Status
Available
Publication
Ballantine Books (2021), Edition: Reprint, 304 pages
Description
"Nestled in the Appalachian mountains, Owsley County is the poorest county in Kentucky and the second poorest in 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 amidst these hollers, and through the women who raised her, she traces her own path out of and back into the Kentucky mountains. Cassie's 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 high school, then moved an hour away for college. Married at nineteen 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 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 a student 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, Cassie 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"--… (more)
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LibraryThing member SamSattler
Never underestimate a mountain woman.
Cassie Chambers grew up in the second poorest county in the entire United States, Owsley County, Kentucky. And she did it when the county was suffering the worst of times because of the duel decline of the two industries that had sustained life in Owsley County
Cassie’s story begins with her grandmother, a woman whose belief in hard work and family was passed down to her children (four boys and two girls), including Cassie’s mother, Wilma, and her mother’s older sister, Ruth. Wilma, certainly no stranger to hard work, would go on to become the first in her family to graduate from high school, as well as from college, something she achieved when Cassie was five years old. The women in Cassie’s family led by example, and Wilma’s acquisition of a college degree despite the tremendous odds against her made it plain to Cassie that her mother placed great value on education. As Cassie put it, by “graduating with her degree, my mother changed both of our lives.”
The most remarkable thing about Cassie Chambers is not what she achieved academically and after graduation - it is that she so willingly gives back to the community and culture from which she came. But even that did not come easy for her because of the difficulties she faced while trying to live in two cultures at the same time. The more she fit in at Yale and Harvard, the more comfortable she felt in those worlds, the less she fit in back in the Kentucky mountains she had left behind. Ultimately, the author came to understand that not everyone can or even should leave the mountains, that the people there are “connected to the land and to each other in a deep and meaningful way.” The mountain communities are worth saving, and she is doing her best to make sure that those who do stay in them are getting all the help they need and deserve.
Perhaps the biggest compliment ever paid to Cassie Chambers came from her Aunt Ruth one day after Cassie asked if her aunt still considered her to be a hillbilly. “You’re not anymore,” her aunt replied, “but you still got a piece of hillbilly in your heart.” The author says that she felt herself “swell with pride.”
Bottom Line: Hill Women is a tribute to the part of the country where Chambers was born, those Kentucky Appalachian communities that spawned generation after generation of tough men and women like those in her own family. The women, though, in the author’s family were different from the men in one significant way: they valued education much more than the men valued it. And even if they could not manage to get an education for themselves, they badly wanted it for the rest of the family, especially their daughters, sisters, and nieces. Education was the ticket to a better life for the women of Appalachian Kentucky - men could own farms and head families of their own; women, if not for education, were doomed to living the confined roles that mountain culture expected of them. This is their story.
Cassie Chambers grew up in the second poorest county in the entire United States, Owsley County, Kentucky. And she did it when the county was suffering the worst of times because of the duel decline of the two industries that had sustained life in Owsley County
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for generations: coal and tobacco. Without a market for coal and tobacco, there were very few jobs to be had in the county, especially jobs that payed anything even close to a living wage. Chambers, though, found her way out of Owsley County, and today the Harvard Law graduate whose firm offers free services to indigent Kentucky women, is even a member of the Democratic National Committee. And she knows exactly to whom she owes her success: the generations of strong women who preceded her.Cassie’s story begins with her grandmother, a woman whose belief in hard work and family was passed down to her children (four boys and two girls), including Cassie’s mother, Wilma, and her mother’s older sister, Ruth. Wilma, certainly no stranger to hard work, would go on to become the first in her family to graduate from high school, as well as from college, something she achieved when Cassie was five years old. The women in Cassie’s family led by example, and Wilma’s acquisition of a college degree despite the tremendous odds against her made it plain to Cassie that her mother placed great value on education. As Cassie put it, by “graduating with her degree, my mother changed both of our lives.”
