I enjoyed reading Maude's story, and marveled at how she just kept going with so much sadness in her life. ( )

I do not dole out 5 stars very often. This isn't an eloquent literary crafted book but the main characters voice is so interesting i was engaged from beginning to end. The voice you imagine comes from the past before cars, washing machines, electricity, maternity wards, indoor plumbing. When you buried your babies before you and when women didn't have the vote and were basically at the mercy of their husbands. Maude was born in a small rural hamlet of western Tennessee. She was married at 14 and so began her adult life.

It is a non fiction book with some literary license. It was authored by Maude's granddaughter but written in Maude's voice from stories she told her growing up.

It reminded me a lot of Little House on the Prairie but with an adult viewpoint. ( )

good and sad book, not a bookclub book but loved the title ( )

This was a very compelling read. The short chapters keep the story moving right along and I found myself drawn into Maude’s family life, her ups and downs and the struggles she experienced. The author is a good storyteller, period. Recommended. ( )

I enjoyed reading this book as I found it to echo the lives of my grandparents. Although, they did not have the meanness nor the drinking involved. It was not an easy book to read, as it evoked emotion and heartfelt sorrow for Maude, who struggled so much to be a good person, a good wife, a good mother/grandmother. I adored Maude when I finished the book. Nothing in this time could be as horrific as some of the things she faced, and this was apparently based on the facts of her life. ( )