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Book Review of The Ballad of Tom Dooley (Ballad, Bk 9)

The Ballad of Tom Dooley (Ballad, Bk 9)
jazzysmom avatar reviewed on + 907 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


The Ballad of Tom Dooley was one of the most heart breaking novels i have ever read. Ms McCrumb has based this novel on truth from much research.
Tom Dooley (real last name Dula)is the story of murder.
Laura Foster, a simple country girl wanting nothing more than to get out from under her father and all his children, left for her to care for after her mother dies has been with Tom many times and is planning on running away to start life over with the man she loves.
Tom is handsome, restless and lives off his momma and his women friends. Don't get me wrong, he is a kind heart, way to kind. He is also deeply in love with Ann Melton who possessed beauty that could control any man & whom was married to James. James was also..way to kind.
Ann and Tom met when they were children and had been in love all their lives. But Ann saw fit to marry James after the war to put food in her stomach and a roof over her head as Tom never did like to work. But her love for Tom never diminished. After her marriage Ann and Tom continued to see each other almost daily. They both understood Toms visits to other women were only that...visits...his heart was Ann's. Laura was Ann's cousin... one of the other women. If i go into more detail the story will be ruined. There is yet so much more to tell.
The author has written this with such feeling that it often brought tears to my eyes and the ending was not what i wanted but it is what truely happened and i went to bed sobbing. I honestly feel sorry for Tom.
The author lives in these Appalachian mountains so the description of life back in the 1800's has been handed down for generations. She is an awsome story teller. I loved this novel so much. It left my heart disturbed and yet wanting more.
Note: I had waited for 2 years for this on my wish list and it never moved so i found it at the library. This may be where you might find it also.