The most remarkable thing about Cassie Chambers is not what she achieved academically and after graduation - it is that she so willingly gives back to the community and culture from which she came. But even that did not come easy for her because of the difficulties she faced while trying to live in two cultures at the same time. The more she fit in at Yale and Harvard, the more comfortable she felt in those worlds, the less she fit in back in the Kentucky mountains she had left behind. Ultimately, the author came to understand that not everyone can or even should leave the mountains, that the people there are “connected to the land and to each other in a deep and meaningful way.” The mountain communities are worth saving, and she is doing her best to make sure that those who do stay in them are getting all the help they need and deserve.
Perhaps the biggest compliment ever paid to Cassie Chambers came from her Aunt Ruth one day after Cassie asked if her aunt still considered her to be a hillbilly. “You’re not anymore,” her aunt replied, “but you still got a piece of hillbilly in your heart.” The author says that she felt herself “swell with pride.”
Bottom Line: Hill Women is a tribute to the part of the country where Chambers was born, those Kentucky Appalachian communities that spawned generation after generation of tough men and women like those in her own family. The women, though, in the author’s family were different from the men in one significant way: they valued education much more than the men valued it. And even if they could not manage to get an education for themselves, they badly wanted it for the rest of the family, especially their daughters, sisters, and nieces. Education was the ticket to a better life for the women of Appalachian Kentucky - men could own farms and head families of their own; women, if not for education, were doomed to living the confined roles that mountain culture expected of them. This is their story.
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LibraryThing member GennaC
“For me, there is hope in the spirit of a people who find creative ways to exist in a community that has been systematically marginalized. In men and women who take care of each other even when the outside world does not take care of them. In people who broke their bodies in tobacco fields and
Hill Women speaks to the strength and resiliency of women and mothers in even the most oppressive of circumstances and the darkest depths of despair. As I’ve gotten older I’ve found myself more inclined to choose women’s stories and stories written by women, making Chambers’ memoir and tribute to women of her childhood holler a read I immediately gravitated towards. The experiences of the women in her family and their lives in one of the poorest counties in the United States is stark, powerful, and compelling. The thread of the story unraveled a bit for me as Chambers delved into her professional journey to become an Ivy League graduate and an attorney advocating for impoverished women in Appalachia, but she circles back in the final chapters, tying her personal development and hard-won triumphs to the sustained tenacity and perseverance of the long line of hill women she hails from. Hill Women touches on the opioid crisis, the deeply flawed justice system, the devastating effects of the decimation of the coal and tobacco industries, and rampant domestic violence, among other heavy hitting topics. The discussion of the rigid legal roadblocks and prohibitive court fees that prevent countless women from escaping their abusers and establishing agency and impoverished people from turning corners in their lives are particularly shocking and disheartening. Chambers provides nuance to these issues and their impact on a group of people largely misunderstood and blatantly misrepresented by American society at large. Her unique perspective on Appalachia and Owsley County, Kentucky offers an analysis that is respectful and understanding of her subject matter without overly romanticizing the challenges they face. Highly recommended.
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coal mines to make a living in the only community they have ever known. We don’t take time to see it: the hope in the poverty, the spark against the dreary backdrop, the grit in the mountain women.”Hill Women speaks to the strength and resiliency of women and mothers in even the most oppressive of circumstances and the darkest depths of despair. As I’ve gotten older I’ve found myself more inclined to choose women’s stories and stories written by women, making Chambers’ memoir and tribute to women of her childhood holler a read I immediately gravitated towards. The experiences of the women in her family and their lives in one of the poorest counties in the United States is stark, powerful, and compelling. The thread of the story unraveled a bit for me as Chambers delved into her professional journey to become an Ivy League graduate and an attorney advocating for impoverished women in Appalachia, but she circles back in the final chapters, tying her personal development and hard-won triumphs to the sustained tenacity and perseverance of the long line of hill women she hails from. Hill Women touches on the opioid crisis, the deeply flawed justice system, the devastating effects of the decimation of the coal and tobacco industries, and rampant domestic violence, among other heavy hitting topics. The discussion of the rigid legal roadblocks and prohibitive court fees that prevent countless women from escaping their abusers and establishing agency and impoverished people from turning corners in their lives are particularly shocking and disheartening. Chambers provides nuance to these issues and their impact on a group of people largely misunderstood and blatantly misrepresented by American society at large. Her unique perspective on Appalachia and Owsley County, Kentucky offers an analysis that is respectful and understanding of her subject matter without overly romanticizing the challenges they face. Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member sallylou61
This story is primarily a memoir Ms. Chambers' life although it also features the women in her family: her grandmother, mother, and Aunt Ruth. Although Ms. Chambers stresses the poverty of Owsley County, the poorest county in Kentucky, where her mother was raised, her grandmother and aunt lived,
The book is divided into three sections: (1) Cassie's childhood years which describes the lives of her grandparents and parents with particular attention to the women, (2) Cassie's education which occurred outside of Kentucky including New Mexico, Wellesley, Yale, London, and Harvard Law School, and (3) her return to Kentucky to work as a lawyer helping very poor people, especially women.
