Cussy has to deal with the loss of many loved ones in a very short amount of time. How do you think she handles her grief? Which loss was the most difficult for you to read?

Cussy has to deal with the loss of many loved ones in a very short amount of time. How do you think she handles her grief? Which loss was the most difficult for you to read?

Cussy had a remarkable mother who gave her inner strength and amazing fortitude. Throughout the book, no matter how tired or worn out she was, she always knuckled down and did what she had to do. The deaths were, for the most part, foreshadowed (except Angeline's, I guess.) I welcomed Charlie Frazier and Pastor Vester Frazier's deaths; I expected Willie Moffit's, and Henry's, and Pa's. However, Henry's left me sobbing (Cussy instinctively handled that so well) as did Angeline (well-named character.)

I was not prepared for the hatred and vitriol of Harriet and the sheriff after the beautiful wedding ceremony. Cussy, being the strong, practical and level headed woman she was had already grieved the loss of her father and her beloved patrons. I think the violent tearing away of her husband was not so easily absorbed.

Cussy had to grieve the loss of her mother, father and library patrons. I think her mother’s and father’s deaths were very painful but her parents had taught her to go on and live life ignoring people who continued to hate her. The love they had surrounded her with, kept her moving forward with her life.
I think the most painful death for me to read was Angeline’s. Her decision to leave her child to Casey expressed her admiration and trust of the blue woman.

Henry's death was hard to get through. While he was clearly loved--by family and teacher and Cussy, he lacked so much. No child should be hungry, and Henry's body and mind were starved. Cussy did her best to feed him (literally and intellectually) and his dying spoke of the difference she had made.

Watching Henry succumb to the starvation of body and spirit was the very worst. Jackson Lovett's cruel beating was the second worst. There was no reason but learned prejudice for that.

Cussy had to deal with many deaths in her short life. Mother, father, Angelina's, Henry. They were all difficult, especially Henry's at such a young age, but living the life they lived, she was prepared for his death and knew how to handle it. She had been through so many young children dying. With her father, she knew it was just a matter of time, he was continually preparing her for when he was gone. Angelina's came as a shock, but she realized the girl would have a difficult time, thinner each time she saw her, few survived childbirth. Cussy knew she had to continue on for the sake of this baby. She dealt with her grief by moving on, doing what had to be done and the things that would give her some joy. The one death, I feel, she never full came to terms with was her mother. She spoke so often of her mother, of what her mother would do, what her mother expected. Her mother will always be a huge part of her life.

I think she is a remarkably strong woman, she was raised in a hard life and that made her strong. The hardest to me was her father's death. Seeing her break down broke my heart. I cried several times reading this book.

I think Cussy handled her grief very well. Loss was a fact of life in those times, and she bore it gracefully. I think the loss of her husband was very hard to endure, but there was hope that they would one day be together again. I have to admit, I kept worrying that she would lose her beloved mule, Junia.

Cussy was hill people and hill people had to be tough. They lived in a hard environment and the dependence on the coal companies made them dependent on them and then forsook them. I think Angeline's death was hard, but so was the child Henry's death. Both illustrated the hopeless situations these people lived in.

I am sure she was no stranger to death, living when and where she did. It was a fact of life that at any time her father could be killed. I think she also knew that Angeline's death was probable as well. Henry's death was particularly sad because there was really no way she could have saved him. Considering Cussy's environment and era she was no doubt better at handling grief from loss than we are today.

Young Henry’s death was the hardest for me, but Cussy’s strength and perseverance made it easier for me. I know that living when and how and where she did, this was not unusual for her - her interaction and rapport with the family and their situation made the loss of Henry easier for her for me. It was Angeline’s death that seemed to give her the most pause, but the gift of the baby helped with healing for both her and this reader.