From Haywood County Friends of the Library:
Bestselling author Sharyn McCrumb to headline annual Friends of the Library event on May 19
New York Times bestselling author Sharyn McCrumb, one of the most popular writers of our time, will speak at the annual Haywood County Friends of the Library meeting on Thursday, May 19, at 7 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Waynesville. Sharyn McCrumb, North Carolina native and award-winning Southern writer, is best known for her Appalachian “Ballad” novels, including the New York Times bestsellers The Ballad of Tom Dooley, The Ballad of Frankie Silver and Ghost Riders. Newer books by McCrumb include her Revolutionary War novel King’s Mountain and Nora Bonesteel’s Christmas Past, a holiday Ballad novella.
Sharyn McCrumb, named a Virginia Woman of History by the Library of Virginia, was awarded the Mary Hobson Prize for Arts & Letters in 2014. In addition to presenting programs at universities, libraries and other organizations throughout the U.S., McCrumb has taught a writers workshop in Paris, and served as writer-in-residence at King University in Tennessee and at the Chautauqua Institute in western New York.
Her latest novel, Prayers the Devil Answers, explores the ties between a reluctant female sheriff and a condemned man in this stunning and powerfully written Depression-era novel. “Years later, after the tragedy, someone remembered the Dumb Supper and what had happened there. That was the cause of it, they said, because the ritual wasn’t a game after all. It really was magic, but magic has rules, and she broke them.” Suddenly thrust into the role of primary caretaker for her family following the tragic death of her husband, Ellie Robbins is appointed to serve out his term as sheriff of their rural Tennessee mountain town. The year is 1936, and her role is largely symbolic, except for the one task that only a sheriff can do: execute a convicted prisoner.
Please join the celebration of the Haywood County Friends of the Library with their guest speaker author Sharyn McCrumb. Dessert and coffee will be available. Tickets are $10, and may be purchased at all Haywood County Public Library branches, as well as at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville. Your support of the Friends helps the Friends support all library programs throughout the year. For more information, call (828) 452-5169.
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