The Unquiet Grave

I've been a big fan of [author:Sharyn McCrumb|317] for a long time. She has an odd ability to pinpoint exactly the topics that interest me and then she writes books about them. Her [book:Bimbos of the Death Sun|471512] is a tongue-in-cheek homage the golden age of science fiction. [book:Lovely in Her Bones|539] makes fun of Scottish highland clan gatherings, something I love even if most real Scots couldn't care less about them. Her [book:St. Dale|135103] series is about stock car racing...okay, she's lost me there. But where she really shines is her ballad series, a set of mysteries each bearing the name of an Appalachian folk song. Many of her earlier books offered a blend of historical fiction, murder mystery, and suspense featuring show more Tennessee Sheriff Spencer Arrowood and Nora Bonesteel, an ancient mountain woman with The sight.

Around about 2010, though, Sharyn must have realized that truth was stranger than fiction and started to write her accounts of actual cases. The most recognizable of these is [book:The Ballad of Tom Dooley|10616505], which tells the tragic story of the star-crossed lovers that we all know from the song Hang Down your Head, Tom Dooley.

The most recent book in her ballad series is [book:The Unquiet Grave|32620367], an unlikely tale of an actual murder trial in which the defendant was accused by none other than the alleged ghost of his victim. Whether you believe in haints or not, the people described and most of the events actually occurred. And clearly, the ghost must have played a part. The State of West Virginia said as much when they erected a historical marker with this inscription:

Interred in nearby cemetery is Zona Heaster Shue. Her death in 1897 was presumed natural until her spirit appeared to her mother to describe how she was killed by her husband Edward. Autopsy on the exhumed body verified the apparition's account. Edward, found guilty of murder, was sentenced to the state prison. Only known case in which testimony from a ghost helped convict a murderer.

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Sharyn McCrumb is a master at finding strange-but-true bits of history that have taken place somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains and then weaving a mesmerizing tale around them. You can't get much stranger than a murder trial based on the testimony of a ghost, and that's a fact.

McCrumb tells her tale in a two-pronged approach. One storyline follows Gardner in the insane asylum in 1930. Gardner, the first black attorney to practice law in nineteenth-century West Virginia, is such a calm, measured, educated voice of reason that you'd never dream he could have been associated with such a trial-- or be a patient in an insane asylum.

The second storyline follows Mary Jane Heaster, first as she worries about her headstrong daughter's show more extremely poor life choices, and then as she fights to make "Trout" Shue pay for her daughter's death. There's very little doubt that Shue did indeed murder Zona, but there's no proof that would be admissible in a court of law. Make that a court of law in the twenty-first century. So-- here you have the sane man in the asylum and the possibly insane woman free to bend an entire courtroom to her will. Mary Jane Heaster is a force of nature.

The story is a good one, and the voices of Mary Jane and Gardner come shining through. Through them, you really get a feel for how people lived and thought back then. I've long been an ardent fan of McCrumb's Ballad novels; in particular, the ones featuring Nora Bonesteel and Spencer Arrowood are lyrical and... marvelous. Although The Unquiet Grave is listed in some places as a Ballad novel, that's simply a matter of geography-- Ballad novels take place in the Appalachians. Regardless of designation, this is not one of McCrumb's better books. The pace drags, but even worse, there is no spark, no heart to the story she tells. If you want vintage Ballad, look for The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, She Walks These Hills or The Rosewood Casket. That's where you'll find gorgeous writing and heart and soul. show less

Sharyn McCrumb is a long-time favorite author of mine. Her ballad books are food for my literary soul, with her hauntingly beautiful tales of the Appalachian Mountains folklore. This time she’s veered away from those ballads with a historical novel based upon a true incident. There actually was a murder trial where the accused, Erasmus Trout Shue, was brought to trial for the murder of his wife, Zona Heaster Shue, based on the testimony of his deceased wife. Zona’s mother attests to the fact that her deceased daughter appeared to her and told her how she was murdered, an autopsy was ordered and Trout Shue was brought to trial. The murder took place in 1897.

The author has done a marvelous job of pulling out the facts from all of the show more folklore surrounding this murder. She researched census records, birth and death certificates, property records, maps and photographs and a long paper trail. She brings these people back to life and I was completely captivated by their story. The author lets her story be told alternately by Zona’s mother, Mary Jane Heaster, and by Shue’s attorney, James P.D. Gardner. Interestingly, Gardner tells his part of the story to a psychiatrist while he’s confined to a mental hospital in 1930. Gardner was the first black attorney to practice law in the State of Virginia and this is his most memorable case.

