The Woods of Fannin County

By: Janisse Ray

Narrated by: Janisse Ray

Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

In the fall of 1945, eight children, all brothers and sisters, vanished from a small rental house in Morganton, Georgia. The oldest was ten and the youngest was a newborn. They were taken by mule and wagon to a shack on a remote mountain in the Blue Ridge foothills of Fannin County, up where it hugs the North Carolina line. For the next four years they would live mostly alone, without mother or father, roaming the mountains and valleys of what had been Cherokee Territory, scouring for food and scrambling to take care of themselves and each other. Few people ever knew what happened. Over time the children themselves became silent about their childhood, and their story was buried.

One day in 2015 the children, long grown and many of them now grandparents, began to reveal the story to Janisse Ray, award-winning author of the best-selling memoir, Ecology of a Cracker Childhood.

The Woods family wove a sometimes painful, sometimes jubilant, and always astounding revelation of their subsistence in an Appalachian wilderness. Had that not happened, this remarkable story of abandonment, survival, and the incredible resilience of eight children might have been forever lost. Janisse Ray is known for her literary nonfiction, characterized by rich lyricism, knowledge of the natural world, and sincere embrace of the ecology of the heart. Based on a true story, The Woods of Fannin County is Ray’s first novel.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Janisse Ray (P)2022 Janisse Ray

Everything about this book is compelling

Janisse Ray is an amazing storyteller, and her first novel has all her writing skills woven throughout this book. Although I am not a fiction reader, this book captured and held my attention. Add this to your library!

Moving Story

This is a story that needed to be told. The children displayed immense bravery and grit.

Remarkable story of survival

Children had help surviving on the mountain, but so infrequently that it’s incredible they survived at all. That a community stood by and did nothing until four years later is Inexcusable. Amazing all the children ended up leading productive lives. But the pain of being abandoned by both parents, grandparents and the community affected them for the rest of their lives. How could it not.

Compelling story

A fictional retelling of a true story, sensitively and beautifully written. A page-turner! I felt the siblings innocence, distress, deeply felt yet unmet needs, courage, and ultimately, a long awaited measure of freedom in breaking their silence.
The author’s voice is perfect for the narration, done very slowly. The 1.3x speed I used was a good pace.

A Must Read !!

This is so gut wrenching and I couldn’t stop listening!
I was aghast and appalled and I wanted to drive to Blue Ridge and find these horrible hateful people and shame them face to face ! It evokes that kind of emotion- Such an Amazing survival story !!

The raw simplicity of the character’s voices created a strong sympathy and admiration for them and for the writer.

I will have to reread this—I found it so involving that my critical voice was silenced, and so be it. It’s an excellent story if heartbreaking. And I am impressed with Ray’s balanced evocation of place—she avoids any overwhelming “Aren’t these mountains gorgeous and just look at the flora/fauna, etc.” The human and humane voice overrides any other consideration. Yet there is a true sense of location. Wow. I will need a print copy of this one.

Love!

I absolutely loved this book! The narration was fantastic, and the story itself will be hard to forget. This is a story I'll carry in my mind forever.

Excellent

The book is very sad and very uplifting at the same time. I thoroughly enjoyed the audio read. I am familiar with Fannin County Georgia, so it made it even more interesting.

Very Captivating Read

Janisse Ray has spun a riveting story based on true-life events of backwoods poverty in the 1940s in the Georgia mountains. Eight young children were abandoned in a remote ramshackle cabin and, in effect, left to die of starvation and exposure. But they didn’t. They somehow scratched and fought to live on their own with no adult supervision and very little support of any kind for four long years. Decades later, Ray has interviewed the surviving siblings and pieced together a gripping account of the children’s desperation and determination that has never been told until now. She masterfully puts the reader in that time and place with detailed descriptions of the geography, the conditions and the attitudes of numerous people who were aware of the children’s situation and yet were not moved to rescue them. Wow!!!!

Engaging and eye opening

What an amazing story of sadness and triumph. A good example of pushing through a tough situation, opening up, honesty, love, teamwork, kinship…a lot is jammed packed in this book. A must read because it’s a good read.