The Regional Readers book group meets Tuesday, November 30 in the JSF Conference Room. Coffee and conversation at 2:00 pm; book discussion at 2:30 pm. This is the last meeting of the year; we will take a break and resume meeting in March 2022. The book group is open to all and new members are always welcome.
The November selection is Dark Hills to Westward: The Saga of Jenny Wiley by Harry M. Caudill. Thomas and Jenny Wiley had pioneered land on Walker’s Creek in Bland County, Virginia. On October 1, 1789, while Thomas was away, a small band of Indians, seeking revenge for a recent defeat at the hands of white settlers, attacked the Wiley cabin and killed and scalped Jenny’s three older children and her brother. Jenny, seven months pregnant, was taken captive along with her baby son, Adam. Then began a nightmare flight through the wilderness into the dark Kentucky hills to westward. Jenny’s only hope for survival was to keep pace with her captors. Evading rescue parties, the Indians moved northwest into the Big Sandy Valley of Kentucky. Unable to cross the flood-swollen Ohio River, they retreated to a series of winter camps in present-day Carter, Lawrence, and Johnson counties. Jenny spent the winter laboring as a slave. After almost a year in captivity, Jenny escaped, miraculously evading pursuit as she made her way to a small settlement at Harman’s Station on John’s Creek. Readers will thrill to the story of her escape and return to her husband. Immediately upon its first publication in 1969, The Saga of Jenny Wiley was hailed as a significant contribution to the body of literature and lore that surrounds this frontier heroine.
The Regional Readers book group meets Tuesday, November 30 in the JSF Conference Room. Coffee and conversation at 2:00 pm; book discussion at 2:30 pm. This is the last meeting of the year; we will take a break and resume meeting in March 2022. The book group is open to all and new members are always welcome.
The November selection is Dark Hills to Westward: The Saga of Jenny Wiley by Harry M. Caudill. Thomas and Jenny Wiley had pioneered land on Walker’s Creek in Bland County, Virginia. On October 1, 1789, while Thomas was away, a small band of Indians, seeking revenge for a recent defeat at the hands of white settlers, attacked the Wiley cabin and killed and scalped Jenny’s three older children and her brother. Jenny, seven months pregnant, was taken captive along with her baby son, Adam. Then began a nightmare flight through the wilderness into the dark Kentucky hills to westward. Jenny’s only hope for survival was to keep pace with her captors. Evading rescue parties, the Indians moved northwest into the Big Sandy Valley of Kentucky. Unable to cross the flood-swollen Ohio River, they retreated to a series of winter camps in present-day Carter, Lawrence, and Johnson counties. Jenny spent the winter laboring as a slave. After almost a year in captivity, Jenny escaped, miraculously evading pursuit as she made her way to a small settlement at Harman’s Station on John’s Creek. Readers will thrill to the story of her escape and return to her husband. Immediately upon its first publication in 1969, The Saga of Jenny Wiley was hailed as a significant contribution to the body of literature and lore that surrounds this frontier heroine.
