Set in the turbulence of 1860s America, My Old True Love is a beautifully written, lyrical homage to the Appalachian area of North Carolina, its culture and its people. In her acknowledgements, Sheila Kay Adams cites Lee Smith, another remarkable Southern writer, as an influence, and that influence is obvious on every page. Adams, like Smith, knows the people she writes about as if she had lived with them. She captures their humanity and their struggles and transfers them from the paper they are written upon to the center of your heart.

The story is told from the perspective of Arty Wallin, a very strong female character with an extremely genuine voice. The story revolves around her brother, Hackley; her cousin, who is more like a son to her, Larkin; and their love for one woman, Mary. There is not a weak character in this novel. I was so in love with Granny and Larkin, but even the less loveable characters were completely human and understandable. Every one of them had flaws, and all were fighting their baser natures, so you couldn’t help pulling for everyone to make it out of the dilemma they were trapped inside, or that was trapped inside them.

The book is sprinkled with bits of wisdom and moments of poignance, that are never sappy or overly sentimental, and sometimes they are so perfectly visual that they startle.

The fog just draped itself on me as I moved, frothing my hair and brows with silver, and the ice crystals in the fog parted as I moved through and left my shape behind me. It looked like I’d walked through a tunnel until it filled itself back in.

“Maybe that’s what living is like,” I said. “Maybe Fee just moved on through and left his shape.” I knowed my voice was sad but could not help it, as that is how I felt.

There is love and joy in this novel, but much of it is set during the Civil War and in an area that required much of a man to even survive, so there is also an abundance of grief. What makes it so relatable is that the grief is the kind that still touches all our lives daily. For it is not a war story, although the war is there, it is a story of life and the cycle of life that includes losses of many kinds.

"Then in the most pitiful voice he said, "It feels like a hole has opened up in my life, Amma. Will it ever go away?"

And though I hated to say it, I surely had to, because again I could only tell him the truth. "It won't go away, honey," I said. "You will just have to figure out how to live your life around it.

I have experienced enough loss to know the truth of that statement and I believe if you live long enough you are riddled with such holes.

Adams delves masterfully into the heart and soul of these people. She shows us how they love, sometimes with too much of themselves; how they grieve for the losses they cannot avoid and the ones they cause; and how they pour themselves into the mountains, the family, the people and the songs with which they are raised. Some people have the gift of the storyteller--they can draw you in and make you feel both the happiness and the sadness of another person--Sheila Kay Adams is one of those gifted few. So, I can now close my eyes and hear the fiddle music, see the cocky tilt of the head of Hackley as he plays, smell the lilacs in the rainwater, see a handsome man coming across a mountain ridge and know it is Larkin, and hear the steady rock of Granny’s chair. I accept the gift, Sheila Kay, and I thank you for it.
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I have always had a great love for all thing related to folklore, particularly the stories and songs that were passed down from one generation to the next, crossing the ocean from Scotland and England to the mountains of Appalachia. These songs and stories are a vibrant part of Sheila Kay Adams' novel based the lives of her ancestors. Adams, herself a renowned folksinger, has woven the scant bits and pieces passed down to her from the past into a rich tapestry that mixes joy and sorrow, laughter and pain. The folk songs of her ancestors are a key part of the story that serve to breathe life into it. I particularly enjoyed looking up and listening to the songs on YouTube, often sung by Sheila herself. Here are her renditions of Fine Sally and Barbary Allen. ( )

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. ( )

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. ( )

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. ( )