I would have given this fascinating account of such a very unusual trial 5 stars except for the quite lengthy examination of the checkered career of the lead prosecutor, W.P. Rucker. While I can certainly understand why the author wanted to include this since it’s of historic interest, that part dragged a bit for me. My main interest in the book was the mother’s quest for justice for her beloved daughter’s murder. I felt such empathy for her as she struggled with her fears for her daughter as she entered this obviously unstable marriage and her grief when her daughter’s life was so brutally ended.

Recommended.

This book was given to me by the publisher in return for an honest review. show less

The Unquiet Grave is an interesting story with no real lasting power. I suspect it means more to those who are familiar with the folklore prior to reading the novel. Even without any prior knowledge, very little of the story is an actual surprise. Ms. McCrumb is very heavy-handed in her foreshadowing, and the modern-day obsession with true crime stories makes it all too easy to see where Zona’s story is heading.

From a historical perspective, Ms. McCrumb gives readers a decent insight into the lasting tension that existed even forty years after the Civil War. She raises awareness that this was more than racial tension, although that did obviously exist. Things like someone’s war record, in which campaigns they fought, for which side, show more all played a role in establishing someone’s position in society. Set in the foothills of West Virginia, it is a side of the turn-of-the-century America most readers do not get to see.

She also paints a realistic picture of the hardships farmers in Appalachia faced. These are not the coal farmers one typically thinks of when envisioning West Virginia. These are the types of farmers who founded our country – small, family-owned, barely able to survive in the lean times, for whom frivolous things like a separate dress for a wedding is as unthinkable as it is unpractical. Understanding Zona’s background makes it easier to understand why she married a man she barely knew as well as the reasons her mother did not discover her fate until it was too late.

Had the story stayed focused solely on Mary Jane, the flow would be smoother and more engaging. Unfortunately, the story splits its time between Mary Jane’s search for justice and that of one of the lawyers assigned to the case. Except Gardner’s story takes place forty years after the fact, so the context is wrong. Plus, we find out that he was not the head lawyer for the case. He was nothing but the associate lawyer assigned to do most of the research. His role in the novel is misleading and disappointing and more than a little confusing. Some of this is because of his lack of role in the proceedings. The rest is due to the shift not only in narrator but also in point of view. With Mary Jane, we get a first person perspective, allowed access inside her mind as she processes her life and her actions. With Gardner, it is a third-person limited point of view. We only learn his story as he tells it to his doctor. It is too distant in time and perspective to blend well with Mary Jane’s sections of the novel, and they did nothing to improve my understanding or enjoyment of the story. I often found myself skimming if not skipping entire passages of Dr. Gardner’s scenes in order to get past them as quickly as possible.

Much like the mode of travel Mary Jane must use to travel to see her daughter, The Unquiet Grave is a relatively slow, plodding novel. The details about Mary Jane’s life and her search for clues is interesting and one of the saving graces of the story. The rest is a meandering slog through racial, socio-economic, and generational tensions that attempt to establish the setting but do more to distract and disengage. The scenes involving Gardner are disappointing and relatively meaningless in the overall context of the story. Those potential readers who already know the story of The Greenbriar Ghost may have a greater appreciation for The Unquiet Grave and Ms. McCrumb’s research into the details behind the legend. As it is, I found it a tedious read with only occasional sections of historical interest. show less

In 1930, successful attorney James P.D. Gardner is an inmate of a segregated West Virginia mental asylum following a suicide attempt. In 1897, the beautiful, reckless, and headstrong Zona Heaster defies her family and marries Edward “Trout” Shue after a whirlwind courtship. Within months, Zona is dead, and her mother, Mary Jane, a stoic West Virginia farmer’s wife, is left bereft, certain that Zona’s new husband is responsible for her death. When Zona’s ghost begins to appear to Mary Jane, dropping hints about the circumstances around her death, Mary Jane sets out to see justice done for her daughter. As the two narratives weave in and out, the story of Zona Heaster, The Greenbriar Ghost, is slowly brought into the show more light.

I’ve read several of Sharyn McCrumb’s novels and have always been impressed. McCrumb is able to take local West Virginia legends and folklore and create spellbinding mysteries. The Unquiet Grave did not disappoint. McCrumb weaves a story together from two view points: Zona’s (white) mother in 1987, and James Gardner, a (black) attorney in 1930. The story incorporates the roles of race, respectability, and class during America’s Guilded Age.

