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The Ballad of Frankie Silver Audiobook
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(3.02) - 1,912 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Award-winning, New York Times best-selling novelist Sharyn McCrumb crafts absorbing, lyrical tales featuring the rich culture and lore of Appalachia. In the compelling The Ballad of Frankie Silver, she deftly weaves past and present with legend and truth to create a suspenseful portrait of tragic death. As a convicted killer awaits execution in Tennessee, Sheriff Spencer Arrowood wonders if he arrested the right man years ago. Searching for answers, he discovers shocking parallels with a case more than a century old-the controversial hanging of a 19-year-old North Carolina woman. Suddenly he finds himself in a frantic struggle to stop history from repeating itself. Colorful Appalachian characters step from the pages with Sharyn McCrumb's masterful storytelling and Barbara Rosenblat and Jeff Woodman's dramatic dual narration.
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"I love this book. It was a summer reading for our school, and the author visited our school, but the kids never connected to this book. It's actually two stories in one: Frankie who is hanged in the 1830's for killing her husband and Harkrider in modern times who is being executed for killing two hikers on the Appalachian trail. I loved the multiple voices, the way the book makes me think about who we choose to execute and why (definitely shows racism, etc.). The book is crafted well."
— Kelly (4 out of 5 stars)
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“A dense and lovely but very dark design that illustrates the social hypocrisy of the legal system as much as the harshness of mountain justice—then and now.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“A riveting tale…two grisly killings that are separated by more than a century but share a chilling secret.”
— Newsday -
“Reading a novel by Sharyn McCrumb is like listening to the movements of a symphony.”
— BookPage -
“A novel of mesmerizing beauty and power.”
— Richmond-Times Dispatch -
“The mountain girl became a legend, one that Sharyn McCrumb has taken and woven into a colorful intrigue of fact, fiction, history and the present.”
— Arizona Republic
Awards
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A New York Times bestseller
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A 1998 New York Times Notable Book for Mysteries
The Ballad of Frankie Silver Listener Reviews
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" This may be my favorite McCrumb book in her Appalachia series. It's atmospheric and historic and.... just good! "
— Grace, 2/14/2014 -
" I fell in love with this book when I first read it in paperback a decade a go. But it's a storyteller's story, and it's even more magnificent and haunting to hear it told to you. The audiobook really brings out the beauty in the writing. Though it is part of a larger body of works featuring carry-over characters, it stands along extremely well. Highly recommended. "
— Diana, 2/12/2014 -
" This book is written in one of my favorite forms; present to past, every other chapter. "
— Angie, 2/12/2014 -
" I'd give this a 3.75 really. It wasn't my favorite Sharyn McCrumb novel. I did enjoy the Frankie Silver part, but I thought the Spencer/Fate storyline left something to be desired. "
— Jenn, 2/11/2014 -
" too much courtroom, too much background, damned tedious "
— Helen, 1/28/2014 -
" The author weaves two murder convictions together -- one current and one in 1833 when Franki Silver becomes N. Carolina's first woman to be hanged for murder. The story behind the second murder case held my interest enough to finish the book, but I must confess I skimmed some sections. It was "OK" but not one I would recommend. "
— Becky, 1/11/2014 -
" I love Sharyn McCrumb's mysteries and this one was good, but it's not my favorite. "
— Pam, 1/10/2014 -
" This got a little slow near the end but was a really great book. I think it might make a good book club book since it raises a lot of questions about capital punishment and the way our court system operates. "
— Tabitha, 1/2/2014 -
" parallel study of two crimes. one a hundred years ago; hanging of a young woman for killing her husband and the 2nd a death-row inmate for killing two kids. Unraveling the mystery by the sheriff. "
— Jeri, 1/1/2014 -
" when I finished this time-travel book I felt cheated. I kept waiting for the big surprise. It never happened. "
— Astrida, 12/15/2013 -
" Read my review of The Ballad of Frankie Silver . "
