On Agate Hill

There is no doubt that a tremendous strength was required of the men and women who survived the Civil War and rebuilt their lives during the Reconstruction period in the South. Scarlett O’Hara, fist in the air, promising never to be hungry or let any of those she loves go hungry, is seared upon my mind, and now, Molly Petree, refusing to become a “ghost girl” will be printed there beside her. For as she says, I live in a house of ghosts. I dare say she lives in a world of ghosts.

I am like a ghost girl wafting through this ghost house seen by none. I truly think I would blow away save for this piece of fool’s gold I keep here in my pocket for good luck.

I am taken by the way some writers can paint a picture with words that make show more you feel the physical and mental stress of their characters. Lee Smith does this beautifully.

He will burn in Hell for sure if there is one. But I am so cold right now as I sit here writing that Hell sounds pretty good. I put socks on my hands for gloves but they are cracked and bleeding anyhow. Liddy rubs them with lard. My face is as red and rough as a cob. I cannot write my hands are too cold. This is my blood on this page. It is snowing again.

I wanted to pull on a blanket, and believe me, it is not cold in my apartment.

[a:Lee Smith|72932|Lee Smith|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1219780700p2/72932.jpg] became a favorite writer for me as soon as I read [b:Fair and Tender Ladies|199635|Fair and Tender Ladies|Lee Smith|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1389575982l/199635._SY75_.jpg|1437835], and [b:On Agate Hill|199636|On Agate Hill|Lee Smith|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442970592l/199636._SX50_.jpg|1851466]On Agate Hill reawakened the magic that she planted in me then. As I loved Ivy Rowe, so I love Molly Petree. The reader is brought to that love through much the same device, for we read her diary and her letters and her thoughts that are meant only for herself and are so uncensored and honest they make one cry. She experiences losses that seem unbearable, injustices that sting, and grace that seems deific to me, for she is so often saved by a simple love. She is so deserving, because she is so magnanimous; she loves the souls of people, not their outer visages; she never looks down at anyone.

Molly learns about love as she leads her life, and we learn about love with her. It is found in unexpected places. It is ever present and only undiscovered.

Now I understood that love does not reside in places, neither in the Capulet’s tomb nor the dales of Arcady nor the Kingdom by the Sea not in any of those other poems that Mary White and I read so long ago, love lives not in places nor even bodies but in the spaces between them, the long and lovely sweep of air and sky, and in the living heart and memory until that is gone too, and we are all of us wanderers, as we have always been, upon the earth. show less

Lee Smith tells a remarkable story beautifully, with a truly extraordinary, plucky and admirable heroine - whose voice (young and old) still lingers in my ear (or is it my head?). She also creates a wonderful sense of place, so much so, that I feel I can say that I've been to Agate Hill; why I've been in Molly's cubbyhole and seen her collection! What a gifted writer...to not just weave a mesmerizing story, but to draw us in to experience it all with Molly Petree; the loves, the losses, the discoveries, adventures and tragedies...

One of Lee Smith's best novels. Most of the novel is a collection of fictional diary entries by Molly Petree, beginning with her preteen years just after the Civil War to the eve of her death in the 1920s. Molly's voice is distinctive; she's a well drawn character--one of those who, if she were to walk in the door right now, you'd recognize her.

A lot of historical research went into this novel to give it the ring of authenticity, but you never get the sense that the author is showing off her findings. The result is a textured, realistic, and engaging narrative that draws the reader into Molly's world.

The only thing I didn't like is this: The setup for the story is that a modern-day student finds Molly's diary in a box at the plantation show more and organizes them in an effort at writing a thesis. Interspersed throughout the book are letters from this fictional student to her professor. It's not that they are poorly done, just unnecessary. Molly's story could stand on its own--she's much more interesting than the student. Mercifully, the "student letters" are short, and don't really detract from the book, but I'd ask Lee, "Why bother?"

Nevertheless, this may be my favorite novel by Lee Smith show less

I've just finished reading this haunting, beautifully written novel. Smith has crafted a touching tale with characters so human and real I felt as though I could reach through the pages and clasp their hands. This lovely piece of American historical fiction pulls readers into the deeply entangled lives of Molly Petree and her unusual family, both blood-relatives and those she attracts with her gravitas, intelligence and dark whimsy.

This was the first book I've read by Smith, and certainly not the last! I would recommend this to a reader who can enjoy strong, vivid prose and wonderful plots. This is a winner!

Finally! A great book! I was on a mediocre stretch there for a while.

