The Ballad of Tom Dooley: A Ballad Novel

Written by Sharyn McCrumb

Narrated by Shannon McManus and Eric G. Dove

The Ballad of Tom Dooley is a literary triumph—what began as a fictional re-telling of the historical account of one of the most famous mountain ballads of all time became an astonishing revelation of the real culprit responsible for the murder of Laura Foster

Hang down your head, Tom Dooley...The folk song, made famous by the Kingston Trio, recounts a tragedy in the North Carolina mountains after the Civil War. Laura Foster, a simple country girl, was murdered and her lover Tom Dula was hanged for the crime. The sensational elements in the case attracted national attention: a man and his beautiful, married lover accused of murdering the other-woman; the former governor of North Carolina spearheading the defense; and a noble gesture from the prisoner on the eve of his execution, saving the woman he really loved.

With the help of historians, lawyers, and researchers, Sharyn McCrumb visited the actual sites, studied the legal evidence, and uncovered a missing piece of the story that will shock those who think they already know what happened—and may also bring belated justice to an innocent man. What seemed at first to be a sordid tale of adultery and betrayal was transformed by the new discoveries into an Appalachian Wuthering Heights. Tom Dula and Ann Melton had a profound romance spoiled by the machinations of their servant, Pauline Foster.

Bringing to life the star-crossed lovers of this mountain tragedy, Sharyn McCrumb gifts understanding and compassion to her compelling tales of Appalachia, and solidifies her status as one of today's great Southern writers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Aug 30, 2011
• ISBN: 9781441867803

Sharyn McCrumb

Sharyn McCrumb is the New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Ballad novels. She has received numerous honors for her work, including the Mary Frances Hobson Prize for Southern Literature, the AWA Book of the Year, and Notable Books in both The New York Times and Los Angeles Times. She was also named a Virginia Woman of History for Achievement in Literature. She lives and writes in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, fewer than one hundred miles from where her family settled in 1790.

Reviews for The Ballad of Tom Dooley

[Becki Basley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ballad of Tom dolley (A ballad novel) by Shayrn Mccrumb
(Scribd audiobook)
As a young girl, „hang down your head Tom Dooley“ was a song I learned in music class but everyone in my West Virginia family knew it by heart.
As I grew older, my interest in history increased but not until discovering this book (and because I’m such a nerd the articles I read after it) the truth (as well as remembered) about the event that inspired the ballad.
I’ll never sing this song the same way again, for whatever faults he had the fact that he was most likely innocent will stay with me. This story is very well written and I look forward to this authors other books.