During the time Ms. Chambers was going to school away from Eastern Kentucky, she was living a life with generally more wealthy people. She was trying to find herself; she worked hard on her studies but also had a social life. When she got to law school, initially she thought she was not cut out to be a lawyer until she started working at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, a student run law firm which aided low income people; then she realized she could do that kind of law. After law school she returned to Kentucky to work with the very poor, primarily victims of domestic violence, mostly women but also a few men. She tells stories of her experience doing this work, and describes concrete ways the legal system is injurious to the poor. She mentions extra challenges working for the poor in rural areas which are not present helping the poor in more urban areas with more resources. However, she describes small victories where she and her clients were able to get something improved. She is hopeful, but also realistic. Following Trump's election, she became involved in Democratic Party politics in Kentucky.
Although Ms. Chambers considers Owsley County her real home, and uses it as an illustration, she also describes the poverty and living conditions in Appalachian Eastern Kentucky. She covers the collapse of the tobacco and coal industries which in the past employed many people, and mentions the opioid crisis. Occasionally, I feel that she used too many statistics which will quickly go out of date.
Highly recommended.
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and Ms. Chambers herself spent much of her childhood, she emphasizes the importance of the women in the life of the community and the importance of family and of hard work. The book is divided into three sections: (1) Cassie's childhood years which describes the lives of her grandparents and parents with particular attention to the women, (2) Cassie's education which occurred outside of Kentucky including New Mexico, Wellesley, Yale, London, and Harvard Law School, and (3) her return to Kentucky to work as a lawyer helping very poor people, especially women.
During the time Ms. Chambers was going to school away from Eastern Kentucky, she was living a life with generally more wealthy people. She was trying to find herself; she worked hard on her studies but also had a social life. When she got to law school, initially she thought she was not cut out to be a lawyer until she started working at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, a student run law firm which aided low income people; then she realized she could do that kind of law. After law school she returned to Kentucky to work with the very poor, primarily victims of domestic violence, mostly women but also a few men. She tells stories of her experience doing this work, and describes concrete ways the legal system is injurious to the poor. She mentions extra challenges working for the poor in rural areas which are not present helping the poor in more urban areas with more resources. However, she describes small victories where she and her clients were able to get something improved. She is hopeful, but also realistic. Following Trump's election, she became involved in Democratic Party politics in Kentucky.
Although Ms. Chambers considers Owsley County her real home, and uses it as an illustration, she also describes the poverty and living conditions in Appalachian Eastern Kentucky. She covers the collapse of the tobacco and coal industries which in the past employed many people, and mentions the opioid crisis. Occasionally, I feel that she used too many statistics which will quickly go out of date.
Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member Christiana5
I received this through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program in exchange for an honest review. This memoir covers not only the author’s life (to date, she’s only in her early 30’s), but her mother’s, aunt’s, and grandmother’s as well. She writes about the three generations, and
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their journey from Appalachian share cropping to her own accomplishments as an Ivy League grad returning to help poor women in Kentucky as a legal aid lawyer, and the beginnings of her entry into politics. I found her, and her family’s, stories interesting, both personally as I’ve been researching my own family history which contains some similar demographics of coal miners and rural farmers, as well as professionally as I work in human services. The epilogue is heart wrenching. A worthy read. It will be interesting to see what the author does next in her life. Show Less
LibraryThing member snash
This memoir starts out in a small valley of Appalachia and proceeds on to Yale, Harvard, and back to Louisville, KY. In telling her story and that of numerous relatives she gives a picture of rural Appalachia, admitting its problems but emphasizing its strengths.
LibraryThing member BALE
Interesting and insightful, a view of contemporary poverty in Midwestern Appalachia and the strong women who have worked to promote education and aide those in extremely reduced circumstances.
LibraryThing member nyiper
The epilogue is the particularly tear producing part of Cassie Chamber's wonderful memoir about the women she knows so well and the challenges they have faced. I am amazed at what a young woman could do in such a short span of years. Is it because of her rather amazing beginning in life, spending
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so much time in the hills of Kentucky, or because of the amazing women who formed the basics of her life? Her writing is so descriptive and so very personal. She brings us right up to date in the ending. I can hope she continues to write about her efforts to help the state of Kentucky through her efforts for women, legally and politically. Cassie Chambers is one very impressive young woman. Show Less
LibraryThing member stephvin
This was an excellent memoir reflecting the author’s journey from the hills of Kentucky to Yale and Harvard law school. The heart of the memoir includes memories of the author of her mother,Granny and aunt. Despite extreme poverty of the hills of Kentucky the close relationships of the family
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formed the basis of the strength of the author who returned home to Kentucky. Show Less
LibraryThing member tamidale
The more I read this book, the more I was reminded of JD Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy. This is pretty much the female version of his story. Like Vance, Cassie Chambers made it out of her rural hometown and ended up at Yale, earning a law degree.
It’s admirable that Cassie wanted to better herself
I did expect more from this book. Once I got about halfway through, I felt like I had learned all she had to tell and I was right. I wish I had not wasted my time finishing the second half. It’s not a bad book, but I just felt like she had nothing new to say.
Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for allowing me to read an advance copy and give my honest review.
It’s admirable that Cassie wanted to better herself
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enough to do the work required to enjoy a better life. It’s also admirable that she has gone back to her home state to help make life better for others. But when it came to some of her own family members, she accepted their lack of ambition, made excuses for them and failed to encourage them to get an education.I did expect more from this book. Once I got about halfway through, I felt like I had learned all she had to tell and I was right. I wish I had not wasted my time finishing the second half. It’s not a bad book, but I just felt like she had nothing new to say.
Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for allowing me to read an advance copy and give my honest review.
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LibraryThing member arelenriel
Excellent book that provides a great deal of insight into poverty in Appalachia and how this effects how people in the mountains of Appalachia think and it eliminates many of the stereotypes that people have of the poor, of hillbillies, and of the South in general
LibraryThing member pdebolt
Cassie Chambers grew up in the hollers of Western Kentucky where life is a struggle to survive, but where family values contributed to her belief in the value of an education. She went on to graduate from two Ivy League schools with a degree in law that enabled her to give back to a community that
My thanks to the publisher and to LibraryThing for the opportunity to read this as an ARC.
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gave so much to her. She works as an advocate for women enduring challenges in her Appalachian home. Hers is an inspirational story, as are the stories of the women she champions.My thanks to the publisher and to LibraryThing for the opportunity to read this as an ARC.
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LibraryThing member mbookshelf
This memoir seems in step with other works such as Hillbilly Elegy that shed a light on a culturally rich part of rural American; in this case the focus is the Appalachian Mountain. This work does an excellent job of exploring how roots shape people throughout their lives -- even when they do not
Reading this memoir, I wished that the author had chosen to focus on either the lawyering aspects of her career or dive further into the personal/familial reminiscences. As it stands, the work doesn't feel like it gives either story line its full justice. What is there is interesting; it just doesn't feel complete.
