Hill Women

Finding Family and a Way Forward in the Appalachian Mountains

By: Cassie Chambers

Narrated by: Cassie Chambers

After rising from poverty to earn two Ivy League degrees, an Appalachian lawyer pays tribute to the strong “hill women” who raised and inspired her, and whose values have the potential to rejuvenate a struggling region.

“Destined to be compared to Hillbilly Elegy and Educated.”—BookPage (starred review)

“A gritty, warm love letter to Appalachian communities and the resourceful women who lead them.”—Slate

Nestled in the Appalachian mountains, Owsley County, Kentucky, is one of the poorest places in the country. Buildings are crumbling as tobacco farming and coal mining decline. But strong women find creative ways to subsist in the hills.

Through the women who raised her, Cassie Chambers traces her path out of and back into the Kentucky mountains. Chambers’s Granny was a child bride who rose before dawn every morning to raise seven children. Granny’s daughter, Ruth—the hardest-working tobacco farmer in the county—stayed on the family farm, while Wilma—the sixth child—became the first in the family to graduate from high school. Married at nineteen and pregnant with Cassie a few months later, Wilma beat the odds to finish college. She raised her daughter to think she could move mountains, like the ones that kept her safe but also isolated from the larger world.

Cassie would spend much of her childhood with Granny and Ruth in the hills of Owsley County. With her “hill women” values guiding her, she went on to graduate from Harvard Law. But while the Ivy League gave her opportunities, its privileged world felt far from her reality, and she moved home to help rural Kentucky women by providing free legal services. Appalachian women face issues from domestic violence to the opioid crisis, but they are also keeping their towns together in the face of a system that continually fails them. With nuance and heart, Chambers breaks down the myth of the hillbilly and illuminates a region whose poor communities, especially women, can lead it into the future.

A tale of our family’s beginnings!

I married an Owsley over 50 years ago and first heard about Owsley county about 20 years later when a friend was doing genealogy for us. It peaked my interest and that of my children. In the last several years 2 of my kids have visited the area. This amazing book, however is the first real peak we’ve had into the fascinating story of the people that shaped us. I enjoyed every word and cried more than a little bit with the family’s losses and the hill people’s struggles. Thank you so much for giving this next generation of Owsley’s a glimpse of what they came from and a vision of what they may strive for. Rebecca Owsley

Tennessee

very accurate telling the story of rural life in the appalachian mountains,felt like my family story

Disappointing

I enjoyed the book until the author started her Ivy League education. From there on I felt I was being lectured to by a community organizer. I kept fast forwarding to find more actual stories, finally gave up and moved on to another selection. My family is from Tennessee poverty and we don't whine about everything like this author. Life isn't fair, you got out good for you. Nope. sorry other reviewers. This was nothing as entertaining or enlightening as Hillbilly Eegy.

The importance of our roots-and her pride

One of the best books I have read about Appalachia- so good to read about how proud she was of her roots and how it made her into who she was and what she did to help her people. A positive story!!!!

I love the story of the hill woman! I loved the way it was told, read and written!

Why make it political? I wanted to get out of this world and be in a new one for a bit. Instead I kept getting brought back to the political drama that has been happening for years. I would have never started reading this had I known.