The Ballad of Frankie Silver

Written by Sharyn McCrumb

Narrated by Sharyn McCrumb

One hundred years after a woman is hanged, the search for justice reveals a story of faith, obsession, and murder.

In 1832, 18-year-old Frankie Silver was charged with murdering her young husband. In 1833, she became the first woman in the state of North Carolina to be hanged for murder. But was she guilty? More than 100 years later, Tennessee sheriff Spencer Arrowood is determined to reveal the truth behind this unanswered question. A spellbinding story that sweeps from the drawing rooms of early aristocracy to the ruins of a one-room cabin deep in the Appalachian wilderness, The Ballad of Frankie Silver flawlessly weaves past and present, truth and fiction, folklore and legend.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Phoenix Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 1, 1998
• ISBN: 9781597773959

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 Frankie Silver

[natalieriley · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While vacationing in Sedona, Arizona last year, I had a conversation with a new friend about how much I love the author, Silas House. After describing his work, my friend replied that I might like the author, Sharyn McCrumb, as her books are set in the Appalachia areas of North Carolina and Tennessee. After my return home, she sent me this book. The story about Frankie Silver takes place in the 1830’s and is a true story. Frankie is the first woman hanged in North Carolina for the murder of her husband. The present day story is of Sheriff Spencer Arrowood who is invited to witness the execution of a man convicted of killing two college-age kids in the Appalachian Mountains. Spencer arrested and testified against the man 20 years ago.

As for the writing of the book, I really struggled to stay engaged for the first half. To be fair, that could have been my fault. I listened to this on audio and sometimes I can lose focus while driving to and from work as my brain wanted to think about work instead of the book. It could also have been that the book didn’t grab my attention as fiercely as I would have preferred. At first, I was enjoying the story, but I did get confused at times with the story going back and forth between past and present. About halfway through, something clicked for me and I was sucked into Frankie’s story. That story of tragedy and loss was really interesting to me. Near the last ¾ of the book, Sharyn did a nice job weaving the two stories together. She provided a realistic and emotional ending. Overall, I enjoyed the stories and look forward to starting the series at the beginning.

[laytonwoman3rd · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In the 5th of McCrumb's ballad series, she takes us back to the 19th century, for the trial of Frankie Silver, an 18-year-old North Carolina mountain girl accused of killing her husband and then trying to cover up the crime by butchering, burning and burying him in pieces. Everyone, from the sheriff and the Clerk of the Court where she will be tried to the genteel ladies of the county's higher society, finds it hard to believe in her guilt, but Frankie will not speak of what happened in her cabin that night. There are no witnesses, the physical evidence is damning, and the only other potential suspects were demonstrably several days' journey away hunting in Kentucky. Framing this story, which forms the bulk of the novel, is 20th century Sheriff Spencer Arrowood's concern over the upcoming execution of a man convicted of killing two young Appalachian Trail hikers two decades earlier. Arrowood investigated those murders, arrested then 17-year-old Fate Harkryder, and testifed at his trial. But now he is not at all easy about seeing Harkryder put to death; something about the case keeps bringing the legend of Frankie Silver to his mind. As he is off duty recovering from being shot in the line of duty (in The Rosewood Casket), he plows through his old file as well as everything his deputy Martha Ayers can find for him on the Silver case, trying to work out what it is that feels similar about the two. Meanwhile, Martha and Deputy LeDonne are investigating another murder they don't want Arrowood to find out about while he's still recuperating, fearing he will come back to work too soon and do himself harm. I enjoyed the 19th century tale very much; the frame felt a bit "stuck on" to me. But I have a prejudice against that literary device, and your mileage may differ. There's no doubt that McCrumb can spin a fine yarn. Her books are always hard to put down.

[bcrowl399 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I liked this book. This is historical fiction at its best. This is well researched, but still reads like a novel. The characters are full and interesting. One minor problem I had was the switching back and forth from past to present, but that's something I struggle with. I would like to read more from this author.

[gaillamontagne · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another audio book found in a thrift store. I took a chance and am glad I did. The setting is Tennessee backwoods. A story of murder that took place in 1831. A small framed , 18 year old married woman with a baby, is accused of murdering her husband who was only 19 years old. The body was found in pieces and partially burned in the fireplace. A parallel murder is explored in modern times as the two stories intertwine. A man is accused of murdering 2 college students on a hiking trip, 20 years prior, and is awaiting his execution. The two crimes have something in common which builds intrigue throughout the story for the sheriff who is sent a letter ordering him to witness the execution of the man he arrested 20 years ago. The narrator reads the characters with a strong southern accent but does not differentiate between characters well. At times a little hard to follow. However , the main character, Frankie Silver, (the wife) had her own distinct tone and accent. My copy had only a female narrator, the author.

[page.fault · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Embarrassingly, the only reason why I picked this up is that it was narrated by the inimitable Barbara Rosenblat, my favourite audiobook narrator ever to open a book. I am so glad that I did. The Ballad of Frankie Silver is a sensitive, character-filled, meticulously researched exploration of an old death that inspired a famous Appalachian folk ballad: Francis "Frankie" Silver's murder of her no-good husband and her subsequent hanging as one of the first executed in women in North Carolina.