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live in a certain physical location anymore. Reading this memoir, I wished that the author had chosen to focus on either the lawyering aspects of her career or dive further into the personal/familial reminiscences. As it stands, the work doesn't feel like it gives either story line its full justice. What is there is interesting; it just doesn't feel complete.
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LibraryThing member phillies
This was a very interesting and informative book. The main theme is certainly Chambers' honoring the accomplishments and toughness of women of the Appalachian mountains in Kentucky; and, she cleary succeeded. There are wonderful and inspiring stories of these women. But there is much more. Chambers
The book is very much autobiographical. Chambers tells her story of living in Appalachia and how she succeeded despite the hardships. It also tells how she experienced a privileged life at college and beyond. What impressed me was her story of how she turned back to Kentucky and used her success too help others.
Chambers supported her views with facts and was balanced and fair in her opinions. While describing and criticizing the male culture at Yale she also pointed out efforts made by Yale to improve. In addition, when she describes her activities in the Democratic Party she does it without heaping disdain on opposite views. While I have a few different views I always felt that her views where worth hearing.
This is a book worthy of a wide readership and was entertaining as well as informative.
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does a good job of explaining the tobacco and coal industries and their effect on the region. Moreover, she opened my eyes to many things, such as, the reasons for the wide age difference in marriages. The book is very much autobiographical. Chambers tells her story of living in Appalachia and how she succeeded despite the hardships. It also tells how she experienced a privileged life at college and beyond. What impressed me was her story of how she turned back to Kentucky and used her success too help others.
Chambers supported her views with facts and was balanced and fair in her opinions. While describing and criticizing the male culture at Yale she also pointed out efforts made by Yale to improve. In addition, when she describes her activities in the Democratic Party she does it without heaping disdain on opposite views. While I have a few different views I always felt that her views where worth hearing.
This is a book worthy of a wide readership and was entertaining as well as informative.
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LibraryThing member jec27
I received the book as a Member Giveaway in return for a (hoped for) review. From the Introduction throughout the first 16 chapters I found the story compelling and an honest and insightful reflection of the author's early life and years thereafter, an enjoyable and worthwhile read as was J.D.
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Vance's Hillbilly Elegy which she alluded to without naming it specifically. My only disappointment came with Chapter 17 and the generalizations and in my view inaccuracies about President Trump. Of course, as a woman seeking to fit in and doing so very well in the Yale and Harvard academic circles, it follows that Chambers would adopt the progressive agenda as her own and repeat the MSM/DNC accusations without facts or examples to back them up. For example, Trump wants to "burn down everything." NO! Antifa burns down "everything," left-wingers "burn down everything" and rant and rage against any ideas contrary to their own. Democrats exhort their sheep to confront Conservatives with insults, refusals to listen, and to attack the police and law enforcement in general. President Trump has raised employment, rebuilt the military, increased wages and reduced taxes. And, as for smaller tax refunds, those happen when less tax comes out of weekly/monthly paychecks! A refund is money that belongs to the taxpayer that the IRS retains for a time without interest. But that's just my opinion. Chambers is happy with nuns who justify killing babies in the womb because some people do not take care of their children well once born; or perhaps the government handouts are insufficient to cover expenses. If Chambers is a happy Democrat, good for her. Not everyone is or wants to be. Moving on, Chambers has good reason to be proud of her accomplishments, and to love and honor her mother's example and all her relatives' support for her life choices. It is sad and unfortunate that poverty creates a negative view of people. It is also sad that the same pride that carries people through their hardships is the pride that prevents them from venturing out more into a society that has opportunities for the help they need but will not ask for. Both technological changes, and the left's opposition to certain industries while they control the Government's purse strings slows down if not prevents more jobs being available to those who would gladly work for a living if they could find a job that requires the skills they currently have. Chambers proved there are open doors to better life, and hopefully she will be among those who do find a way forward for many more in Appalachia who are as diligent and ambitious as she. Show Less
LibraryThing member benruth
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, an exploration of the author’s Appalachian family history, particularly with regard to the women. The ways in which she became who she was, inspired by her mother’s journey and yet also set apart by her education and experience even as she moved back to the area,
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were fascinating, and she was an excellent storyteller. I’d definitely read any other work she might produce. While this book has been compared to Hillbilly Elegy, I liked this one much better. Show Less
LibraryThing member kayanelson
Memoirs are my favorite form of non-fiction. I really enjoyed reading about Owsley County in Kentucky. The Hill Women (and men) display fortitude, pride and kindness. Cassie Chambers was from a family who accept people for who they are. Her mother was encouraged and able to educate herself and have
As a result, Cassie ended up having better opportunities than her one cousin. Cassie has an impressive educational background. But what is even more impressive is that she has returned home and is using her education to help those in need in rural Kentucky.
