The book is really split into four parts. The first part was my favourite, with the history of the valley, and the role different groups played in creating the microcosm of the Annapolis valley and the South Mountain. It is apparent that a lot of research went into the investigation and capturing the history of the region, and leading it up to the role that the church and state had in shunning those that lived on the dreaded South Mountain, where no valley dweller dared to go. The second part describes the conditions that the Goler clan is living in and the abuse that occurred over generations that leads to a perpetual cycle of abusers abusing. The third section it to is when the hammer drops and arrests are made, victims are secured, and the court cases begin. I skipped over a lot of this part, way too graphic with details, and just disgusting some of the testimony that is presented. Last is the aftermath, how frustratingly light the judicial system was on these monsters. It concludes with one of the victims facing her worst nightmare and revisiting the mountain. The author does a great job in describing the pain the victims suffered, not only during the abuse, but a lifetime afterwards, never getting to experience a healthy life, but instead suffering a lifetime of memories of the neglect, abuse, and trauma. I had no idea that the valley that I know of, hid such horrors, almost as if the whole experience has been shunned, and hidden away, like the South Mountain has been for generations. ( )

Front Book Flap:
“The Annapolis Valley is one of the most beautiful places on the face of the earth. Apple blossoms, lush farms and lovely, secluded beaches have graced photographs and postcards without number. But there has been a dark evil within this idyllic land for more than two hundred years.

Overlooking the Valley is South Mountain, a long ridge of hills covered by dense forests which conceal tiny hamlets and isolated clusters of shacks set in small clearings. Lately, parts of the Mountain have become desirable places to live. But for most of the last two centuries it has been home to the “Clans” – thirty or so tight family groupings, living in their various Mountain enclaves. Many of them have survived the kind of poverty and deprivation associated only with the world's poorest nations.

… Then one day, a fourteen-year-old Mountain girl told authorities that her father had been “using her as a wife.” This revelation sparked a massive investigation which revealed a horrific tale of incest, sexual and physical abuse and psychological torture. Eventually, sixteen men and women, almost an entire generation of one Clan, faced more than one hundred and fifty criminal charges. At the same time, eleven children, also an entire generation of the same Clan, were taken from their homes.”
____________________

Why I read this now: I wanted to read the true story of the Goler clan, which inspired Lauren B. Davis’ novel, Our Daily Bread.

On South Mountain is well-written, impeccably researched, and an exceptional non-fiction that is difficult to put down. Admittedly, I knew very little about Nova Scotia’s clans, and nothing about the Golers. The story, however, is not one for all hearts. For me, I will continue to ask how did we, as a society, and in the 1980s, allow such travesty to be visited on our children, and simply turn the other way. People knew – church officials, politicians, teachers, doctors, social workers – and they chose to do nothing.

“For those innocents on the periphery, it is a prison sentence without end.” (208) ( )

An extremely chilling book about one of Canada's most bizarre families where incest and sexual assault were acceptable practice. ( )