Book Review: Return to Crutcher Mountain by Melinda Clayton

This book is the sequel to Appalachian Justice, which I read and was moved to tears by not so long ago. It went without saying that I was going to read the second book, which was released in print on Wednesday, slightly earlier as an e-book.

In this book we catch up with Jessie, who was rescued by Billy May Platt from her abusive step-father. Jessie is now in her 40s and still coming to terms with her childhood and the loss of her adopted mother. She is now living in LA, and has been a huge sucess in her career. In order to fulfil Billy May's dying wish she has become involved in a project providing an outward bound experience meets respite care facility for children with additional needs. A series of strange events bring Jessie back to Crutcher Mountain and force her to face her past.

The story is told from two viewpoints, Jessie's and Robby's. He is a young man staying at the facility, he has Downs syndrome and provides a very honest, quite amusing view of the world and what is happening. I liked his straightforward insights and thought using his naive perspective meant the parts he narrates really cut to the chase and was refreshingly blunt and uncomplicated. Where Robby sees black and white Jessie sees things in an array of greys and has recruited more than one therapist to try and help her move forward while trying to avoid looking back.

Althought this is a sequel there were enough recaps of the story in Appalachian Justice for it to stand alone, but I think having read the first book I got more from this one having already connected with them. As the story unravels we discover a lot more about what happened to Jessie before she was found by Billy May, and both she and the reader make a lot of new discoveries.

This is an emotional whodunnit, as I not only wanted to know who was behind the strange happenings at the lodge but I was also concerned with what would happen to Jessie and Robby and was invested enough in the characters to care about them both. There were plenty of revelations as the book reached its climax, the most shocking of which I definitely didn't see coming.

Although the sequel didn't quite have the same emotional impact on me as Appalachian Justice this is another excellent book by Melinda Clayton, and I would happily recommend them both.

Format: E-book, review copy
My Rating: 4*

Author Q&A with Melinda Clayton

Melinda is the author of Appalachian Justice, and its sequel Return to Crutcher Mountain, her second novel, which has just been released. Appalachian Justice has the rare destinction of being one of very few books to make me cry so Melinda joins an elite club on that count!

Melinda is a licensed psychotherapist and freelance writer living in central Florida. Her vast experience working in the field of mental health gives her a unique perspective on human behaviours and she likes to explore this dynamic in her writing.  She has published over twenty articles and short stories in various print and online magazines, and is currently in the dissertation phase of an Ed.D. in Special Education Administration. 

Appalachian Justice and Return to Crutcher Mountain are available in ebook and print from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and from the publisher at VanillaHeartBooksAndAuthors.com

When did you first think of becoming a writer and who or what got you interested in writing?

I was really young, around eight or nine, when I read Heidi, by Johanna Spyri. I absolutely loved that book. I’m not sure exactly what about it made me decide I wanted to write, but ever since then I’ve always had that goal. I started out a few years ago by writing mental health-type articles for print and online magazines. I went from that to short stories, and finally to novels.

How would you describe your books and style?

One reviewer likened my style to that of Jodi Picoult, which was very flattering. I think maybe that was because I like to cover psychological issues in my writing. I want my characters to face the same struggles many of us face, and I want them to be defined in shades of gray. Their choices don’t come easily.

When you write do you have a particular routine you follow, and what do you find the most difficult part of writing a book?

I always write best in the morning. If I miss that window, I’m sort of lost for the day. The most difficult part is getting stuck – what most people call writer’s block, I suppose. It tends to happen to me right before a crucial chapter. I’ll know exactly where I want to go, but won’t be sure how to get there. I usually have to mull it over for a few days before the path becomes clear.

Do you start a book knowing what the beginning, middle and end will be or does it take on a life of it's own as you write?

I do tend to know the beginning and the end, but don’t know the details. I’ll know the situations I want the protagonist to face and have a good idea of how it will end, but won’t know all the specifics of the journey. That comes to me as I write, and I sometimes have to go back and change things if the journey takes me somewhere I hadn’t expected.

Are you self-published or traditionally published, and what has been the best and worst thing about the route you have taken?

I’m published through an independent publisher, and it’s been a wonderful experience. When I first finished the manuscript for Appalachian Justice I spent nearly a year querying agents, getting nibbles, finding out the agent who was working with me was no longer there...it was very time consuming and very frustrating. Then I queried Vanilla Heart Publishing and I’ve been thrilled with the outcome.

If this isn't too much like asking a mum which of her children she likes best, which of your characters is your favourite?

Oh, that’s a hard one! In Appalachian Justice it has to be Billy May Platte. I think maybe she’s a once in a lifetime story. I’m not sure if that’s because that was my first book, or if it’s just that people, including me, can’t help but fall in love with Billy May.  

In Return to Crutcher Mountain I think it’s a tie. I identify with Jessie because we’re close to the same age. I understand the struggles she faces because I spent so many years working with survivors of abuse. But I love Robby, too. He’s a ten year old boy with Down Syndrome who sees the world as is, without the filter of political correctness.  

What do you like to read and do you have any other passions?

For contemporary fiction, I love Anita Shreve, Barbara Kingsolver, and Elizabeth Berg. For classic works, I’m a fan of John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway. But my guilty pleasure is true crime. I think I’ve read just about everything Ann Rule has ever written. I’m fascinated by the way the personality develops. What makes a person make such awful choices? I haven’t found any answers, but I do enjoy reading it.

Finally, what are you working on at the moment that you can tell us about?

Return to Crutcher Mountain has just come out as an ebook and is due out in print on the 22nd of June. I have a couple of ideas for my next book but may have to take a break for a few months to do my dissertation research. If I start writing, I’ll neglect my research!

A big thank you to Melinda for taking time out to answer my questions. If you want to know more you can find her at at authormelindaclayton.xanga.com, and she can be friended on Facebook at Author Melinda Clayton.

Book Review: Appalachian Justice by Melinda Clayton

Billy May Platt is the daughter of an Irish father and a Cherokee mother, and with that background living in a small town in West Virginia in the 1940s already presents difficulties. When she's 14 a group of boys launch a terrible attack on her, having witnessed a scene that drew her sexuality into question, and orphan Billy May retreats into the wilderness shunning her former friends. Thirty years later Billy May discovers the daughter of one of her attackers hiding out in the mountains where she has effectively done the same, and suspects he hasn't changed. She doesn't want to forgo her seclusion but feels for the girl. Events unravel bringing the story to a dramatic conclusion and affecting a number of the town's families.

This book skips between the 40's, 1975 and 2010, where Billy May who is now in her 80s is in hospital. She recounts her story and we gradually find out what actually happened to change many lives as a result of one incident. We also find out whether Billy May gets any justice for what has happened to her.

I'm not usually the sort of person who cries reading books (I think I can count the ones that have affected me in that way on one hand) but this one had me in tears. I was so moved by everything that had happened to Billy May, and the way in which the story reaches it peak in the 70s. To start with I wasn't sure about the author's use of lots of apostrophes to recreate the Billy May's manner of speech, but once I got into it I felt it actually helped me better imagine her and get closer to the character.

The story is very sad, one of prejudice, abuse and ignorance yet with all the threads tied up and knowing how everything turned out, seeing the good in people as well as the bad, it was strangely uplifting. In places Billy May is reading a book about a seagull and the excerpts reflect a story very similar to hers. I thought it was a very clever device to readdress the issues in a more simple way and emphasise them.

I love this book and really didn't want to put it down. In fact I'm kind of sad to have finished it. I think this will be a book that stays with me and one I'll probably re-read in the future. If it sounds even vaguely interesting to you get a copy!

Format: Kindle, review copy
My Rating: 5*