Title: Out of Devil’s Hollow
Author: C. S. Whitman
Publisher: XlibrisUS
ISBN: 978-1796074949
Pages: 294
Genre: Fiction / Mainstream Literary
Reviewed by: Jake Bishop

Read Book Review

This novel recounts the tale of one shattering summer. The year is 1957. The place is eastern Kentucky. The people involved are a farm family made up of individuals who are beset by events that test their strength, resolve, loyalty, and love for one another. It is a portrait of a place and time and life that has come and gone. Yet, for those oldenough to remember it, and for those imaginative enough to envision it, it’s a story that will strike emotional chords for many. Similar to Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, it reminds us that the past is never truly gone and that some events and some people leave their mark on each of us forever.

Mostly told from the perspective of a young girl named Suzy, a summer is recounted
that changes her life forever. Suzy has two older brothers, one younger sister, and one
sister sixteen years her elder who is married. The event that ignites the fire that summer
is to become, starts with Suzy overhearing angry voices in the forest. By the time she’s
run home after hearing them, she’s both frightened and embarrassed. Embarrassed that
she shouldn’t have been where she was for as long as she was and too frightened to
tell her worried mother about what she thinks she overheard. Keeping this event from
her parents is not the only secret that will make this summer so very different from all
the others, but it starts the chain of incidents that will lead to anger, sadness, shock,
even murder and more as the story progresses.

To divulge too much of the plot would deprive the reader of the discovery of many
occurrences and revelations that follow one upon another and keep this tale of family
interaction consistently interesting. So rather than getting into the specifics of what
happens, we’ll touch on who it happens to—because the characters within the story are
as engrossing as the narrative itself. There is Clyde, patriarch of the family who
personifies a good and just man. He’s a hard working farmer who’ll do anything he can
for his family whom he loves and cherishes. His spouse, Lorna, is the epitome of a
devoted wife and mother. Suzy’s brothers are almost polar opposites. One is happy to
continue farming while another can’t wait for a life that doesn’t include chores from
daylight until nightfall. Suzy’s younger sister, Jeannie, is rambunctious and precocious.
Her older sister, Brenda, is warm and loving and will become both the object of secret
that’s been hidden for years as well as a co-conspirator in one that she and Suzy will
swear to keep between themselves.

Author Whitman does a first-rate job of depicting not only the tone and tenure of
the times, but also creates credible situations and reactions to them that occur
throughout the chronicle. Believability is one of the hallmarks that give this story a
feeling of memoir as well as fiction. The author has a good ear for regional accents as
well as education levels. Dialogue is written as people actually talk in real conversation
rather than book-speak. All in all, this is a book you’ll likely remember long after the final
page has been turned.