As usual, McCrumb vividly brings her story to life. You can almost feel the biting winds of the West Virginia Mountain winter. Her characters seem to jump off the page as fully realized people. The story is based upon “The Greenbriar Ghost” legend from the West Virginia hills, but is also painstakingly researched; every character in this book is based upon a real, historical person. This blending of history and legend is what makes McCrumb such a unique writer. In The Unquiet Grave, the supernatural and the factual twine around one another, each a part of a seamless whole.

Fans of historical mysteries should definitely be adding McCrumb’s books to their to-read pile. The Unquiet Grave is a fine example of the genre, and should appeal to most readers.

An advance copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. show less

1875 in Greenbriar, West Virginia, Zona Heaster quickly falls for the new blacksmith in town, Trout Shue. The relationship doesn't please Zona's mother, Mary Jane, especially when she learns of Trout's reckless past. However, Zona seems happy and it is far past the time when a mother should let her daughter go, so Mary Jane relents. As soon as the couple is married, Trout's true colors show and Mary Jane finds out that Zona has died just a few months after. Zona's official cause of death is listed as an accidental fall, but Mary Jane is convinced of foul play. After Zona's ghost comes back to Mary Jane, she begins an official inquest into her daughter's death.
In 1930, attorney P.D. Gardener is committed to the asylum for the Colored show more Insane after a failed suicide attempt. His doctor is trying out a new kind of therapy involving talking and P.D. reminisces about a unique case of defending a white man for murder where the testimony of his deceased wife was used against him.
Part historical fiction, party murder mystery and part ghost story, The Unquiet Grave is based upon the real murder trial of Zona Heaster Shue. I was pulled in the most by P.D.'s character and his confinement within the asylum as well as his rise to be a Black attorney in West Virginia. P.D. gave insight into the time period as well as context for how people acted and what they believed. Though we didn't know Zona's character for long, her spirit and tenacity was apparent. Zona didn't always make the best decisions in life, but seemed to do better in death by inciting her mother's interest. The point of view switches between P.D. in 1930 and Mary Jane in 1875, both telling the story, in a rather roundabout way, of how Zona came to be murdered and how her killer was finally convicted. The writing is very thorough and did seem to get a little bogged down in the details for me at times, but I was impressed by the amount of historical fact that was put in. I love that Zona's ghost continued to be a character and made sure that her death was not forgotten as well as having a testimony in her own murder trial. Overall, a unique telling of a historic true crime story.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. show less

*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Considering it’s supposed to be somewhat of a ghost story, this book was a lot different than what I’d originally thought it was going to be like. I thought it’d be more folklore and superstition based rather than what is essentially a look at a particular place in a particular period of history, that all happens to connect to this original ghost story. That’s not to say that I didn’t like it (rather the opposite in fact), but it’s less plot and character driven than setting driven, which lends itself well to a historical semi-fiction.

I hate calling this straight-out historical fiction, because McCrumb clearly did a show more lot of research before writing this novel. It follows the story of a family who lives in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, just post-civil war, and how their unlucky daughter was allegedly killed. The only made-up parts that I could tell were of the actual motivations of the characters and conversations, but as for plot points in general, it almost exactly follows the recorded history of what happened. The story is told through two different perspectives; at one point, it’s told by a black lawyer who’s been locked up in an asylum due to attempted suicide. He was on the defense of the husband of the woman who died, and he reflects to a doctor on what happened in that case. One the other side is Mary Jane Heaster, the mother of the woman who died. The two stories are beautifully interwoven to create a thorough look at the struggles of the area in that particular time period.

It took some time to get used to the style of narration, but I was okay after a couple of chapters, and the story overall is fascinating. I feel like I have more of a grasp of the importance of the Civil War, especially for West Virginia, and how that affected people living there at the time. The characters were complex and interesting enough to compel me to move forward in the story, though when a story follows real people who have lived, I always get a little sidetracked by thinking about what their real motivations might have been, and whether it seems plausible. I do, however, think that McCrumb does an excellent job in fleshing out characters that seem real and complex. The mystery itself I found underwhelming, which is why this book lost a star, but the way McCrumb delves into the setting and explores the time period makes up for the lost interest, and certainly sparked my intrigue and made me want to learn more about it. So, definitely read this if you’re interested in the historical side of things, but if you’re looking for a ghost story, this is not the book for you at all.

Also posted on Purple People Readers. show less