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Betty: A Novel by Tiffany McDaniel (review)

Betty: A Novel by Tiffany McDaniel (review) BOOK REVIEWS Tiffany McDaniel. Betty: A Novel. New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, 2020. 480 pages. Hardcover. $26.95. Reviewed by Hannah D. Markley “This book is part dance, part song, and part shine of the moon,” McDaniel writes on the dedication page to her mother, Betty, namesake and inspiration for a novel whose narrative dances with multiple histories—familial, cultural, and regional, sings with lyrical prose, and moves through the woods of a young woman’s life, partially illuminating the traumas and their impact therein. Betty spins out from the Carpenter family’s origin—her parents coupling in a cemetery in Appalachian Ohio. Betty Carpenter is a middle child of eight children, and after a quick marriage, the family wanders around the country for several years before heading back home to Breathed, Ohio. McDaniel writes, “In her most wholesome form, Breathed was a wife and mother who made sure to hang her flag banners on her porch rails every Fourth of July. At her darkest, she was the place you could bleed to 115 death without a single open wound." This dance between caretaker and wound plays out not only in Breathed, but also in the family drama. The hills, creeks, flora, and http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Appalachian Review University of North Carolina Press

Betty: A Novel by Tiffany McDaniel (review)

Markley, Hannah D.
Appalachian Review , Volume 50 (1) – Apr 1, 2022
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Publisher
University of North Carolina Press
Copyright
Copyright © Berea College
ISSN
2692-9244
eISSN
2692-9287

Abstract

BOOK REVIEWS Tiffany McDaniel. Betty: A Novel. New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, 2020. 480 pages. Hardcover. $26.95. Reviewed by Hannah D. Markley “This book is part dance, part song, and part shine of the moon,” McDaniel writes on the dedication page to her mother, Betty, namesake and inspiration for a novel whose narrative dances with multiple histories—familial, cultural, and regional, sings with lyrical prose, and moves through the woods of a young woman’s life, partially illuminating the traumas and their impact therein. Betty spins out from the Carpenter family’s origin—her parents coupling in a cemetery in Appalachian Ohio. Betty Carpenter is a middle child of eight children, and after a quick marriage, the family wanders around the country for several years before heading back home to Breathed, Ohio. McDaniel writes, “In her most wholesome form, Breathed was a wife and mother who made sure to hang her flag banners on her porch rails every Fourth of July. At her darkest, she was the place you could bleed to 115 death without a single open wound." This dance between caretaker and wound plays out not only in Breathed, but also in the family drama. The hills, creeks, flora, and

Journal

Appalachian Review – University of North Carolina Press

Published: Apr 1, 2022

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