This is one of the few novels set in our mountains that was made into a Hollywood movie. Set in a few days in October of 1810 in the North Carolina mountains, this book develops the character of Analees Williamsburg a runaway slave who notices a white man, August King, on the road she is following from a distance. "Like a sitting bomb the intensity of this novel builds until its final explosion: a blend of love story and comment on racial strife, this explores a North Carolinian pioneer's involvement with a young runaway slave. The two loners find their lives drawn together as events proceed toward an inevitable confrontation and possible further loss for both." -- Midwest Book Review. John Ehle (1925-2018) was one of our foremost regional writers of the World War II generation. On a personal note, John Ehle was the only person who invited my late wife and all seven of our kids to supper. The bill was $50 - for the ten of us - and I was teetotally freaked out that a restaurant bill could be so high.
New York: Harper and Row, 1971. 218 pages. Hardback in dust jacket.