Writing this leaves me a bit nostalgic. Life and Death on Troublesome Creek is a historical novel by Bordes Slone, and it takes place in the area of Troublesome Creek in southeastern Kentucky. I spent a few years in the area, graduated college there, and having the opportunity to read the novel made me take a step into my own past inside the beautiful mountains of Kentucky.
The Art of Storytelling
First, let me tell you about the beauty of Appalachian storytelling. Author Bordes Slone describes himself as a storyteller. The Appalachian mountain region is filled with a history of folk tales, legends, folk music, and tall tales. All of these are important pieces of the culture and history of the people in Kentucky.
Storytelling is an art that has its roots hundreds of years ago before many who were gifted with the talent of telling stories could permanently record their stories on paper. Many Appalachians in years past told riveting folktales without ever having known how to read or write. The stories were told over and over again and many of those same old tales have stood the test of time.
Storytelling today still holds precedence in Kentucky. Dramatic, hilarious, scary, or soul-stirring, storytellers will pull you into their tales. If you have never experienced a storytelling festival, I highly recommend adding that to your bucket list. {At the end of this post will be links to upcoming events and articles about storytelling that you can peruse.}
Life and Death on Troublesome Creek
Bordes Slone worked on this novel, his first, for several years.
As I read Life and Death, I could tell that Bordes is a storyteller. I can tell that the landscape of the story is important to him. He likes to set the stage for the reader, describing the trees, the hills, and the sounds permeating the mountains.
Life and Death on Troublesome Creek tells the story of Hiram Daniels, a resident of the area in the early 1900s. Living in the area of Troublesome Creek was not an easy life for the Daniels family. Poppy, Mommy, Hiram, Sissy, and young Clinton lived a hard life trying to survive in the mountains. Growing their own crops along the mountainsides and creek banks, digging for roots such as ginseng, making trades, and even taking a chance on bootlegging moonshine were tasks undertaken for survival.
Hiram Daniels set his eyes on a young lady named Mary Liz. Shortly thereafter, Hiram’s new adventures began. After the preacher’s pronouncement of man and wife, Hiram was a married man responsible for eking out a livelihood on his newly purchased plot of land in the area of Graves Creek.
Troubles that Hiram and his family encounter include times of famine, feuds, frequent ponderings about God and His place in their lives, superstition, and death. The struggles that author Bordes Slone details in Life and Death on Troublesome Creek are true to the time.
Reading Mr. Slone’s novel will give the reader an opportunity to be appreciative of the people who lived and struggled one hundred years ago in the hills and mountains of Appalachia.
Storytelling Festivals and Articles
September 20 & 21, 2019 More Tales: Wilmore Storytelling Festival – Wilmore, Kentucky
September 27 & 28, 2019 Cave Run Storytelling Festival – Morehead, Kentucky
October 19, 2019 Corn Island Storytelling Festival at Blackacre – Louisville, Kentucky
The Appalachian Voice – Storytelling Moves to Center Stage
Kentucky Storytelling Association – Stories Connecting People
Kentucky Kernel – Author Robert Gipe tells real stories from Appalachia
Christian Appalachian Project – Mitch Barrett: An Appalachian Storyteller’s Story
