Hang the Moon, Jeanette Walls, author and narrator
This is a story that is taken from pieces of American history, but it didn’t always feel quite realistic enough or authentic to me. Still, it did capture my interest, even though, at times, it felt like a fairytale. Every tragedy seemed to turn into a teaching moment for the main character, Sallie Kincaid, and ultimately, as she examined the ramifications of each event affecting her, she pulled victory from the jaws of defeat and provided a positive result. That theme required the suspension of disbelief, since a grown man or woman would have had a hard time accomplishing what this untried and unprepared teenager did, when faced with her family trials and the conflicts of the troubled times.
The novel takes place in the hills of Virginia, in Claiborne County, shortly after WWI. In the 1920’s, the Kincaid family has a little fiefdom currently ruled by Sallie’s father who was known as The Duke. Although it is a time of Prohibition, there are “stills” operating with abandon. They support the hill people who live there. The Kincaid family, and their appointed sheriff, turn a blind eye to the criminal activity. Their excuse is that they are doing what they have to do to take care of the people in their community, and those people are doing what they have to do to provide for their families. The Kincaids are the most influential and wealthy people in the county. Through them, the novel highlights the lack of women’s rights and civil rights, and the elitism of the times that separates the classes from each other. The Kincaid family is a conglomeration of relatives, husband and wives, children and servants that are all related in some fashion to each other, some directly, some by a thread, some secretly and some openly. It seems the patriarch’s fidelity to his women left a lot to be desired.
In these times, about a century in the past, men held dominion over women. Women could not inherit, vote or engage in business. They were beholden to a man for their survival. Often, the men were disloyal, demanding and abusive. Sallie Kincaid was never going to be able to stand for that. As a teenager, she defined herself as a Kincaid, like her father, the leader of the Kincaids, the man they called The Duke. He did not back down, and so neither does she. He did what was necessary, but often listened to the advice of his counsel. However, he always had to win. She wanted to be just like him. Sallie wanted to work, not to marry. She wanted to be independent, not reliant on a husband who did as he pleased, leaving her helpless.
The family secrets are kept hidden, the illicit behavior is secret, and the offspring often did not even know each other. As death comes to the family, from all corners of the imagination, from unnecessary risks, from murder, suicide, disease and other circumstances, several hidden ancestors are revealed, and as heir after heir assumes control of the family dynasty, different rules are put into place according to the individual beliefs of the current property owner and manager of the family businesses. Sometimes, slights that were real or imagined, motivated these people. These folk, often called hillbillies, have their own way of dealing with life and the laws made by politicians who have no knowledge of how they survive. There is US law and there is Kincaid law. In Claiborne County, it is Kincaid law.
Sallie’s father ruled with an iron hand. What he said was the only law. His brother-in-law was the sheriff and he upheld the Kincaid rule of law. The Duke did what he had to do to keep his family and community safe. He bent the rules. The Kincaids and the Bonds had a family feud that had gone on for decades over what was perceived as a land grab. The Bonds felt the land was stolen and the Kincaids felt they had paid a fair price for it. These differences of opinion often fuel violence and unrest. Eventually Claiborne County catches the national interest, and Sallie becomes known as the Queen of the Rumrunners. The likelihood of a teenage girl running an elicit family business at a time when females have no power, simply felt out of the realm of possibility to me, even if some of the circumstances described were based on historic events.
Although I read it until the end, something about the novel did not draw me in completely. There was a lot of romance, coupled with the violence and many civil rights issues in the story, but often, the lighter romantic issues overcame the history and the lawlessness of the times. No one theme was stressed enough to truly invite me to explore it further. At the end, I felt that the author’s main theme was the idea that women were far more capable than men believed they were, and they were, as a matter of fact, able and ready to perform similar duties. The men were toxic, disloyal, greedy and dishonest. Regardless of how the women behaved, however, it was deemed to be alright because they were doing what they had to do, while the men were always doing the wrong thing to prevent women from having their own voice, and they used them at will.
Sometimes overtly, and sometimes subtly, the author has included all of her ideas about all of society’s ills. Homosexuality, infidelity, poverty, racism, religious fanaticism, class and elitism, toxic masculinity, wanton women, crime, violence, law and order, and political corruption are just some of the ideas presented in a tangential way, but have a great influence on the direction of the narrative.
The author read the audio book well, but it seemed geared to a young adult audience, from her tone and expression, which often sounded like that of a child. Also, its concentration on romantic interludes, betrayal and its consequences, led the story to be less about the important rights issues and more about trifling flings that had devastating consequences. Sally Kincaid, a woman who was strong minded, makes for an interesting character, but I found her strength was actually a weakness. Although she carried herself with this air of bravado, she seemed to lack the moral courage, most of the time, to do what was right, and instead, she did what was necessary and defined her behavior as the model of the Duke’s.
Most of the characters seemed to be of poor character. I didn’t really have any favorite, and I disliked most. Sallie adored her father and conducted her business and herself using him as her example. She soon discovered, however, that her idol had clay feet. He was a selfish man who took what he wanted out of life regardless of those he left behind. Finally, she fears that she is just like him, just like the people she does not respect and condemns. She discovers that making decisions based on necessity and loyalty, often means making a selfish decision, or an amoral one. Sallie needed to learn who she was in order to move forward with her life after many traumatic experiences and tragedies. I was left with many questions. How will Sallie’s life turn out in the future? Will she be able to rebuild it, restore the dynasty, and continue to protect her community? In what direction will her life take her? Will she marry one day and raise a family? Perhaps there will be a sequel to this book.
At its core, this seems to be a novel about issues of what is right and wrong, seeking revenge or forgiveness, granting freedom or continuing oppression, providing equal rights and equal justice or perpetuating a system of injustice and political corruption. In the end, the big question for me was this: have we moved forward or is society still involved in deciding those issues and still failing to improve itself?