Ballad

Written in grease pencil on a tourist postcard, the lyrics are winsome and innocent. But for famous folk singer Peggy Muryan, who has moved recently to the rural community of Hamelin, Tennessee, they are a chilling reminder of a troubled moment in her past.

Randall Stargill is dying. As his four sons gather to build his coffin, a local wise woman arrives with a small box that must be buried with the old man. In it are the fragile bones of a child and the memories of an ancient crime. Already faced with decisions about what to do with their father’s farm, his sons are now drawn into a hazardous conflict between families who would die for their land and those who do not value the rich tradition of the region. As the Stargills attempt to identify the child, McCrumb weaves mystical Indian legends and Daniel Boone’s sweeping visions of his beloved mountains into the investigation.

In 1934 all the national publications sent their star reporters to remote Virginia to cover the trial of Erma Morton: a beautiful 21-year-old mountain girl with a teaching degree, accused of murdering her father – a drunken tyrant of a man.

The Kingston Trio’s folk song “Tom Dooley” tells the story of the murder of Laura Foster, a simple country girl involved with returning Confederate soldier Tom Dula. But Tom was also engaged in a passionate affair with his childhood sweetheart, the beautiful - and married - Ann Melton. One May morning in 1866, Laura Foster stole her father’s horse and left home, telling a neighbor that she was eloping to Tennessee. Three months later, her body was found in a shallow grave only a few hundred yards from where she was last seen.

Sharyn McCrumb is the New York Times best-selling author of the Ballad novels, which celebrate the rich history of Appalachia. An elegant saga set against the American Revolution, King' s Mountain features John Sevier and his legendary Carolina Overmountain Men, who find themselves defending their families and farms against the troops of a haughty British major.

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.