Leah Weiss puts the reader in the midst of the Appalachian community during the 1970s. The story is told from different points of view beginning with Sadie Blue who, at a young age, becomes attached to a disreputable moonshiner. Despite the abuse she suffers from her new husband, she seeks solace from friends and family and the recently arrived school teacher which gives her strength to make decisions for herself. In the holler, folks are self sufficient and rarely consult the law and instead find their own kind of justice to those who have wronged them or their friends.
If the Creek Don't Rise was one of my favorite books of the year. The story is told with such compassion and a desire to survive in the most difficult circumstances.
