Spotlight on Wiley Cash #travelingsistersread

I have read all three of Wiley Cash books and I am excited to feature them all here. I read some of them with my Traveling Sisters.  All so beautifully written with strong well-developed characters so masterfully portrayed.  

I started off reading the latest by Wiley Cash, The Last Ballad with some of my Traveling Sisters (TS) and this one turned out to be the favorite of the three for me.  Then I read This Dark Road with a smaller group of my TS and didn’t hold as much as a punch as the others did for me.  The last one read was A Land More Kind.  I picked this one up to look at it and I didn’t put it down till I finished it.  I didn’t give it a chance to be put up as a Sister Read.  Sorry Sisters.  If you haven’t read this one, put it on the top of your list.  

The Last Ballad by Wiley Cash

The Last Ballad is a powerful, haunting, and moving story, that had me lost in the insightful, heartbreaking lush coulee with some of our Travelling Sisters. The story explores the courage of one woman’s inspiring fight for justice that was inspired by actual events.

Wiley Cash shows us the heartbreak and bravery of one woman along with other women and men who risked their lives to win basic rights for all workers. With intertwining voices and different perspectives, Cash takes us into the lives of some brave, interesting, gritty, likable and unlikable characters that are connected to our main character Ella May Wiggins. Well-done characters with many shades of humanity and each bringing their own conflict to the story that allowed us to feel their hopes, fears, bravery or cowardliness.

When we first meet our main character Ella May Wiggins she is struggling to care for her family and we all loved her strength and through her bravery, she found her voice and stood up for what she believes in. She had something important to say and we wanted to hear it

“You’ve earned your story. I’ve earned mine. I’ve earned this being sad, this loss, this being angry. I want to tell it to people so they’ll know what it means to earn it. … They need to know they’re not alone.”

The Last Ballad is beautifully written however for us it was a heavy read. We needed to slow down and give it attention and the focus it deserved. Even though we can’t say we really enjoyed this one we really appreciated it. I highly recommend!

This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash

This Dark Road To Mercy took us through a few emotions as we followed along with our three narrators. The story explores, vengeance, redemption and justice. Our favorite road was with wise, heart-broken 12-year Easter who’s wayward father Wade drags her and her sister on the run bringing danger to the sisters. The chase is on as Wade tries to outrun his past and his bad luck. He brings danger and love to the chase that left us feeling we wanted to trust him but didn’t know if we could. We fell in love with Esther and wanted the best for her and her sister and that left us questioning what was the best for them. At times we felt like the story lacked some intensity, grit, and edge for us. Instead left us asking questions we didn’t know the answers to.

A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash

A Land More Kind Than Home is a daring, haunting, and heartfelt story of courage and the bond between two brothers. I could feel the evil slithering in this story that left me feeling a little uncomfortable. The love and bond between Jess Hall and his brother warmed my heart but my guard was up for the evil hiding behind the face of what should be good and safe.

Wiley Cash creates the strongest narrators here for me with these complicated and troubled characters, allowing me to become completely engrossed in their stories. I loved the intensity, grit, and suspense to this one and Cash does a great job of showing me what his character’s words wanted me to see. It left me with no questions as to who to trust with this one, just the intense suspense to see how it all comes together in the end. I highly recommend!

Reviews by Brenda