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Authentic Appalachian Voices Tell the Tale in 'If the Creek Don't Rise'

Leah Weiss's debut novel If the Creek Don't Rise features an unusual storytelling structure: each chapter is told from one character's point of view, so the story is revealed through ten different voices. Set in 1970s Appalachia, it's about Sadie Blue, a pregnant teenager who must free herself from an abusive marriage, and about others in town--especially women--who help her. 

Reviewing the novel, NPR says it "paints a fascinating, gripping portrait of the interconnected and often unseen ways people help each other get by in this remote Appalachian town."

At Starline Books in Chattanooga, I spoke with both Leah Weiss and the Chattanooga native who narrated the audiobook--actress/narrator Kate Forbes.

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