Lowcountry Spirit

Lowcountry Spirit is a historical novella set in the south off the coast of Georgia featuring several young slave girls who love their island home yet yearn for freedom.

The audio narration by Allyson Johnson was incredible and I am SO glad that I chose to listen to, rather than read, this book. Allyson's narration expertly shaped the disquieting atmosphere of the island and communicated the pain hardened strength of the characters. She pulls the listener so deeply into the story that one can almost hear the haunting sounds of the marsh and feel the muggy heat and maybe even catch a glimpse of the elusive marsh witch...

The three slave girls, Celestia, Emmaline, and Liza are tied together through shared hardship and the mystical gifts that each believe themselves to possess. Their longing for freedom can be felt through their dialog with one another and their visions and dreams. I found the eerily beautiful descriptions of the island juxtaposed with the tragic reality of their lives there to be unsettling. Hite's writing painted a vivid picture of this time & place.

While the writing was undeniably lovely and the audio narration even more so, what kept me from completely enjoying this haunting tale was that there were no clearly defined personalities for the three girls. Each of them kind of blended into the other causing me to lose the thread of the story throughout.

Ultimately, I would recommend Lowcountry Spirit to those who enjoy historical fiction set in this time period. I would HIGHLY recommend this audio and am looking forward to other narrations by Allyson Johnson.

I enjoyed this book, although I kept getting the three main characters all mixed up. They all seemed so much alike. However, this was still a great story. I still am not sure what a storycatcher is or is supposed to be. I know it is someone who catches and untangles other's stories but...I'm just not sure what that entails, exactly... I still look forward to Hite's upcoming The Storycatcher. I loved Ghost on Black Mountain. Hite is a great story teller. I love her simple style. And, hey, If I kept mixing up the characters but still enjoyed the story, that tells you something...

I had read and enjoyed the author’s debut novel – The Ghost on Black Mountain, so was interested in reading this e-novella. I was pleasantly surprised how this book is connected to both The Ghost on Black Mountain and the upcoming The Storycatcher. Each book stands on its own and has the author’s trademark style of well-written southern gothic storylines.

This is a short story that I read from Netgalley. It is going to be released on the 12th of August 2013 by Pocket Books of Simon & SchuSter. It is an e-novella that I read on my kindle. It is a prelude to Ann Hite’s new novel The Storycatcher, which is to be released on September 10th, 2013. Ann Hite debuted with her novel Ghost on Black Mountain. This book won the Georgia Author of the Year Award for 2012 and was nominated for the Townsend Prize. This e-novella introduces us to Ann Hite and her style of writing.

In this short story we meet a character called the storycatcher. There are three young slave girls and their lives are intertwined. The girls all seem to have a special power or gift. Emmaline conjures up spells and is the storycatcher. Celestia can hear the death bell before someone dies. Then Liza arrives on the cotton plantation with a hail storm and then it rains frogs. We are introduced to the story of the magical heron and the appearance of the marsh witch and princess. There are also the powerful black cat bones that protect one from haints.

I liked this story. It portrays the lives of the slaves on the cotton plantation. There are elements of superstition, magic, and low country folklore in this book. The story tells of their hopes and dreams and the realities of slavery. Very quick read only took about two hours, but full of events. It is very condensed and intense. It packs a lot into that little package. I give it 4 stars out of 5. Just received a copy of The Storycatcher. I will let you know what I think about it.