Cataloochee

Written by Wayne Caldwell

Narrated by Scott Sowers

Debut novelist Wayne Caldwell's Cataloochee-a rich, vivid, arresting work beginning at the dawn of Reconstruction-sprawls across the succeeding generations like the vast green mountains of its rural North Carolina setting. Best-selling author Charles Frazier calls it "a brilliant portrait of a community and a way of life long gone, a lost America." This enthralling saga evokes the full color spectrum of mountain life, from lights to darks and every shade in between.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 11, 2008
• ISBN: 9781436116312

Reviews for Cataloochee

[michelle · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Everything!!!! I have real Haywood county roots. Very authentic in the descriptions of the area and the people.

[laytonwoman3rd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Generational historical fiction set in the pre-park Smoky Mountains. If you liked Cold Mountain, or In the Fall, check out Caldwell's excellent first novel. This book takes us through the ordinary lives of several families in the North Carolina mountains from just after the Civil War until 1928, when they learn of the government's plan to turn the land some of them have occupied for 4 generations into a new National Park. June 2010

[paperhouses · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm always sprinkling a dose of southern lit into my reading and this scratched my itch for appalachian lore. Not a perfect novel, it was a little weak on plot development and pacing, but perfectly evocative of a time and place.

[hobbitprincess · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Since the Great Smokies is one of my favorite places to be, I enjoyed this book. I know people very much like these characters, and I know the scenery, so it was like putting on a comfortable pair of shoes to read this book. Don't expect a lot of hot action, but do expect to read about families who have spent generations in the hills. There is some action at the end, just enough to keep you reading non-stop!

[jim53_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Caldwell's debut novel is like a collection of short pieces linked by common characters and moreso by the setting, Cataloochee, in the Appalachian mountains of western North Carolina. The book covers the period between the American civil war and the 1920s, showing the transition from a very isolated mountain locale to greater contact with the outside world, leading up to the area's inclusion in a national park.The characters are well drawn for short-story characters, but most appear fairly briefly and do not change or develop a lot. The character with the most face time, Ezra, is pretty disagreeable, but interesting as a foil for the other characters to interact with. The descriptions of the setting are nicely done without becoming rapturous or overdone. The book held my interest throughout, although it dragged a bit in the middle, then became more interesting again toward the end. Recommended for those with an interest in the area and time period. A sequel is in the works and I will definitely check it out.

[cataylor_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Cataloochee is a saga beginning just after the Civil War and continuing through the 1920s following three generations of the Carter family in western North Carolina. Told in as matter of fact manner as mountain people speak, we witness the marriages, births and deaths, the hard times and the joys. Often the honest reactions of characters make for laugh aloud moments such as when Ezra notes "the flat might accommodate a cabin big enough to cuss a cat in if a fellow didn't mind hair in his mouth" or Silas' wife's chihuahua rightly named "Chigger". So well written, I devoured it.