This is a wonderful story that has you thinking and wanting more. Good read!

This debut novel from Wiley Cash is told by multiple first person accounts that weave together in unexpected ways. In rural North Carolina, a church has been twisted into an ugly, hidden place with newspapers to cover the windows, blocking the outside world. But when newspapers don't cover the sins of the church's pastor from young boys' spying eyes, a healing touch goes astray and everyone is pushed to their breaking point.

The characters sprang to life as you are transported to North Carolina while reading this book. I thoroughly enjoyed this tale and look forward to reading more by Cash.

Told in three voices, this debut novel by Wiley Cash takes readers on a haunting ride. An accident many years ago has resulted in a deep hatred and resentment between Clem Barefield, the town sheriff, and Jimmy Hall, the former town drunk. Years later, Chambliss, the preacher, has his congregation doing his bidding as only a self-proclaimed prophet can. With newspapers covering the window and no children entering, surely the evil happening in the church must soon be revealed. Indeed, an attempt to "heal" a mute child results in tragedy. Unfortunately it takes such a tragedy to heal the relationship between Clem and Jimmy and bring the people of the church back to true faith and worship.

Wiley Cash has a way with words. He can make you see a rain storm or love with equal clarity. In A LAND MORE KIND THAN HOME he has written a beautiful elegy for love and death, faith and fear, condemnation and redemption. Told in three very different voices, the tale unfolds in starts and pauses and then backtracks on to itself. Occasionally Cash loses his way and the story loses momentum. But stick with him because in the pulsing end, you will know you have found a wonderful new voice.

A LAND MORE KIND THAN HOME follows the inhabitants of a small back country Appalachian community. They include an outsider Sheriff and the drunk the sheriff blames for his son\'s death, the drunk\'s son and his church obsessed wife, their two young sons - one a mute, a spellbinding preacher with a hidden past and the area\'s \"healer\" woman. Cash is point perfect in detailing the culture of Appalachia, the speech patterns of his characters and an atmosphere of foreboding.

Book groups will find a wealth of topics including family dynamics, faith and faith that becomes oppressive, guilt and how it can poison relationships, fear of the unknown, outsiders, understanding disabilities, alcoholism, infidelity, and secrets.

Kind to its readers in slow revelations through different perspectives. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

Great story with solid characters. The main character is a older woman who is not one to be fooled and is very strong.

A Land More Kind than Home is about family and each member\'s response to the circumstances which life presents it. I\'m a fan of southern literature and its gothic appeal, but this novel\'s incredibly slow-moving first half disappointed me. The writing is good and the use of alternating voices works. There\'s more to this book than just snake handling, but if you\'re interested in reading others in a similar vein, try Flannery O\'Connor\'s Wise Blood or Saving Grace by Lee Smith. Both better.

Set in a small NC mountain town in the 80s, where social and community life often revolves around the church, this book watches how loss affects families, how a sinister and manipulative preacher can pray on under educated and insular church members and what the birth of a special needs child can do to a family.

I do not know if the print book would come across as magnificently as the audio book, but the readers, Mark Bramhall, Lorna Raver, and Nick Sullivan, perfectly captured the spirit of the characters they portrayed. They literally became Adelaide Lyle, Jess Hall and Clem Barefield. Through their marvelous voices, with just the right tone and expression, all of the characters, major and minor, had personalities that brought them to life, and as a result, the listener was immersed so completely in the story, it was hard to withdraw from the narrative, hard to put the book down. Although the language was descriptive, it was plain and folksy, fitting the setting and the times. The prose painted clear pictures of the scenes so that the reader was a voyeur, allowed to glimpse the action from the sidelines, even almost participating in it. The author’s pen was lyrical, without being sappy, though some of that exceptional quality might actually be attributable to the readers’ voices and portrayals, as well.
When the book begins, Adelaide Lyle is explaining the origin of the church she once belonged to and describing her reasons for leaving it. The church tested the believers faith by exposing them to venomous snakes*, poisonous drinks and even trial by fire. It was taught that with strong enough faith, they could face any trial and not be harmed; their G-d would protect them. Pastor Carson Chambliss, the leader of this atypical place of charismatic worship, had an unsavory, questionable past, but he had somehow mesmerized and convinced these simple folk to follow him on his misguided path. When a female worshiper was bitten by a snake while attempting to prove her faith, Adelaide had had enough. She thought it bad enough that they encouraged the woman to test her faith, but it was worse when they left her in her garden to die so that no one would know what had happened to her there in the church. To prevent anyone from seeing what went on inside, the windows were covered over with newspaper.
A little more than a decade passes, during which time although Adelaide stops attending services, she also removes the children to protect them from witnessing the bizarre events that take place inside the church. She entertains and teaches them on the days of church service. One of the children, teased by others, is autistic. His name is Christopher Hall, 13 years old, but everyone calls him Stump. He has never spoken a word. When the church intervenes to try and heal him, tragedy ensues and secrets of the past and present rise to the surface, become exposed, and bring about all sorts of disastrous consequences. Jess, 9 years old, is Stump’s younger brother. Jess and his brother have witnessed some pretty frightening things, while disobeying rules. Jess is afraid to tell anyone for fear of being punished by their mother, Julia, or their father, Ben. Ben was estranged from his own father, Jimmy. After a tragic incident, Jimmy disappeared for years, abandoning Ben. As present day events take a new tragic turn in their lives, Jimmy returns to witness the events. Stump’s mom, Julia, had taken him to church, prompted by the Pastor whom she adored, so that he might be healed. During the first healing session, she believed that she heard him speak for the first time, and so, she took him again. What follows exposes a whole slew of secrets in their lives.
Clem Barefield is the sheriff of this backwoods town in North Carolina, and he has always blamed Jimmy Hall for the death of his son in a tragic accident. What goes around comes around, and whether or not you believe in divine justice, it sure seemed like it was payback time for the backwoods community that was ripe for the likes of Carson Chambliss, whom they followed blindly and obediently. There is no shortage of evil men as history will attest to, and Chambliss seemed to be one of those damaged human beings. This story, from beginning to end, will capture the reader!
* [“Practitioners believe serpent handling dates to antiquity and quote the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Luke to support the practice: And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. (Mark 16:17-18)
Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:19)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_handling]

This is an interesting read. It brings up many interesting topics, some of these being religion and upbringing. It is told by three different narrators. The story is released in small enticing tidbits by these three very different narrators.

Members of our book group like this book across the board. We found it skillfully and beautifully written, voice of the characters authentic, description showing a strong sense of place, a dramatic story that held our interest, and a great first novel. Highly recommend.