40 Acres and No Mule

by Janice Holt Giles

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813108098
• ISBN13: 9780813108094
• Release Date: September 1992
• Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
• Length: 248 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.4"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Must read.

I read this book several years ago and recently bought it and read it again. I love all of Holt's writings. Wouldn't want the hard times but America would be a better place if we all got along like they do in this book.

Truly A Gift

I purchased this book as a gift for my dad. Janis Holt Giles came to me while doing family research, The Kentuckians was resourced in one family's information so I purchased that book. My dad took it up and read it and has been a Giles fan ever since. From then on every month I have bought a new Giles book for him to read and he enjoys them so. He reads the books in one day then passes them along to anyone who will read them. He believes Janis Holt Giles to be one of the most gifted writers of all times.I just simply get pleasure from finding him books he loves to read.

Beautiful Character Weaving

Janice Holt Giles takes you to a small place in Appalacia and begins weaving a picture of the people, the ways of life, the long time traditions, and the religion that is deep in the heart of the country. She does it in a way that actually made me fall in love with the people and yearn for a simpler life (even though logically, I know I would have a hard time adapting to such a life). It took me a long time to decide to read this book because the cover is not engaging, but once I had started, I had a hard time putting it down!

What a wonderful book!

I loved this book because it took me on a journey to a part of the United States that is not known to most readers. And to a time that is not today. And to know people who are unlike any neighbors I have ever had. I really enjoyed learning the landscape and the problems and the social activities of mountain people. Someone who lives in an urban area (or the suburbs of an urban area) may feel superior to these characters, feel privileged compared to such country types but I really admired many of the people for coping so well with their circumstances. Many seem heroic, even. I'd like to say Thank You to this author!

Catchy and Cool

You will enjoy reading this.I did.