On Agate Hill is the story of Molly Petree, an orphan girl growing up in the Reconstruction South. The book is made up of a lot of journal entries and letters, and it begins with a young Molly telling her own story, the story of her as a "ghost girl" growing up on her uncle's plantation, Agate Hill. Then the story is picked up by the headmistress of Gatewood Academy, a sort of finishing school for girls. The headmistress, Mariah Snow, sees herself in Molly and so never trusts or likes her. The next part is picked up by one of the teachers at Gatewood, when she and Molly head off on their own. Then we have a section told by Molly's husband's cousin, telling about her show more married life. Then it finishes up with Molly filling in some of the blanks as she looks back on her life from her old age.

This was a great book, filled with believable characters. Molly is flawed, but very likeable. There are parts of Molly's story, and Molly herself, that I think every woman can probably relate to.

This reminded me a little of one of Lee Smith's other novels, Fair and Tender Ladies, which is one of my all-time favorite books. On Agate Hill at first felt to me like the story that would have been Ivy Rowe's if she had gone to school. But then it did become its own story. I like Fair and Tender Ladies better because I liked Ivy Rowe better than Molly, but this is still a fantastic book. show less

The story of a self-described "ghost girl" who survives the Civil War devastation that claims her family is told in the North Carolina author's rich, complex 12th novel (after The Last Girls, 2002). History buffs will delight in this lush tale of a Southern teenager orphaned by the Civil War, raised first by an uncle, then sent to boarding school. Molly becomes a teacher and forsakes it all to marry an uneducated ladies' man. The description is intense, and the pace is so slow that you drink in every word, almost without realizing how far the plot has progressed. Summary BPL

My first Lee Smith novel will certainly not be my last. Although I don't typically read novels written in the form of journals, diaries or letters, I gave On show more Agate Hill  a try based on its many positive reviews. I am happy I did! It was like watching a tapestry being woven and wondering which threads would form the main part of the design and which would trail off into the background. Ms Smith has a wonderful, long story to tell--some may not appreciate the diverse forms it takes, such as an excerpt from a catechism--a sort of Reconstruction odyssey. The narrative unfolds from Molly's point of view and this colloquial approach gives the story an oral feel, as though old Molly were in the room with you instead of you reading words on a page. That's how vivid and authentic the characters seem, some enduring the entire book while others briefly flame, then go out. Rather like real life!

8 out 10. Civil War and American history buffs will find rich content here (Ms Smith did her research); recommended to fans of strong female protagonists and women's lives in 19th century America. Highly recommended to those who appreciate fine writing. show less

In 1994, I began my graduate research studies about Southern girls and their education. It was a largely untapped subject; most of the scholarly studies involved girls from the North and their institutions of higher learning. Much attention was not paid to their Southern counterparts, largely because a renowned educational scholar dismissed Southern girls’ schools as “finishing schools” not of academic merit. As a result, scholars ignored Southern women’s education in the South before and after the Civil War, until the 1980’s and 1990’s, when historians such as Catherine Clinton, Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, Drew Gilpin Faust and Christie Farnham, studied and published books about the lives of Southern women, including their show more education.

For my master’s degree, I latched on to these prestigious coat tails and studied the education of girls who attended my alma mater, Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. I discovered that the girls attending Wesleyan before the Civil War endured a curriculum similar to most men’s colleges. I also learned that they had a fascinating social experience, including crushes on professors, fights with fellow students and skipping class. It seems little has changed in the way of college students!

I mention all of this because of my recent read, On Agate Hill by Lee Smith. In this book, we follow the life of Molly Petree, a girl orphaned by the Civil War, living on her uncle’s North Carolina plantation (Agate Hill) until her benefactor sent her to an all-women’s college in Virginia. After commencement, Molly and her friend Agnes Rutherford went to the mountains of North Carolina to teach in a one-room schoolhouse. There, Molly fell in love with a philandering mountain man, Jacky Jarvis, and together, they endured great hardships typical of mountain life at the turn of the century.

We learn about Molly’s life through a variety of primary (albeit fictional) resources: Molly’s diary entries and letters to her friend, Mary White, court testimonies by Jacky’s relatives, journal entries by Molly’s former headmistress, and letters by Agnes. Mixed in with the historical resources lies a modern-day context to the story. All of these materials were discovered by a Tuscany Miller, a college dropout, who found all of these papers in her father’s home, the historic Agate Hill. Tuscany researched Molly’s lives through public records and sent all of her research to her former college professor – all in an attempt to be re-accepted to college.

Without a doubt, Smith did her research when she wrote On Agate Hill. You learn about plantation life after the Civil War, the educational experiences of post-bellum Southern women and the hardships and joys of living in the North Carolina mountains. It’s a complete and fascinating picture. I highly recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction, especially of Southern and women’s history. Molly Petree is a character I won’t soon forget. She will live in my heart much like her Southern counterparts, Scarlett and Scout, who also taught me so much about the history of the American South. show less