Frankie Silver was not quite what I expected from the description. It does indeed interweave the present-day with the past, but it is the past where McCrumb focuses her energy and narrative. The two present-day cases only add a frame of reference and a sense of immediacy and connection to that long-ago crime. In the present day, Tennessee Sheriff Spencer Arrowood, laid up at home due to injuries during a shootout, is brooding on the upcoming execution of a man he helped to put behind bars. Mentally, he begins to link the case to that of Frankie Silver, an eighteen-year-old girl tried for the murder and savage decapitation of her husband in the early 1800s. Frankie was subsequently found guilty hung by the neck until dead, but her death only added to the case's sense of incompleteness-- how could she have had the sheer strength to chop up her husband so brutally? What were her last words to be when they were silenced by her father? The book quickly delves into the past, and Frankie's story is told alternately from her own point of view and that of the clerk of the court.

The strongest thing about the story is the meticulous research. McCrumb unearthed old documents, talked to descendants, even went and spoke with a prisoner on Death Row, and this really adds substance to her story. This is not a whodunit--don't go into it expecting a big puzzle or mystery, either in the present-day or long-past crime. Instead, it is a retrospective, an exploration of how easy it is for justice to go awry, a discussion of family, a sympathetic look at families torn by abuse, and a glimpse of the absolute finality of state execution.

Altogether, a very interesting book--I look forward to reading more by McCrumb.

[dukefan86 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this story, which blended the true story of Frankie Silver with a fictional present day mystery. The narration was very good, too.

[dragonasbreath · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It McCrumb. It's fun.If you have trouble reading two books at the same time, or following two conversations - don't try McCrumb's books.This one is typical - we are following the details of an alleged murder in 1833 - where she killed her husband with an arsenic laced donut - but witnesses saw her finish the donut herself.- so how could she have killed him with it?The other murder is in modern times, and also involves arsenic.

[delphimo_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this half fiction and half non-fiction story of life in the North Carolina and Tennessee mountains. The story alternates between the 1830's and 1990's. Sheriff Spencer Arrowood is recuperating from a wound. While recuperating, Spencer contemplates his first murder case and the arrest and trial of Frankie Silver. The underlying theme is the blood oath among the mountain community that deters punishing the guilty individuals. Sometimes I found the Southern genealogy to be tedious and cumbersome to the story. McCrumb revels in providing two or more story lines in her Ballad series, and many times this format is tiresome and confusing. I felt this story is well written and approaches the uncertainty of Spencer and other characters.

[lchav52_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Frankie Silver was a real person,the first woman hanged in the state of North Carolina, on July 12, 1833. Hers was a tragic story - 18 years old when brought to trial for the murder of her husband, mother of an infant daughter.Convicted in a two-day trial, she was not allowed by law to testify in her own behalf. Her appeals denied by the state supreme court, a grass-roots effort in the community arose to secure a pardon ,but it was not to be. As she stood on the gallows, about to speak, her own father shut her down with the cry, "Die with it in you, Frankie!"Modern-day Sheriff Spencer Arrowood receives notice that, as sheriff of the home county, he is to witness the execution of a man he himself had put on death row some twenty years ago. Sure of himself as a young deputy, he is much less so as a mature sheriff, and his uncertainties lead him to the case of the lamented Mrs. Silver. What is the connection between two cases 160 years apart? Ms. McCrumb deftly weaves both stories together so that the great disparities between truth and justice stand in stark contrast. Read this book.

[cbl_tn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sharyn McCrumb weaves together a modern crime story with the legend of Frankie Silver, an 1830s North Carolina mountain teenager who was convicted and executed for the murder of her husband. The plot has a lot of similarities to Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time. While recuperating from a serious injury, Spencer Arrowood, sheriff of Wake County, Tennessee, becomes obsessed with the legend of Frankie Silver. He has just received an invitation to witness Tennessee's first execution in 30 years as the representative of the condemned prisoner's home county. Twenty years earlier, Arrowood was convinced of Fate Harkryder's guilt, but now something about the case is making him uneasy. The two cases -- Frankie's and Fate's -- become connected in Arrowood's mind.Sharyn McCrumb did her homework on the Frankie Silver legend. I felt like I was there in 1830s Morganton, North Carolina, watching the events unfold. Fate Harkryder's story was also well told, but it didn't have the same intensity as Frankie's story. I think it's because I was aware that McCrumb could choose Fate Harkryder's outcome, but Frankie Silver's fate was inevitable. It had already been written by history.This isn't a typical mystery/crime novel. It has some characteristics of a legal thriller, but it isn't typical for that genre, either. It tackles some weighty issues such as the death penalty and "equal justice under law" as applied to poor white Appalachians. Readers who normally do not read crime or mystery novels might want to give this one a try.

[romonko · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sharyn McCrumb's Ballad series is more than a mystery series. It is compelling and literate writing that leaves the reader feeling strangely at peace when a book is finished. This book is the last in the Ballad series, and I'm not sure why this wonderful series ends here, but this novel is a wonderful story. It combines the past and present in a very original way. Ms. McCrumb has done her homework on the story of Frankie Silver. She was a young mountain mother who was convicted and hanged for her husband's murder and the dismemberment of his body. This true story occurred in 1832 and 1833 when Frankie was actually hanged. Ms. McCrumb blends this story with an early case of Spencer Arrowood's which Spencer feels he has to reexamine when he is at home recovering from a bullet wound. How can a crime in 1833 be connected to one in the late 80's. Spencer figures out why he feels that he wants to solve both crimes. McCrumb shifts back and forth between the two storylines, and it's a bit like a dream as the story carries you along. A great end to a great series.

[jrepman_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

WNC setting-set in the past and the present. Main character is sheriff Spencer Arrowood. Wonderful!

[hklibrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Odd book--part of Sharyn's other folklore series. Interesting. Based upon truth.

[bookheaven_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very good book that goes back and forth between 1830s and 1998.