Gap Creek: Summary and book reviews of Gap Creek by Robert Morgan, plus links to an excerpt from Gap Creek and a biography of Robert Morgan.

There is a most unusual woman living in Gap Creek. Julie Harmon works hard, "hard as a man," they say, so hard that at times she's not sure she can stop. People depend on her to slaughter the hogs and nurse the dying. People are weak, and there is so much to do. She is just a teenager when her little brother dies in her arms. That same year she marries and moves down into the valley where floods and fire and visions visit themselves on her, and con men and drunks and lawyers come calling. Julie and her husband discover that the modern world is complex and that it grinds ever on without pause or concern for their hard work. To survive, they must find out whether love can keep chaos and madness at bay. Robert Morgan's latest novel, Gap Creek, returns his readers to the vivid world of the Appalachian high country. Julie and Hank's new life in the valley of Gap Creek in the last years of the nineteenth century is more complicated than the couple ever imagined. Sometimes it's hard to tell what to fear most--the fires and floods or the flesh-and-blood grifters, drunks, and busybodies who insinuate themselves into their new lives. Their struggles with nature, with work, with the changing century, and with their disappointments and triumphs make this a riveting follow-up to Morgan's acclaimed novel, The Truest Pleasure.

Media Reviews

The New York Times Book Review Morgan is among the relatively few American writers who write about work knowledgeably, and as if it really matters. . . . You begin to feel, as you sometimes do when reading Cormac McCarthy's or Harry Crews' early novels, that the author has been typing with blood on his hands and a good deal of it has rubbed off onto your shirtsleeves. . . .his stripped-down and almost primitive sentences burn with the raw, lonesome pathos of Hank William's best songs.   The Boston Book Review Morgan writes with an authority usually associated with the great novelists of the last century.   Booklist Although Morgan, author of The Truest Pleasure (1995), has written better novels, even readers numbed by the seemingly endless series of disasters will respect Julie's strength of character and wish her well.   Kirkus Reviews An ideal example of a regional tale: free of local color, respectful of his people, entirely free of condescension, Morgan offers a gliding, unhurried story of sufferings and hope that is simple and ragged, but never seems alien. This couples relentless misfortunes are given no more drama than they need, and all the compassion they deserve.

Recent Reader Reviews

Rated of 5 by Rebecca
Despite Catastrophes
Julie's character is the story, while she is not well-educated, her fine intelligence is given justice in her narrating voice. Morgan has the ability to capture emotions and mental images over and over with Julie's voice. The story is a...   Read More

Rated of 5 by andi
nice work
I think the book was a great job, people really lived that way so I loved how Julie explained everything so simply.

Rated of 5 by Reading Nana
A decent first draft
Morgan tells a decent but contrived story - All that happens is so predictable as soon as the novel gets going. My biggest complaint is that the book is written in Julies' voice. Morgan consistently uses poor grammar but, as important narrative...   Read More

Rated of 5 by katie Gilbert
A pleasing Read
I enjoyed this book alot. I could really relate to the girl in the book..average physique average intelligence average everything! AHH I LOVED IT!!!!:)

Rated of 5 by Theresa
This book was "OK", but I am not sure what all the fuss is about. By the time I got to the last 50 pages I was angry with the book. Its an Oprah Book Club selection and a NY Times bestseller, but I am missing what all the hype is...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Andrea Mathers
Gap Creek is one of the best novels i have ever read! This book is captures your attention from the start and holds it until the very last word. The story is simple and pure..i would highly reccomend it for reading newcomers.

...14 More Reader Reviews

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• Novels
  
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