Good read. Story of a family in the Appalachians called home to bury their father in a casket he has asked them to make.

an ancient murder and the lure of the land at core of Apalachian story

The Rosewood Casket - McCrumb
Audio performance by Sally Darling
3 stars

This book was my introduction to McCrumb’s Ballad series when I first listened to it in the late 90’s. I remembered the recurring character, Nora Bonesteel, and her affinity for the restless dead. I did not remember the strong social/ecological message of this story. This time around, I thought the propaganda was tedious; not without merit, just tedious.

The setting is a southern Appalachian farm and the family reunion that occurs when the patriarch is hospitalized following a stroke. Four grown sons return to the farm, with their wives, to plan a traditional funeral (at least a week before the old man dies), according to their father’s written request. Each of the four sons represents a different modern career path taken by those who have left the mountains. Stereotypes, everyone of them. Another thing that didn’t bother me the first time, but just didn’t hold up to a second reading.

I did still enjoy the prescient Nora Bonesteel, her unique communication with the dead and her basic decency. She was the only truly interesting character. ( )

In the Tennessee Appalachian Mountains in a made-up county, a real estate developer wants to take land held by the Stargill and Stallard families for decades. A comatose Randall Stargill is found by his neighbor after he doesn't see him for a couple days. He sees the man's written wish to die at home rather than in a hospital. The neighbor calls the man's family to make the decision. They, of course, get him to the hospital in Johnson City. Their father wanted the boys to build his casket from some rosewood stored in the barn.

Neighbor Nora Bonesteel brings a box she wishes to be buried with Randall. When they open it, they call the sheriff because it is the bones of a young child. The bones are dated, but the sheriff cannot get Nora to divulge where she obtained them.

The Stargill family is divided on the disposition of the estate. Some want to sell; others want to preserve the natural beauty of the area. The Stallard family is not so fortunate. They owe back taxes which they are unable to pay. The developer forces the sheriff to post a tax sale notice. Dovey Stallard appeals to Charles Martin Stargill, a well-known country singer, to help her save their farm, but he's unable to do so since he spends most of it on his band, bus, and lifestyle.

Charles Martin brought his current female interest and her daughter along with him. She's a curious little girl who wanders around the mountain just so she won't be in the way of the adults. She loves to hear Clabe's Appalachian tales about Daniel Boone and Nancy Ward.

The novel includes a number of twists. The novel is distinctly Appalachian in flavor. Some of the twists took it in a direction I didn't expect, and I'm sad about some results and happy about others.

I listened to the audio version of this. I noted a couple of odd pronunciations which indicate the narrator was not familiar with the region, but her cadence fit the book. ( )

The 4th "Ballad novel" by Sharyn McCrumb. The Stargill family has gathered at their ancestral homestead in the Tennessee hills to await the death of their father, who has taken to his bed and lapsed into a coma, leaving a page of instructions for his burial. His sons are to build him a coffin by hand from a stash of rosewood he's had aging in the barn for many years. These men include a car salesman from Cincinnati, a career military man, a "hippie" environmentalist who has stayed in the area, and a country music star. None of them have had a decent relationship with their father or with each other, and all of them resent the interruption in their lives. Among the things they disagree about is what should become of the land when their father dies. A local real estate developer wants it, and he also wants the adjoining Stallard farm which is under foreclosure, but still occupied by old J. Z. Stallard and his daughter Dovey, an angry woman who has a history with all of the Stargill boys. The novel explores family dynamics, generational issues and changing socio-economic conditions in the Appalachians in the late 20th century. There's an old mystery, a lot of local history, some nostalgia, and the backstory of the marvelous Nora Bonesteel as well. AND we learn the truth about Daniel Boone's coonskin cap. ( )