama come to life like The Whispering of the Willows.

©2016 Capture Books (P)2019 Tantor

Great story

I really enjoyed this book. A story of young love in the mountains and the trials of them and their families. The narrator did a wonderful job, The voices were easy to distinguish who was who.
I highly recommend this read/listen.

Pretty Good Christian Story

Almost fairy-tale like in the way everything worked out well. Still, it was pleasant and easy to listen to. The young families
from Appalachia (WV) were portrayed as fully adult in their marital status, though 12-16 years old. That IS a stretch. I
near Elkins (in Skygusty and Gary) mentioned in the novel . I found that lifestyle, family and moral values depicted were as I remember.

Too religious

I feel bad saying this because I love a good, moral story but the amount of religious references here makes the story unbelievable.
The story has great roots and covers some very deep and disturbing things but when everyone (except the villi) are super engrossed in religion it’s makes these things hard to believe.
I would have been happier with more of the “roots “ of the story with a sprinkling of religion and a good, moral ending.
I find it too hard to believe that these people that were faced with enormous hardships simply handed all to God and waited for His answer. Real life isn’t that eady.
Anyway..I’ll finish it because it’s interesting but I wouldn’t recommend it.

great story

I didn't like how young the characters were I could relate to the story in some ways and enjoyed the Christian read alot of the time I'm unable to actually get into a Christian book but this one I couldn't stop.

Good story.

I enjoyed the store, found myself pulling for certain people and cheering. Story is a little long, I feel it could have been done a in a shorter time frame. I would recommend it.

Music needed

It’s hard to listen to a book with such deep country accents as this but certainly the hymns and songs read should’ve been sung In order to have the proper gospel impact.

Could have been a winner

So in your face religious simplistic view of the world. Disappointing and formulaic…when you don’t know what to write about put the words from a hymn in your narrative. So bad, I abandoned it before the end.

A Disappointment

There should have been some kind of warning about a fifty chapter Sunday School epic. I've never seen so much prayerin', hymn singin' and Bible quotin' in a single novel ever before! It must be some kind of world record!!

I had hoped for a bit of realistic storytelling. My mother grew up in the Appalachians of West Virginia during the great depression. There is so much rich ground for storytelling there.

Ms. Blessing missed it by a mile. While this story had some potential, the repetition of every point, the very nearly repellent overuse of Christian religiosity, and the snail's pace of the predictable plot made this book one I decided not to finish several times. I absolutely hated the way it portrayed the people of the region as ignorant and child-like. There were barely any adults in the room.

Sad.

Way too religious. Gooey

I did listen to the whole book because I had paid for it. Not a fan