I won this treasured book in a giveaway and waited to read it until I was on vacation. It was worth the wait! You will learn so much about making moonshine that you may be tempted to start your own moonshine still. ;)
Jessie Sasser, the main character, is a teen you will instantly fall in love with. She's a broken soul, mourning the loss of her mother from years ago, and bitter about the moonshine business she's sure caused her momma's death.
Taking the blame out on her father (who has a day job but earns most of the family's money through moonshine) and her worthless aunt and uncle. Jessie and her younger brother, Merritt, each suffer from the family moonshine business, but he's more accepting of the "trade" his family has worked in for generations.
Not Jessie. It's one of the fuels igniting Jessie's eating disorder - something not diagnosed back in 1960.
This story has heart, and you "feel" the characters, especially Jessie. I loved Mrs. Brewer, who stepped in and cared for the children when they were in need the most. I can't wait to read more books by this author! ( )

Generations of Sassers have made moonshine in the Brushy Mountains of Wilkes County, N. Carolina. Their history is recorded in their leather-bound journal that belongs to Jessie Sasser’s daddy, but Jesse wants no part of it. As far as she’s concerned, it caused her momma’s death a dozen years ago. Her father refuses to speak of that day, but Jesse needs to know about the truth of her momma’s death. It compels her to food. Resenting her father’s insistence that moonshine runs in her veins, Jesse makes a plan to destroy the stills, using their neighbors as scapegoats. Instead, her plan escalates an old rivalry and reveals long -held grudges. ( )

Thanks to the author for this book that I won on her FB page.

I really enjoyed this book set in 1960 with moonshine, bootlegging and a family without a mother due to an accident. Jessie really doesn't remember much about her mother who was killed when Jessie was 4 and her brother 2. Her father refuses to talk about it. She also has other problems in her life that Mrs. Brewster, the school nurse understands and tries to help her. When their father is incarcerated for bootlegging, Mrs. Brewster moves in with her and her brother. She never had a mother before and befriends her.

Let's just say I was shocked to hear what happened 35 years later which was the end. You never expect things to happen the way they do. ( )

This novel is set in 1960 in N. Wilksboro, NC, the leading area for the making of moonshine in the south. The Sasser family were one of the main makers and distributors of moonshine during this time. The secrets for making good shine had been passed down from generation and the current family is made up of Easton, his daughter Jessie and son Merritt. Lydia, the wife and mother, had died in an accident while making moonshine twelve years earlier. This is Jessie's story.

Jessie really resonated with me as the main character. She is only 16 and at times is wise beyond her years while at other times you can see her lack of maturity. This is basically a coming of age novel and her pain and conflicting attitudes are evident throughout it. When she seeks solace in food, you just want to talk to her and tell her that life will get better, but she is so filled with shame and disgust at her life that she could only find relief in food - something that she felt like she could control but eventually turned on her and became her master.

Donna Everhart has proved once more that she is the Author of Southern Novels with Authenticity and Grit. She has brought her readers a wonderful, well researched novel full of likable (and a few unlikable) characters. My prediction is that this will be THE winter book that everyone will be reading and discussing.

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read an review. ( )