Janice Holt GilesBesprekingen

In this story, Janice shows us a vanished world, where life was simpler & yet more harsh. There were wolves on the prairie, children sickened & died of diseases that are no longer a threat It seemed a safer world, values were defined, a child knew where she stood & what was right. A glimpse of he resent past.

Miss Willie is not accepted so easily, school in bad shape, people did not listen to ideas about sanitation etc. Some of the episodes of this book is based on the character of her mother but plot is fictional. Story of reconciliation, of coming together of two different ways of life.

Gleaned from his personal journal and letter sent to home, this book documents the campaigns in NW Europe experienced by the 291st Engineer Combat Battalion, specifically A Company.
The 291st was "those damned engineers" that figured heavily in delaying and stopping Joachim Peiper. Giles was actually in a Repple Depple, trying to get back to the unit when Wacht am Rhein erupted, so he missed a good bit of the fighting in December. He spent that part of the book showing the huge inadequacies of the replacement system during the war. He was able to use first hand accounts from his comrades to tell the story of the defense of the Ambleve and other rivers,

Giles was evacuated with a badly infected ear in October and was released to return to his unit a week or two later. It was not until late December that he was able to get back to his unit, and this was only after he was able to locate the 291st and they sent someone to retrieve him.

This was good book, well edited. Worth the read and I wished I had been able to read it prior to visiting the north shoulder of the Bulge in 2014.

In 1823, Judith and Johnny Fowler led a wagon train from Arkansas territory to Santa Fe. Johnny also known as Johnny Osage because of his close relationship to that tribe of Indigenous people, guides the mule train on an unmarked trail through dangerous and often unforgiving country. The party faces impossible river crossings, water shortage, Indian attacks and treachery from within. Some of the descriptions of injuries whether from man or animal were extremely graphic.

Giles was a prolific author who wrote books in series that followed families making their way on the early American frontier.

I really enjoyed getting to know Hannah. While the history is very important to the story, Giles does a fine job making Hannah alive. Her background is curious—she’s actually 25 at the start, unmarried and apparently has never considered it. She has also not done much socializing, particularly as she has never seen a wedding until she herself weds Tice. Yet she seems to have no problem getting to know Tice, then Ann Logan, and finally Jane Manifee.

In addition to gradually revealing the contours of Hannah’s character, Giles also portrays the development of deep love and affection between Hannah and Tice and the bonding of the family of Hannah, Tice, and daughter Janie. All of this was great reading. Of particular interest to me at least was Hannah’s secret fancies about creeks “singing” and love of gourd flowers for their beauty; sadly, this side of her character she keeps hidden even from Tice, because her father had told her never to talk of such things.

As for the background, the frontier housekeeping is fascinating. The Revolutionary War is something happening far away, as represented by a single conversation. Occasionally some of the folklore bits seem forced, but overall the dialogue is natural.

Highly recommended to those who want to travel back in time to a realistic frontier setting.

A fantastic book, funny, poignant, and even if over 50 years old, of high relevance. It describes the life on a small Kentucky foothills farm for a year, and addresses issues of social justice, religion, work ethic, and humor and history. A great read, and I think a lot of people ought to read this book, especially if you are not from this area.

an interesting look @ life in Oklahoma @ the turn of the century

From Amazon: In the late 1940s, Janice and Henry Giles moved from Louisville, Kentucky, back to the Appalachian hill country where Henry had grown up and where his family had lived since the time of the Revolution. With their savings, the couple bought a ramshackle house and forty acres of land on a ridge top and set out to be farmers like Henry's forebears.
To this personal account of the trials of a city woman trying to learn the ways of the country and of her neighbors, Janice Holt Giles brings the same warmth, humor, and powers of observation that characterize her novels. Enlightening and evocative, personal and universally pertinent, this description of a year of "backaches, fun, low ebbs, and high tides, and above all a year of eminent satisfaction" will be welcomed by Janice Holt Giles's many readers, old and new.
My thoughts: This is my new favorite book!! I love her description of the area, the people, how they lived, and her love and respect for the people of the area. I highly recommend this book to everyone!!

