My Old True Love

Written by Rosemary Black

Narrated by Kate Forbes

The Stantons and the Nortons were families in the truest, oldest sense: extended networks of kin stretching across the mountains, everyone within hiking distance. They'd come from the British Isles and settled in the Appalachians of North Carolina during the 1700s, bringing with them their dearly loved songs and their clannish ways, their ties to the land ultimately becoming as strong as their ties to one another." "So when Larkin Stanton is left parentless at birth in the 1840s, he is taken in by his cousin Arty Norton and, true to the family way, starts singing before he starts talking. As Larkin grows up, he hungrily learns every song he can, as well as the subtleties of ballad singing: how the songs are about the joys and the horrors of life, and how the best singers can produce a song that will summon tears. Going head-to-head with Arty's brother, Hackley, the cousins' competitions to produce the finest song soon spill over into the wooing of the finest girl in the community, Mary." When Hackley wins Mary and then leaves to fight in the Civil War, Larkin, still too young to enlist, finds himself uncontrollably drawn to the woman who's held his heart for years. What he does about that love defies all he has learned about family and loyalty - and reminds us that these mournful ballads didn't come just from the imagination, but from imperfections of the heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 8, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456122409

Rosemary Black

Rosemary Black is Associate Professor at Charles Sturt University, Australia. Her research focuses on tour guiding, visitor communication, sustainability, environmental education and heritage interpretation.

Reviews for My Old True Love

[glade1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book has been sitting on my to-be-read shelf for almost 10 years! Finally took it down and read it, and enjoyed it very much. It is set in my home state of NC during the Civil War era and tells the story of one mountain family and its loves and losses. Well-written, "true" dialect, and interesting story. My only criticism is that the ending was rather a letdown; with the foreshadowing and buildup, I expected the big revelation at the end to be more of a surprise and more earth-shattering.Overall, a good read.

[crazyreadergirl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An excellent, moving book. Not a dull moment. Always wanted to pick it back up after putting it down. Happy, and oh so sad. True to life, not glossy or sugar coated.

[dissed1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My Old True Love, by Sheila Kay Adams, is an old-fashioned story from the mountains of North Carolina. I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere, characterizations and dialect Ms. Adams employed to tell her story of love, life and redemption. And as it turns out, love is not only for our own lovers, but for family, friends and those already spoken for, in equal measure. Inserting the lyrics to old ballads to enhance and underscore her theme, Sheila Adams has created a uniquely homespun tale you can't help but enjoy and gain enrichment from.

[lauralulu_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Heartwarming, heartwrenching, heartbreaking. And the narrator is wonderful--she makes the book.

[cataylor_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Arty's voice rings as clear as the clean mountain air as she tells the story of her life and her nephew Larkin Stanton in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina in the mid 1800s. Arty's aunt dies in childbirth and at the tender age of 8 years old, she becomes the nearest thing to a mother Larkin will ever know. Through family celebrations and deaths and with the Civil War as a backdrop, Arty's life unfolds as one of deep sorrow and simple joys. The first line in the book will hook you: "Some people is born at the start of a long hard row to hoe. Well, I am older than God's dog and been in this world a long time and it seems to me that right from the git-go, Larkin Stanton had the longest and hardest row I've ever seen."