Rating: 
Summary: War and Remembrance
Review: Sharyn McCrumb chronicles the Civil War in the Southern mountains in Ghost Riders, an extraordinary tale of the war that was fought farm-to-farm, neighbor to neighbor in the part of the South that never wanted to leave the union.
As in her previous novels, The Ballad of Frankie Silver; The Rosewood Casket; She Walks These Hills; The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter; and The Songcatcher, the last of which The Atlanta Journal and Constitution hailed as "a ballad in itself to the Appalachians and the history of the people who have settled it," McCrumb celebrates her heritage and the land of the mountain South, crafting a story rich with tradition and the true character and spirit of that breathtaking region.
The novel's primary narrators are two historical figures: Malinda Blalock and Zebulon Vance.
Malinda Blalock a young mountain woman, whose husband was forced to enlist in the Confederate army, disguised herself as a boy and went with him. Discharged soon afterwards, it isn't long before the Confederacy wants Keith to take up arms again, and he does, only this time it is as a bushwacker for the Union. With not many people left to trust in a war that has pitted brother against brother, the couple heads for high ground to avoid the county militia, and soon become hard-ridng, deadly outlaws who avenge the deaths of their kin and neighbors at the hands of the Rebels.
North Carolina Governor Zebulon Baird Vance, a young lawyer from Asheville rose from humble beginnings on a frontier farm to serve in the U.S. Congress. Opposed to secession, Vance chose to remain loyal to his home state, but when the war broke out, he left Washington to become colonel of the 26th North Carolina, later becoming the Confederate governor of North Carolina.
In the present, the war resonates like a half-remembered nightmare. It lingers on in the Confederate battle flag flying in the yard of a trailer, in the church names "Union Baptist" and "Cumberland Presbyterian, " which are expressions of politics not faith, and in the minds of scholars and weekend warriors who continue to relive the war.
In Wake County, Tennessee the local Civil War re-enactors' group is planning a mock battle. Most of the local men who participate in the re-enactments prefer to fight on the Confederate side, and most of them are unaware that in all likelihood their mountain ancestors favored the Union. Rattler, an old mountain root doctor who has the Sight speaks for the present, fearing that the zeal of the re-enactors will awaken the restless spirits of the real soldiers still wandering the mountains.
Ghost Riders captures the horrors of a war that tore families apart, turned neighbors into enemies, and left the survivors bitter long after the fighting was officially over. It is a fascinating narrative, rich in historical detail that once again highlights Sharyn McCrumb's gift for story-telling and her love of the mountain South.
Rating: 
Summary: Ghosts from the past, dead but not forgotten.
Review: Sharyn McCrumb is the consummate storyteller, mainly based on old ballads. Sometimes, she takes an oldtime yarn instead as is the basis for this newest rendering of hers. This one could have been called the Ballad of Sam Blalock.She is too young to know firsthand the dialect and oldtime sayings she uses in this book. One in particular took my attention, "as the war wore on...." but on page 281 I was perturbed by her use of "a barking cat" -- surely this got past the editors. I've had cats as pets since 1979 and have yet to hear one bark. Tosca growled like a dog when she ate when we first got her, but she had lived in the country and had to eat the same as the dogs. Her versatility is beyond compare. She peoples this book with luminaries such as Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Generals Robert E. Lee and J.E.B. Stuart and the infamous Tom Dooley. Some of these folks are supposed to be real, others are carry overs from her other novels of the Appalachians (like old friends). Politics are still the same, just as dirty and biased. It's good to know that today's leaders are not so original after all. Using a young man as the main character is unusual for a woman writer, I think, but she gets into his mind and it comes off well. He is the real star of this book though he is peripheral and supposedly a minor character. After all, he is the one who actually sees and talks with the Ghost Riders. The story is as well told as all her previous books. She is my favorite writer so I do have some of her best, others I passed on to people to introduce her style and expertise in Appalachian folklore. This is entertaining and informative. She bases her stories on fact then elaborates -- as all good novelists do. She states that historians may indeed be fallible or even mendacious, but most are serious writers in their own right.
Rating:
Summary: War and Remembrance
Review: Sharyn McCrumb's "Ghost Riders" is an account of the Civil War that is usually left out of the movies and the epic sagas of the war. This is the war in the southern mountains, where the conflict was personal, the atrocities were shocking, and the resentments lasted for generations.
Using the device of magic realism in a style reminiscent of Garcia Marquez or of Nichols' "Milagro Beanfield War", McCrumb symbolizes the unresolved issues of the war with supernatural "Ghost Riders", restless spirits of dead soldiers who still ride the hills to remind the living that "wars are easier to start than they are to stop." The true stories of moutain governor Zeb Vance and woman soldier Malinda Blalock bring the past to life in memorable fashion, and with a fascinating twist: usually in war novels, the women tell of the sacrifices made by civilians on the home front, while the male characters describe what it was like to be shot at and suffer hardships in the wilderness. In "Ghost Riders" it is the other way around! Union bushwhacker Malinda is out hiding in caves and seeing combat, while Zeb is in the governor's mansion, enduring the privations of the war at home.