Set in the 1770’s, this book tells the story of the first white settlers to cross the Cumberland Gap and settle in the wilderness that was to become known as Kentucky. All the characters are based on real people with the exception of the three main characters. Of course, Daniel Boone and George Rogers Clark are here, as well as many lesser known woodsmen like Ben Logan and Jim Harrod.

The author details the birth of Kentucky that was at first claimed by the colonies of both Virginia and Pennsylvania. This was also very close to the time of the American Revolution and the Kentuckians were in favour of throwing off British Rule, as they were also dealing with the likes of Colonel Henderson and his Transylvania Company that held a British Grant that would entitle him to ownership of all the land in Kentucky.

From political wrangling to battles with the Indians who considered Kentucky to be a sacred hunting area, these hardy pioneers had plenty to deal with. The author also includes a love story involving the three fictional characters, but based on her own family history. The end result was a very readable book that I enjoyed.

"40 Acres and No Mule" is the non-fiction complement to Giles' novel "The Enduring Hills." It is the true story of Janice Holt Giles' move from the big city -- Louisville -- to live with her husband and his family in rural Appalachia.

Her account of their life on a hard-scrabble, but ultimately successful, farm is evocative and highly entertaining. The descriptions of how to cut tobacco, strip and grade the leaves, and hang them to dry makes your back and hands ache -- and your heart sing with as much satisfaction as if you'd done the work yourself.

Highly recommended for everyone who would like a break from urban life, without actually having to give up the comforts and convenience we take for granted.½

Janice Holt Giles tells the stories of the people of Kentucky's Appalachia Mountains, and does so without condescension or a romanticization of rural life.

The Enduring Hills, her first novel, is based in part on her own introduction to Appalachia when she married Henry Giles -- a young man whose family had lived in the mountains since the days of the American Revolution.

The narrative device of seeing "Piney Ridge" through the eyes of the city-born Mary allows us to experience her puzzlement, frustration, and accommodation as she makes a life in a completely unfamiliar world.

Mountain people are a tight-knit group, but the stereotypes most of us grew up with are just that -- simplistic reductions of complex people. "The Enduring Hills" is likely the closest most of us will ever come to becoming part of a region of America that has been consistently, and inaccurately, mythologized.

My father builds log cabins. So, one of my recent gifts to him was an assortment of “old” books with a log cabin theme. When this book arrived in my mailbox, I thought, ah-hmm, it’s ~already~ used, anyway … so I read it before gifting it.

It was a thoroughly captivating little story. Part family history, part story of a house, part local flavor. On LT’s author pages, this book is attributed to Henry Giles, and though they were co-authors, most of the chapters were written by Janice. She has a lovely way of writing; folksy and warm. You finish the book feeling like part of the family.

It has been months since I finished the book, and … no longer have it on hand … so can’t refresh my memory for a more complete review. Bottom line, though, an enjoyable book; I recommend it.

And happy birthday, Papa!

Samuel Moore and his daughter Hannah set out for the border country
with a party led by George Rogers Clark but left to follow the
Kentucky River to Boone's Fort. As the story opens, Hannah is nursing
her father, injured when an axe slips and cuts his leg. By the time
Tice Fowler, on his way to Logan's Fort, stumbles upon them alone in
the wilderness, Samuel is dying from blood poisoning. When Samuel
dies, Tice takes Hannah to the fort, where women are scarce, and
Hannah finds herself besieged by suitors. Only with Tice, as silent
and downright as herself, does Hannah feel at ease. Finally, she turns
to the bashful Tice and asks him to marry her and take her away from
the crowded fort. Together, they stake their claim to land, build a
cabin, and start a family. They endure the harsh frontier life, the
threat of hungry wolves, a killing blizzard, and Indian raids.

I grew up loving the Little House on the Prairie books and Hannah
Fowler almost reads like a grown up version of those books. The
dialect, while well done, does take a little getting used to, but that
is a minor complaint. At its base, this is a touching and tender love story.

An absolutely excellent book!

This is one of my all-time favourites and gets read every single year!

I love this book. It's one I have to reread evry so often. (not yearly)

A fabulous book written by the great Janice Holt Giles. Ms Giles' descriptions of life in rural Kentucky following WWII are vivid and delightful. She paints great pictures with her words!