I am glad Cassie shared her story and opened my eyes to the hardship and unfairness these "hill people" endure.
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a slightly easier life than her aunt who stayed on the farm and worked very hard, married late and had no children.As a result, Cassie ended up having better opportunities than her one cousin. Cassie has an impressive educational background. But what is even more impressive is that she has returned home and is using her education to help those in need in rural Kentucky.
I am glad Cassie shared her story and opened my eyes to the hardship and unfairness these "hill people" endure.
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LibraryThing member herzogm
I enjoy memoir and thought that women from Appalachia would be particularly interesting. I was delighted to find that Hill Women centered on Owsley county where I have researched a lot of family. I have a new appreciation of their lives now. Chambers has a style which is easy to read and filled
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with lovely bits of introspection. I also apprenticed her insights on the various factors which keep these areas economically depressed while holding out hope for improvement. Show Less
LibraryThing member detailmuse
Cassie Chambers’s relatives come from the poorest county in Kentucky (second poorest in the US), and Hill Women is her tender and loving memoir of growing up among the strong and proud people there in the hollers of the Appalachian Mountains. Incredibly readable, it’s also enlightening about
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her pursuit of education at Ivy League schools, her return to the mountains to provide legal aid to the impoverished, and her movement into politics to combat continuing disparities. It brought to mind Tara Westover’s overcoming of poverty and cultural isolation in Educated, and is my favorite of recent memoirs about Appalachia. Show Less
LibraryThing member mckait
Hill Women by Cassie Chambers is a wonderful read. I am descended from Appalachian women on my father's side, and I recognize them in some of the women described in this book. Strong, tenacious, wise and loving women who take care of each other and their communities.
We get to experience the path
We get to experience the path
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the author took from "hillbilly" (her word) to worldly and well traved lawyer, who still carries the mountain ways in her heart, along with the love of her birthplace and people. I enjoyed every page, loved the people I met within the pages and recommend it enthusiastically. Show Less
LibraryThing member barefeet4
A woman’s look at her own life and how it was shaped by the women in her family. A good look at women in Appalachia and the region in general. The last few chapters were less engaging and a little abrupt maybe but overall well written and an interesting read.
