Shiner

A Novel

By: Amy Jo Burns

Narrated by: Catherine Taber

Named a Best Book of 2020 by NPR

"Amy Jo Burns writes a version of Appalachia that is one step removed from magic - all strychnine and moonshine and powerful wonder." (NPR)

"[A] wrenching testament, told in language as incandescent as smoldering coal... This is not a despairing book, but a hopeful one, of Appalachian women taking back their life stories." (New York Times Book Review)

On a lush mountaintop trapped in time, two women vow to protect each other at all costs - and one young girl must defy her father to survive.

An hour from the closest West Virginia mining town, 15-year-old Wren Bird lives in a cloistered mountain cabin with her parents. They have no car, no mailbox, and no visitors - except for her mother's lifelong best friend. Every Sunday, Wren's father delivers winding sermons in an abandoned gas station, where he takes up serpents and praises the Lord for his blighted white eye, proof of his divinity and key to the hold he has over the community, over Wren and her mother.

But over the course of one summer, a miracle performed by Wren's father quickly turns to tragedy. As the order of her world begins to shatter, Wren must uncover the truth of her father's mysterious legend and her mother's harrowing history and complex bond with her best friend. And with that newfound knowledge, Wren can imagine a different future for herself than she has been told to expect.

Rich with epic love and epic loss, and diving deep into a world that is often forgotten but still part of America, Shiner reveals the hidden story behind two generations' worth of Appalachian heartbreak and resolve. Amy Jo Burns brings us a smoldering, taut debut novel about modern female myth-making in a land of men - and one young girl who must ultimately open her eyes.

©2020 Amy Jo Burns (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“A compelling fever-dream of a novel crafted out of moonshine and jagged miracles, Shiner is simply perfect. I loved every moment spent in the world Amy Jo Burns so thoroughly evokes; I already know I will return to it again and again. Do not miss this exceptional debut.” (Joshilyn Jackson, New York Times best-selling author of Never Have I Ever)

"In spare yet lyrical prose, Amy Jo Burns brings to life a brutal landscape and its dangerous, alluring inhabitants. A haunting glimpse into a strange, mystical world with its own laws and customs, filled with fiercely independent people, this novel combines a memoir-like intimacy with the mythic power of a fable. Burns is a writer to be watched." (Christina Baker Kline, number-one New York Times best-selling author of Orphan Train and A Piece of the World)

"Amy Jo Burns writes masterful sentences changed with all the beauty and rage and struggle of her characters. From the first paragraph to the last, Burns builds a vibrant and complex story of myths and miracles and moonshiners, as well as of the women who fight for their lives and their dignity as their future in a culture that all too often strangles all three. Shiner is a gorgeous novel." (Phil Klay, National Book Award-winning author of Redeployment)

Torn

I wanted to love this book. my family has history in the mountains of West Virginia and I understand that a story can mean so much more that the sum of it's plotline. The writing in this book is beautiful, and I found myself stopping frequently to unravel the threads the author was weaving. That said, the ending left me wanting more. more resolution, more revenge, more absolution.

Listened Twice

love the way the story was crafted. looking at life through various characters eyes. loved it

Kept me interested - listened to it in two days !

Fascinating story. The parallel threads of religion, the snake handling variety , and moonshiners made a story full of twists and turns. Great book club book it creates lots of discussion.

Friends

A beautiful troubling and tragic tale of the power of friendship. Ruby and Ivy knew the secret to surviving... the love of a true friend.

So good!

The author paints a picture with her words - of both the mountains and the people in them. There is a ring of truth to this tale, it's hard to describe...like the revelations of life poured out in story form.

wonderfull

could not quit listening, made my runs go by so quick, a great story about the hidden secreats people have and carry with them

Gorgeous Writing

Great book club discussion, so many themes. Beautiful prose and description (not longwinded). Recommend 100%

Good

Not great but good. Kept me listening, being from the mountains it was pretty accurate.

What a fantastic book!

I was drawn into the story from the very beginning - it is wonderfully written and keeps you pulled-in. Then it is narrated/performed fabulously by Catherine Tabor!

Victim complexes extraordinaire

Give me 6 hours back! How did this book get published?! The storyline is nothing but pathetic feminist (?), anti-male, victim-complex drivel. Really...worst book I’ve listened to in years.