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 story for a long drive

Listen to this book while doing an 8.5 hr drive. it was a great story and I wasn't bored. The ending was a little bit predictable but overall was a good listen.

Stellar performance

The readers captured the accents and nuances of the characters in the book. They were believable and authentic in their interpretations...

So good!!!!

The story is great but the performance is PHENOMENAL!! It made it so real.
I only picked the book bc the prison mentioned is 5 mins from me but the characters kept me here! Such a good listen

Too sad for me

Overall, a well written story. The plot was just so sad I almost gave it up.

An American Tragedy

Not since "Night of the Hunter" can I remember a more charismatically evil "preacher" captivating a community and placing innocent children in peril. Two people know the danger in the preacher - the sheriff who has no legal evidence to act, and Adelaide, an elderly woman of the church who has appointed herself protector of the children in the congregation. These two are moral anchors of the community, in their own ways keepng the peace. But then the curiosity of two brothers sets events in motion that gain momentum and become explosive in a matter of only days.

Wiley Cash has perfectly captured the language of the region, with a finely tuned ear for genuine dialogue and prose. The characters are complexly gritty, tender, damaged and innocent, Told by three first-person voices, we get an inside look at life in the mountain country of North Carolina, where communities are close knit and closed in, and ruled by tobacco and fundamentalist religion. The three voices - Adelaide, Sheriff Barefield, and Jess Hall, a 10 year old boy terrified at being thrust center stage in the machinations of an adult world he can't understand, are all voiced impeccably by a trio of accomplished narrators. I generally avoid multiple-reader books, but seeing that Lorna Raver was included convinced me to give it a try. (Her performance of "Fried Green Tomatoes" was exquisite.) I was not disappointed.

It's a long way from being a Southern Novel

What did you like best about A Land More Kind Than Home? What did you like least?

I bought this book because: 1) one of the narrators is Mark Bramhall, and 2) the story was touted as a Southern Novel.

Bramhall didn't disappoint. He NEVER does. The 5 stars in the review of Performance are for him. Unfortunately, his character speaks less than any of the others.

But the story - while it had its moments (more than a few outstanding, compelling moments early on, as a matter of fact) - ultimately it didn't deliver on what those opening scenes had promised.

There was too much about the boy Jess. Yes, his POV was integral to the plot, but we were forced to go down too many childhood rabbit trails with him. Or maybe it was that, combined with the fact that the narrator of his voice was my least favorite.

Finally, the ending ruined the experience for me. It seems ideally suited for a TV movie.

The book may be set in the South, but it's a long way from being a Southern Novel.

Snakehandlers

If you could sum up A Land More Kind Than Home in three words, what would they be?

Rich, dramatic, inspiring

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?

The sheriff

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I never have that much time, but I was anxious to get back to it

Any additional comments?

The characterization in this book is some of the strongest I've ever read (or listened to in this case, where I "read" the audible version). The three narrators' voices provide windows into their lives and thoughts while at the same time telling the story of powerful events taking place in the small backwoods North Carolina town. As we come to know the speakers, their insights into the main characters involved in the events bring those characters to life as well.
I would recommend this book in whatever format suits you, but if you are able to listen to the audible version, you will be rewarded by excellent readers.

Look for more to come from this author

I am a always on the lookout for new authors and this one sure passed the test! This author is a true storyteller and writes on an intelligent level. No cotton candy here. I am so glad that I listened to it rather than read it. The narrators are outstanding. I will definitely buy any future books by Mr. Cash.

Dark Redemption

This is a beautifully written book. It is about how religion, poverty and superstition come together in the Appalachian mountains. I live in the area and have heard of these communities. Not a book to read if you need cheering up but culturally interesting with great characters.

The Preacher is Evil

Beautifully written but the story is just sad. I could see and feel the surroundings. And the characters did just ramble on and on.