Book Review - The Saints of Swallow Hill - Donna Everhart
’The saints of swallow hill’ by Donna Everhart is a work of historical fiction, set mostly in the Turpentine Camps of North Carolina during the Great depression. The book is dedicated to ‘the chippers, the dippers and the tackers of tin. I had no idea what this meant but by the end of the book I would.
With an abundance of pine trees in North Carolina (known as the Tar Heel State), the tar became crucial to the seafaring industry, and was a crucial part of the economy from the 1700’s onwards, contributing to what was known as ‘Naval stores’. The tar was essential to building and maintaining wooden sailing ships as well as soap, resin, lubricants and varnish.
It wasn’t an easy job, and the process of extracting the tar from the trees could often result in injury. It’s where we first meet the two main characters in the book, and it’s their stories that are told via split narrative - Orphan Rae Lynn Cobb, working with her husband, and Delwood Reese, who drifts from place to place and as well as taking tar from the trees, takes his pleasures where he can find them.
Turpentine Camp
The ‘Swallow Hill’ of the title occupies the largest part of the book, a turpentine camp that was little more than a slavery village, with rampant racism. A horrible place, it was hard not get angry at some of the goings on here, the workers, mostly black, living in indentured servitude.
The setting itself is very evocative, and there were times that it put me in mind of ‘Where the Crawdad sings’ by Delia Owens, no bad thing. You really get pulled into the lives of the characters and I found myself drawn especially to the women, Rae Lynn and Cornelia, faced as they were with some rampant misogyny. Every book like this needs a baddie and there are a couple of prime specimens, with special mention for the dastardly Crow.
One of the characters undergoes an amazing transformation early on that seemed a bit hard to believe but I just went with it. I also found that the last third of ‘The Saints of Swallow Hill’ didn’t have the same narrative drive as the previous sections but in the end, because of where the story ended up, I was ok with that. There were times when I felt I knew where the story was going but it’s well put together and easy to read and just enjoy.
Historical Fiction
A turpentine camp in North Carolina, probably late 19th century. Courtesy of the library of congress.
Historical fiction is at its best for me when it’s teaching you something of a period you didn’t know much about, evokes a strong sense of time and place and has strong characters that you care about. With strong themes of friendship, survival and love, ‘The saints of Swallow Hill’ is a well written book and ticks all those boxes and it’s easy to see why it’ll be successful. I think Donna Everhart has written a book that will certainly be popular with book club.
I’d recommend this if you’re a fan of historical fiction and enjoyed ‘Where the crawdad sings.’
I received a Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Netgalley, in return for an honest book review.
Book review - The saints of Swallow Hill by Donna Everhart
376 Pages
Kensington Books
Published 25 January 2022
Saints of Swallow Hill Book Club Questions
Who do you think are the saints of the title and why?
How do you think Rae Lynn and Warrens relationship changed over time?
How do you think the character of Del Reese changed over time?
What does the book have to tell us about friendship?
Why do you think it’s important to confront your past?