— Dana, 12/11/2013 -
" This was a fantastic, multi-layered mystery. "
— Tracy, 12/2/2013 -
" Not quite as wonderful as The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, but this is one series I simply adore. "
— Susan, 8/29/2013 -
" A good mystery with some NC history; to my mind a great combination. "
— Kaethe, 7/31/2013 -
" A supposedly true story. She says the husband's graves are there....all 3 of them! "
— Linda, 10/23/2012 -
" This was my favorite Sharyn McCrumb book that I have read so far. I loved the history and how she connected the two timelines. Very interesting and thought provoking quick read. "
— Korinna, 9/12/2012 -
" A haunting and historical mystery from the mountains of NC. Learned a lot about those who settled the mountains, plains, and coast. Found myself cheering for Frankie. "
— Patti, 8/26/2012 -
" The Ballad of Frankie Silver by Sharyn McCrumb (1999) "
— Julie, 8/3/2012 -
" This book is surprisingly good! I liked the way the author combined an old and a new crime story into one, although the older one is told in much more detail, maybe because that one is based on a factual case in which 18-yr-old Frankie Silver is accused of killing and then dismembering her husband. "
— Diane, 12/19/2011 -
" A good solid regional mystery. "
— Lynn, 11/5/2011 -
" This is no fluff book. It makes you thing about when to do the right thing and what the right thing is. "
— Janalynn, 10/16/2011 -
" I enjoyed this story, which blended the true story of Frankie Silver with a fictional present day mystery. The narration was very good, too. "
— Lesley, 6/11/2011 -
" Continuing with this great Appalachian mystery series. "
— Susan, 4/29/2011 -
" One of my favorite books of all time. Story moves between past and present, slowly uncovering the true story of what happened to Frankie. I read the book in 2003 and I still think about it today. "
— Gina, 4/28/2011 -
" This book will haunt you for days after you have finished the book. Not a scary haunting...but I found it creeping into my thoughts during the course of the day. I have read it three times. "
— Diane, 4/16/2011 -
" too much courtroom, too much background, damned tedious "
— Helen, 3/31/2011 -
" Continuing with this great Appalachian mystery series. "
— Susan, 2/26/2011 -
" This was a fantastic, multi-layered mystery. "
— Tracy, 12/27/2010 -
" Haunting example of a culture clash. "
— Sschnitker, 9/7/2010 -
" Disappointing. She's a good writer, but this is mostly a based-on-a-true-story with a modern mystery as a wrapper and it failed for me. "
— Rcharbon, 8/14/2010 -
" A wonder and joy to read. How engrossed you become in the characters. Sharyn McCumb is a wonderful and insightful writer. "
— Kyle, 6/5/2010 -
" Possibly the darkest of McCrumb's Appalachian series, but worth every word and worry. "
— Bookendsused, 2/24/2010 -
" A haunting and historical mystery from the mountains of NC. Learned a lot about those who settled the mountains, plains, and coast. Found myself cheering for Frankie. "
— Patti, 2/6/2010
About Sharyn McCrumb
Sharyn McCrumb is the New York Times bestselling author of The Rosewood Casket, She Walks These Hills, The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter, If I Ever Return, and many more acclaimed novels. Her books have been named Notable Books of the Year by the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, and she has been honored for Outstanding Contribution to Appalachian Literature. Her awards include Best Appalachian Novel, the Agatha, and the Anthony as well as the Edgar Award and the Nero Award. McCrumb is a graduate of the University of North Carolina, and holds an MA in English from Virginia Tech.
About the Narrators
Barbara Rosenblat, one of the most awarded narrators in the business, was selected by AudioFile magazine as one of the Golden Voices of the Twentieth Century. She has received the prestigious Audie Award multiple times and has earned more than fifty AudioFile Earphones Awards. She has also appeared in film, television, and theater, both in London’s West End and on Broadway.
Jeff Woodman is an actor and narrator. He is a winner of the prestigious Audie Award and a six-time finalist. He has received twenty Earphones Awards and was named the 2008 Best Voice in Fiction & Classics, as well as one of the Fifty Greatest Voices of the Century by AudioFile magazine. As an actor, he originated the title role in Tennessee Williams’ The Notebook of Trigorin and won the S. F. Critics’ Circle Award for his performance in An Ideal Husband. In addition to numerous theater credits on and off Broadway, his television work includes Sex and the City, Law & Order, and Cosby.