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The Ballad of Tom Dooley by Sharyn McCrumb (2011)

Thursday, March 8, 2012

The Ballad of Tom Dooley, the latest tale in Sharyn McCrumb’s Ballad Series, retells a story that most people only know through the old Kingston Trio song of the same name.

The ballad recounts a tragedy in the North Carolina mountains after the Civil War. Laura Foster, a simple country girl, was murdered. Tom Dula (as he is referred to in the dialect of the mountain folk) was hanged for the crime.

It makes for a good story but this novel is more of a character study…and not a nice one in the lot! Still, I enjoyed reading it.

Check here to see if The Ballad of Tom Dooley is available and find other books by Sharyn McCrumb.