Becoming Hattie Mae

A Hardscrabble Life in an Appalachian Holler

“In lilting Kentucky-speak, Carol Heilman captures her readers with the riveting story of a coal-miner’s daughter, Hattie Mae, and her struggle to break free from a life in which she feels trapped.” –Leanna Sain, Award-Winning Southern Suspense Author

Summertime 1929. Hattie Mae Sizemore lives with her family in a Kentucky holler. Her father is a coal miner and a moonshiner. Determined to shield his oldest from the influence of outsiders, he declares Hattie won’t return to school. She is distraught, not even having a single book of her own.

When she accompanies her Granny Guthrie to a charity sale, a gypsy peddler passes through their camp. He stirs a restless feeling inside Hattie to see people and places she has only imagined. At the sale, she discovers a small book and carries it home.

One evening, Hattie’s father returns from hunting. She tries to hide her book, but he grabs it. Stories and poems fly through the woods. Heartbroken, she vows to escape her father’s oppression. Then Granny Guthrie dies, and Hattie loses the one person who always stood up for her.

Will Hattie find a way to leave the only home she has ever known and make a life of her own?

©2025 Black Rose Writing (P)2026 Black Rose Writing

Authentic and inspiring

A classic story of discovering purpose, overcoming unimaginable obstacles, and finding love. It has all the ingredients of an easy read with surprises that keep you wanting more of the story. All written with such authenticity of the era and setting.