Alex Bledsoe's The Hum and the Shiver was named one of the best fiction books of 2011 by Kirkus Reviews. Now Bledsoe returns to the isolated ridges and hollows of the Smoky Mountains to spin an equally enchanting tale of music and magic older than the hills.
Touched by a very public tragedy, musician Rob Quillen comes to Cloud County, Tennessee, in search of a song that might ease his aching heart. All he knows of the mysterious and reclusive Tufa is what he has read on the Internet: they are an enigmatic clan of swarthy, black-haired mountain people whose historical roots are lost in myth and controversy. Some say that when the first white settlers came to the Appalachians centuries ago, they found the Tufa already there. Others hint that Tufa blood brings special gifts.
Rob finds both music and mystery in the mountains: close-lipped locals guard their secrets, even as Rob gets caught up in a subtle power struggle he can't begin to comprehend. A vacationing wife goes missing, raising suspicions of foul play. And a strange feral girl runs wild in the woods, howling in the night like a lost spirit.
Change is coming to Cloud County, and only the night wind knows what part Rob will play when the last leaf falls from the Widow's Tree—and a timeless curse must at last be broken.
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“A famous
musician recovering from a recent tragedy seeks solace and anonymity in
Appalachia. He finds himself embroiled in local trouble of a very strange sort,
for there is magic as well as music in this part of the country. The story is
atmospheric, with detailed descriptions of the land and wildlife and plants.
Narrator Stefan Rudnicki creates gentle Appalachian accents for the characters
without anything showy in his performance. His deep voice magically transforms
into soft, feminine tones for the female characters. There are many songs in
this book, and rather than sing them, Rudnicki speaks them in a soft cadence,
almost as though he’s reciting poetry. It is an effective, gentle performance.
A 2014 Audie Award finalist.”
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AudioFile