LibraryThing member amazzuca26
I read this book as an Early Review book and absolutely loved it. Not only did I cheer for Cassie, but I felt like I personally knew her mom, aunt and grandmother. Cassie has overcome the odds, but is still humble and proud of her Appalachian roots. Coming from one of the poorest counties in the
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United States, Cassie has truly beaten the odds. She understands that she is only in the position she is now because of the strong women who have always stood behind her. I hope that young women across the country read this book and realize not only the importance of believing in yourself, but also the importance of education. Sometimes going against the grain of your community is uncomfortable, but that is truly the only way to grow. I hope to read about Cassie in the future as a United States Senator changing policy to help people from poor and under-served areas in the United States. Show Less
LibraryThing member dianne47
The author tells her story of growing up in the Kentucky mountains. She is able to move successfully from that environment to eventually graduate from Harvard Law. Afterwards she moved back to rural Kentucky to put her legal skills to work. She cites the example of the "hill women" in her life. Her
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mother was able to leave the mountains and go to college. Her grandmother and her Aunt Ruth were also major influences in her life. Fascinating, inspiring. Show Less
LibraryThing member jillrhudy
I received an advance readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Cassie Wilson’s memoir was less than compelling until the author got to the part about her Legal Aid advocacy for poor women in Kentucky, when the book filled with fire and passion. I liked the parts about the tough
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women in her family, and she touches on social issues in Appalachia, but I feel the book tried to cover too much. It was sweet, and I am full of admiration for the author for coming home and pitching in instead of dissing the place from afar, which is the easy way out. If the whole memoir were as exciting as the lone lawyer in the backwoods, meeting underprivileged clients at Dairy Queen with a printer in the back seat of her car, I would love it, but despite my sympathy for the subject matter, I found a lot of it pretty dull. Show Less
LibraryThing member tangledthread
In this memoir, Cassie Chambers describes the lives of the maternal side of her family in the hills of eastern Kentucky from the 1950's to the present. Despite the poverty and lack of resources, there is no lack of resourcefulness and strength in the women she describes. Her maternal grandmother
Inspired by the example of these strong women, Cassie attends a unique preparatory high school in New Mexico and from there attends Ivy League schools and eventually earns her law degree. At the time of writing the book, she is back in Kentucky, working to help women have equal access to the courts in family law
issues.
This book is an encouraging counterpoint to the existential pessimism put forth in J. D. Vance's book about a community in Kentucky just two counties over from the Owsley County.
I received this book as part of the Early Reviewers Program, but this review is not influenced by that fact.
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was married and mother at 17 to a man twelve years her senior. Her spinster Aunt Ruth keeps the family farm going when her parents become to old to raise tobacco and farm. Her mother, Wilma, the youngest in the family is the first to finish high school and goes onto attend college in Berea, where she meets Cassie's father, a teaching assistant. They marry and have Cassie in her first year of college, yet Wilma manages to finish her degree while raising Cassie.Inspired by the example of these strong women, Cassie attends a unique preparatory high school in New Mexico and from there attends Ivy League schools and eventually earns her law degree. At the time of writing the book, she is back in Kentucky, working to help women have equal access to the courts in family law
issues.
This book is an encouraging counterpoint to the existential pessimism put forth in J. D. Vance's book about a community in Kentucky just two counties over from the Owsley County.
I received this book as part of the Early Reviewers Program, but this review is not influenced by that fact.
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LibraryThing member Dgryan1
This book reminds me of both Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance and Educated by Tara Westover. It is an account of the lives of the women in the author's family as well as a look at the economic and social situation of Eastern Kentucky generally. Like the other two books, it is a moving portrayal of the
As another reviewer mentioned, the book changed tone at the end and became a partisan political piece that attempted to persuade the reader of the flaws of conservatives, Republicans, or Donald Trump, rather than maintaining a focus on the stories of the women of the region. Chambers reveals in the last pages of the book her move into the Democratic Party's leadership structure in her state. Instead of simply saying that she works in politics in order to persuade people of the efficacy of a certain policy approach over another, she relates numerous examples that serve only to promote division, though decrying the political divisiveness of the times. For example, she says that some churches in the rural regions of Kentucky tell people they will go to Hell if they vote for Democrats, or that (Republican) parents won't let their children play with the children of Democrats. A nun persuades people to vote for Democrats because, apparently, she explains that Republicans are simply "pro-birth," not pro-life, seemingly arguing that once a child is born Republicans only want to cut children's health insurance and make life hard for working families. My own belief is that Republicans, conservatives, libertarians, independents, or anyone who is not a Democrat, would want much the same as a Democrat for children and working families. There can be a difference in opinion about the best policies or approach to a problem without it meaning that one side is basically evil and unfeeling while the other only wants the best for people. She devotes several pages to wondering why people in Kentucky like Donald Trump, and then spends time discussing why he is not as popular as he was and that he has "done nothing" and "made women mad." She then says that Owsley County, the focus of the book, elected a Democrat in the 2018 elections. However, this result does not seem to have followed from any direct connection to Trump, but rather to the Republican candidate's position in favor of merging the county with another, something the majority of residents in Owsley County opposed. She also throws in an assessment that supposedly came from her Aunt Ruth that Brett Kavanaugh was guilty of what he was accused, she could just tell. This seems awfully irresponsible coming from an author who is herself an attorney and should now be aware of the very serious credibility issues of Kavanaugh's accusers, problems that came fully to light once the hearings ended and highlighted, or should have done, for the country of the dangers of a rush to judgment and a willingness to convict someone based solely on an accusation with no evidence. Again, this seemed out of place in her memoir and once again promotes a divisiveness that she claims to abhor. (Sigh). It's an unfortunate chapter that is clearly an attempt to sway people to adopt her political affiliation, and which damages the story she was otherwise trying to convey.
