A dusty box discovered in the wreckage of a once prosperous plantation on Agate Hill in Nnorth Carolina contains the remnants of an extraordinary life: diaries, letters, poems, songs, newspaper clippings, court records, marbles, rocks, dolls, and bones. It's through these treasured mementos that we meet Molly Petree.
Raised in those ruins and orphaned by the Civil War, Molly is a refugee who has no interest in self-pity. When a mysterious benefactor appears out her father's past to rescue her, she never looks back.
Spanning half a century, On Agate Hill follows Molly’s passionate, picaresque journey through love, betrayal, motherhood, a murder trial—and back home to Agate Hill under circumstances she never could have imagined.
Industry Reviews
" On Agate Hill, as lyrical and haunting as an Appalachian ballad, casts a powerful charm." -- The Boston Globe " Lyric intensity. . . . Inventive storytelling. . . . Lee Smith imagines the life of an orphan girl growing up in the post- Civil War South." -- The New York Times Book Review " The the willful Molly is no hot-house flower, and her determination to live her own life-- for better or worse-- is the driving force of this powerful novel." -- USA Today " Smith is such a beautiful writer, tough and full of grace, that soon you are lost in the half-light of Molly's haunted landscape, listening to the voices of the ghosts, wishing they'd let you stay longer." -- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution " Big, sweeping, epic. " - MSNBC.COM & quot; Big, sweeping, epic. & quot; - MSNBC.COM & quot; On Agate Hill, as lyrical and haunting as an Appalachian ballad, casts a powerful charm.& quot; & #8212; The Boston Globe & quot; Lyric intensity. . . . Inventive storytelling. . . . Lee Smith imagines the life of an orphan girl growing up in the post& #8211; Civil War South.& quot; & #8212; The New York Times Book Review & quot; The the willful Molly is no hot-house flower, and her determination to live her own life& #8212; for better or worse& #8212; is the driving force of this powerful novel.& quot; & #8212; USA Today & quot; Smith is such a beautiful writer, tough and full of grace, that soon you are lost in the half-light of Molly's haunted landscape, listening to the voices of the ghosts, wishing they'd let you stay longer.& quot; & #8212; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Big, sweeping, epic. "- MSNBC.COM "On Agate Hill, as lyrical and haunting as an Appalachian ballad, casts a powerful charm."--The Boston Globe "Lyric intensity. . . . Inventive storytelling. . . . Lee Smith imagines the life of an orphan girl growing up in the post-Civil War South." --The New York Times Book Review "The the willful Molly is no hot-house flower, and her determination to live her own life--for better or worse--is the driving force of this powerful novel."--USA Today "Smith is such a beautiful writer, tough and full of grace, that soon you are lost in the half-light of Molly's haunted landscape, listening to the voices of the ghosts, wishing they'd let you stay longer."--The Atlanta Journal-Constitution -Big, sweeping, epic. -- MSNBC.COM