"Ghost Riders" is an enthralling story, but its message and the evocative writing are the elements that make it not just a war story but a literary achievement.
Rating:
Summary: More mountain magic
Review: Sharyn McCrumb's latest Ballad novel, "Ghost Riders," introduces several Civil War-era spirits who aren't quite ready to give up the fight. The story links historical unrest of the region with the lives of modern-day mountain settlers. As usual with McCrumb's work, the book contains a great deal of well-researched local mountain history delivered in a strong and interesting narrative.
The book incorporates real historical figures such as former North Carolina Gov. Zebulon Vance and the discorporate spirits of the "ghost riders" of the title. The Civil War comes alive in both not only its inglorious past but in its modern reenactment by thousands of hobbyist historians.
McCrumb's ancestors settled in the Smoky Mountains in the 1790s and her great-grandfathers were among the region's early circuit preachers. McCrumb still has that "preachering" in her blood, though her sermons are delivered with wit, charm, and great doses of delight.
Though her themes are broad in scope, the reader happily travels several different trails and time lines to end up in one location. From the slopes of Grandfather Mountain to the summer home of a misplaced Floridian, McCrumb paints a true picture of an Appalachian mountain region that has never had a single identity but rather harbores a large collection of individual identities.
Unlike many writers who find a winning groove, McCrumb has consistently improved as a writer over her career and continues to challenge herself with intense research and complex plots. Also unlike some writers who manage to "improve," she doesn't outwrite the patience of her readers, remembering from her Appalachian roots that first and foremost a storyteller is obligated to tell a story. "Ghost Riders" may be the best book yet among her litany of successes.
Rating:
Summary: McCrumb Just Continues to Hone Her Craft
Review: She just gets better and better with each book she writes. I can't compare her writing to another author because I don't know of one I could even fit into this category. She's in a class all her own. It seems this one is my favorite, but when her next one comes out, I'll probably say it is my new favorite.
Enough has been written in other reviews about the story's various voices and characters, Civil War era, etc. Sharyn continues to interweave fact with fiction with great finesse in her novels. I devoured it as I have done with her others.
When I think back to what originally attracted me to her books, it was that she lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia - my home state. However, the attraction grew into fascination with her ballad novels. Sharyn's historical research is excellently showcased with a superb ficitonal framework.
I attended a Ghost Riders reading/signing by Sharyn and she is not only wonderful to read, but spell-binding in person. She is a walking treasure trove of mountain lore and quite entertaining.
This book is a powerful commentary on many issues, not the least "a mountain woman's lot in 1861."
Rating: 
Summary: Very Dull
Review: The author had an excellent idea and a few good lines but overall didn't do justice to the ghost story genre.
Perhaps if she re-named the book to attract a different audience, she would get more happy readers.
I am not a big civil war buff so my opinion is a little bias. On the other hand, I tried and tried to get interested in the characters and Ghost Riders still bored me to tears.
Rating:
Summary: Epic- Brilliant!- Get Ready for a Late Night of Reading!
Review: This is one of the better books that I have read this year. When I was finished I wanted to read it again. I have read other civil war novels and this is the first from the perspective of the "mountain people".
Rating:
Summary: Really Enjoyed
Review: This is one of the better books that I have read this year. When I was finished I wanted to read it again. I have read other civil war novels and this is the first from the perspective of the "mountain people".
Rating:
Summary: Ghost Riders - a Hauntingly Beautiful Book
Review: This novel is light years better than "If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O", the only other McCrumb book I've read (and which had uneven quality in the narrative and a somewhat lame ending). "Ghost Riders" is a deeply fascinating tapestry of stories woven around the Civil War experiences of several protagonists in and near the North Carolina mountains. Somehow Ms. McCrumb brings different times and stories together in a seamless web of drama and intrigue. I am reminded of "Cold Mountain" (but with even more complex layers), which is about the highest compliment I can give. This is one I may read again next week.
Rating:
Summary: Another McCrumb success!
Review: With each book in the Appalachian folk series, McCrumb has moved closer and closer to history and has integrated more and more characters with the Sight, as well as the object of their Sightings. In my opinion, Rosewood Casket was a flawless balance, with each character rendered three-dimensionally and the supernatural touches deft and light. Frankie Silver and Songcatcher were close. I wouldn't miss anything by McCrumb, but here I get the feeling she was pushing herself to a new level and at the same time covering some of the same ground. Because she sets the scene in the same place as earlier novels, we meet the old familiar characters, such as Nora Bonesteel and Spencer Arrowood. In Ghost Riders they make cameo appearances, almost dropping in to say hello to their old friends, the readers. And the Ghost Riders are not at all subtle. They're seen by those who have the Sight and by those who are close to dying. I didn't get a sense that they were dangerous or even particularly scary. Nora Bonesteel's visions were tame compared to what went before. And, for the first time in McCrumb's books, the historical scenes become more vivid than the present. We get a sense of the complexity of the Civil War and the ironies of who fought where. McCrumb delivers another success -- well worth picking up and reading, though not quite as deep, and definitely not as lyrical as some of its predecessors. And I am already awaiting the author's next book...will she continue with the ballads or give us another chapter of the McPhersons?
Either way, I'm ready!
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