Overall, there are some things to admire in the book, and other things that would have been better left out, or which should have received less attention so that the focus could stay on the "hill women" of Kentucky.
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lives of those who grow up in poverty and without much encouragement to pursue education or opportunities outside the familiar communities of their early years. Chambers writes well and there is a warmth, intimacy, and hopefulness to many of her stories that the other two books sometimes lack. Like other reviewers, I thought the first half of the book was much stronger than the second. Chambers describes her time working in Legal Services, representing the poor of Kentucky after having obtained an Ivy League education. She highlights a number of the problems facing Appalachia, such as the a lack of new types of employment, a lackluster educational system, and a serious opioid crisis. As another reviewer mentioned, the book changed tone at the end and became a partisan political piece that attempted to persuade the reader of the flaws of conservatives, Republicans, or Donald Trump, rather than maintaining a focus on the stories of the women of the region. Chambers reveals in the last pages of the book her move into the Democratic Party's leadership structure in her state. Instead of simply saying that she works in politics in order to persuade people of the efficacy of a certain policy approach over another, she relates numerous examples that serve only to promote division, though decrying the political divisiveness of the times. For example, she says that some churches in the rural regions of Kentucky tell people they will go to Hell if they vote for Democrats, or that (Republican) parents won't let their children play with the children of Democrats. A nun persuades people to vote for Democrats because, apparently, she explains that Republicans are simply "pro-birth," not pro-life, seemingly arguing that once a child is born Republicans only want to cut children's health insurance and make life hard for working families. My own belief is that Republicans, conservatives, libertarians, independents, or anyone who is not a Democrat, would want much the same as a Democrat for children and working families. There can be a difference in opinion about the best policies or approach to a problem without it meaning that one side is basically evil and unfeeling while the other only wants the best for people. She devotes several pages to wondering why people in Kentucky like Donald Trump, and then spends time discussing why he is not as popular as he was and that he has "done nothing" and "made women mad." She then says that Owsley County, the focus of the book, elected a Democrat in the 2018 elections. However, this result does not seem to have followed from any direct connection to Trump, but rather to the Republican candidate's position in favor of merging the county with another, something the majority of residents in Owsley County opposed. She also throws in an assessment that supposedly came from her Aunt Ruth that Brett Kavanaugh was guilty of what he was accused, she could just tell. This seems awfully irresponsible coming from an author who is herself an attorney and should now be aware of the very serious credibility issues of Kavanaugh's accusers, problems that came fully to light once the hearings ended and highlighted, or should have done, for the country of the dangers of a rush to judgment and a willingness to convict someone based solely on an accusation with no evidence. Again, this seemed out of place in her memoir and once again promotes a divisiveness that she claims to abhor. (Sigh). It's an unfortunate chapter that is clearly an attempt to sway people to adopt her political affiliation, and which damages the story she was otherwise trying to convey.
Overall, there are some things to admire in the book, and other things that would have been better left out, or which should have received less attention so that the focus could stay on the "hill women" of Kentucky.
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Language
Original language
English
Physical description
304 p.; 7.98 inches
ISBN
1984818937 / 9781984818935