The Rosewood Casket

Rating:
Summary: The Rosewood Casket: A rare treasure
Review: After I finished reading "She walks these hills", I thought Sharyn McCrumb would be one of those authors, who write one excellent book and then disapear. I was pleasently supprised to find "The Rosewood Casket", I began it immediatly and was not dissaponted. McCrumbs characters jump off the pages, and seem as real as your next door neighbors. The story line, a simple one, begins when a old man lays dieing, and an old love, brings a box which she wants beried with him. The contents of the box, shock the family, and create an intresting turn in the story. This book is wonderful, and I suggest reading it

Rating:
Summary: I wish I hadn't read so I could read it again.
Review: As a voracious reader, I started reading this book like any other. It was a haunting tale of family, endings and beginnings. Spencer Arrowood is a truly decent man, trying to deal with people and forces he doesn't always understand. Nora Bonesteel is an elderly mountain woman who is much more than she seems. I kept hoping someone would bump off the real estate man but alas! as in real life, he not only lived but prospered. By the end of the haunting lyrical ballad of Appalachia, I not only wanted to start over but I went back and reread all of author Sharyn McCrumb's other books. It is an outstanding body of work. I hope she keeps writing forever.

Rating:
Summary: McCrumb delivers another winner!
Review: As I read this novel, the old song "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" ran through my mind. The endless circle is the losing of the land. The prehistoric animals of iceage Appalachia lose the land to the Cherokees, who lose the land to the settlers, and their descendants lose the land to the real estate speculators. When Randall Stargill's four sons gather on the family farm to build their father's coffin, they embody the latest generation to face the quandry of losing the land. This is a story of cultural politics as much as of family dynamics. McCrumb lets you feel the love of the mountains while suffering the pain of losing them.

Rating:
Summary: McCrumb delivers another winner!
Review: As I read this novel, the old song "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" ran through my mind. The endless circle is the losing of the land. The prehistoric animals of iceage Appalachia lose the land to the Cherokees, who lose the land to the settlers, and their descendants lose the land to the real estate speculators. When Randall Stargill's four sons gather on the family farm to build their father's coffin, they embody the latest generation to face the quandry of losing the land. This is a story of cultural politics as much as of family dynamics. McCrumb lets you feel the love of the mountains while suffering the pain of losing them.

Rating:
Summary: It didn't live up to all the hype and rave reviews.
Review: I anticipated the reading of "Rosewood Casket" when it became our book group's selection for January. I spent a summer with my country cousins in the very area her story takes place. However, after 100 pages I still struggled to see where the story was headed and I didn't feel pulled into the "suspense" or even grow to care about the personalities she portrayed. My husband and I finished the book for our club but we do not plan on following up with any of her other books. We felt we were reading the script for a made-for-tv movie whose plot rambles and then is neatly wrapped up at the end with a implausable finale. We appreciated the quotes from Daniel Boone that prefaced each chapter. They were the best part.

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written and with literary merit.....
Review: I came across the Rosewood Casket in one of my bookshelves, a first edition I had no memory of buying. Most often drawn to British writers (or Americans who "write British"), I was quickly drawn not only into Sharyn McCrumb's story, but her style and clear indication that she knows English and how to use it to great advantage. She is unpretentious and even her other-worldly concerns are non-intrusive and never offensive. She is a very gifted writer, indeed. I'd regret that I hadn't read her before, but now I get to read EVERYTHING. Now that I've finished the Rosewood Casket, I handed it to my husband, Allan Eckert. We sat across from her last year at the Kentucky Book Fair and I enjoyed her delightful personality very much. Now I can enjoy her wonderful books.

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written and with literary merit.....
Review: I came across the Rosewood Casket in one of my bookshelves, a first edition I had no memory of buying. Most often drawn to British writers (or Americans who "write British"), I was quickly drawn not only into Sharyn McCrumb's story, but her style and clear indication that she knows English and how to use it to great advantage. She is unpretentious and even her other-worldly concerns are non-intrusive and never offensive. She is a very gifted writer, indeed. I'd regret that I hadn't read her before, but now I get to read EVERYTHING. Now that I've finished the Rosewood Casket, I handed it to my husband, Allan Eckert. We sat across from her last year at the Kentucky Book Fair and I enjoyed her delightful personality very much. Now I can enjoy her wonderful books.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful reading from a wonderful author!
Review: I have now read several of Sharyn McCrumb's books. (Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, She Walks These Hills, and Rosewood Casket) All have been excellent reading. I read for entertainment, and all of her books have fit the bill. Her characters are very real and you come to care about them a great deal. Her description of the mountains and the land are just beautiful. She weaves the past and the present together into a very interesting story. Sharyn is a great story teller and I am now going to the library to get other books written by her. You should too!

Rating:
Summary: This is Sharyn McCrumb's best yet!
Review: I have read "She Walks These Hills" and "The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter" and thought both novels were great. But this third one, which involves Nora Bonesteel more in the story line, is definitely the best so far. Nora Bonesteel has become one of my favorite fictional characters (I would love to see a movie based on her)and Sharyn McCrumb my favorite writer. This book sends a chill up your spine at the very beginning - and keeps it there all the way to the conclusion!

Rating:
Summary: What A Great Author!
Review: I have read four of Sharyn McCrumb's books now, including The Rosewood Casket, and have loved each and every one of them! She has a knack for bringing the reader inside the story and making you feel as though you were there. Her descriptions of the Appalacian mountain area make you feel as though you are there, able to see the breathtaking views described in her books. I also admire the way she tell several different stories all during the book and brings everything and everyone together, rather than confusing the reader, as some authors do. She is truly a master at what she does. I hope she continues her art in the same fashion for many years to come. I look forward to reading the other books she has already published.