Blue Ridge Country March/April 2020 - 18

COUNTRY ROADS

"The Widows" by Jess Montgomery
327 pp.; St. Martin's Publishing Group,
January 2019
A couple pages into Jess Montgomery's
debut novel, and you know you're in the
hands of a skilled storyteller. It's classified
as a "historical mystery"-but there's
literary music in her words, which weave
together to tell a story of two women who
have lost the men they love, and who,
despite good reason to hate one another,
find their way forward to speak the truth
and work for justice in the mountains.
Set in Appalachian Ohio in 1924, "The
Widows" tells the story of Lily Ross, mother
and widow of Sheriff Daniel Ross. On the
day of her husband's funeral, Lily opens
the door to find Marvena Whitcomb,
asking for Daniel's help finding her disappeared daughter and missing coal minerbrother, Tom. Despite their background
differences and the fact that Marvena and
Daniel had a history before he married Lily,
the two women work together to unearth
the truths they must know.
With Prohibition, miners' unionization,
and women's disenfranchisement as backdrop, Montgomery tells a story that will
keep you guessing, knowing the resolution
won't be easy . . . but well-worth finding. Inspired by the true stories of Ohio's
first female sheriff and labor organizer
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones,
"The Widows" is the first
in a series of historical
mysteries, which includes
the newly released "The
Hollows".
Note: For those who
love audiobooks, this one is
breathtaking, narrated by
Susan Bennett with varied
inflections and the right
slant of Appalachian talk.
-JOAN VANNORSDALL

BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM

COURTESY CARROLL MCMAHAN

"The Widows": Literary
Music on the Page

Elkmont dates to the early 1900s, when it was established as a cluster of summer cottages in
what is now part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

17 CABINS TO BE RESTORED

Elkmont Comeback
The former getaway community fell victim to the coming of Great Smoky
Mountains National Park. Now, part of it will come to life again.

lkmont has stood like a ghost town in the Great Smoky Mountains for
decades-a cluster of cottages and getaways that once welcomed the affluent and residents of nearby Knoxville, Tennessee.
Now, a new Elkmont era has dawned in the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park-with renovations of some structures and the removal of others,
says historian Carroll McMahan, the special project facility coordinator for the
Sevierville Chamber of Commerce.
"Technically, you could have called it a ghost town, but it has a whole other
story to it," says McMahan, the author of "Elkmont's Uncle Lem Ownby: Sage of
the Smokies," published in 2013.
For years, McMahan says, "There had been talk of tearing down the 'summer
houses,' as they're called."
About a decade ago, McMahan says, the national park received some
stimulus money to restore structures like The Appalachian Club and The
Spence House, both used for rentals in Sevier County, about seven miles
from Gatlinburg.
Later, when about 70 structures stood at Elkmont, a decision was made
to save just 17 of the cabins-not for habitation but for historical interpretation, says McMahan.
"The plan is to restore them so they are structurally sound enough so
visitors can walk inside of them to see what they look like," McMahan says.
"In its heyday, Elkmont was a very nice place."
These century-old cabins, mostly made of wood, "had been abandoned"
or their owners were "forced to evacuate," McMahan says. "The park service
required that the people who had the lease agreement all move out in 1992. They
had been empty since 1992."
-JOE TENNIS

http://www.BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM

Blue Ridge Country March/April 2020

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