Book Review of A Woman in Time by Bobi Conn

UPDATED: 2/5/2023

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334 pages, published August 30, 2022 (I received an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)

YOU MAY ENJOY THIS BOOK IF YOU LIKE:

Literary Fiction * Books set in Kentucky * Appalachian Historical Fiction

TRAVEL INSPIRATION:

This novel is set in Appalachian Kentucky.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: bobi conn

A Woman in Time is Bobi Conn's first novel and second published work. Her first was a memoir entitled In the Shadow of the Valley (2020). Both works explore life in rural Appalachia.

Conn was born in Kentucky and was raised there in the 1980s. In her memoir, she explored her challenging and unique upbringing, including life with an abusive father. She left home to attend Berea College, in Berea, Kentucky, and earned a master's degree in English with an emphasis on creative writing.

REVIEW OF A Woman in time BY bobi conn

A Woman in Time is set in rural Appalachian Kentucky between 1899 and 1939, amidst the backdrop of the Prohibition Era and reminiscent of Lee Smith's Fair and Tender Ladies , set in Virginia's Appalachian region.

The novel explores the multi-generational inheritence that women receive from their foremothers, the line of knowledge passed from one generation to the next, in a place where survival was dubious at best and quality of life and love was best measured with a low bar.

The start of the novel was a bit jarring as a quick run through the family tree, which read like a destination in search of a story, to arrive at the main character, Rosalee, but that is really my only criticism of this novel.

A Woman in Time explores the daily life of Rosalee and her extended family in early twentieth century rural Kentucky. Pregnancy and childbirth provide what appears to be an outsized role, while likely also serving as a realistic reflection of the impact this had on the life of women, both in terms to their own health and well-being and also the way in which it limited their lives and tied them to men who are generally abusive in one way or another.

Rosalee and the other women in the novel have limited agency and certainly none after they marry. The forest seems to be the only place where Rosalee and her mysterious forest-dwelling friend, Anna, can escape the yoke, which is perhaps why all the deceased women of the family are buried in the woods, in a place that seems to appear with each death before being subsumed into a fairy land that is remiscent of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

The impact of drink and illegal alcohol production is part of the Prohibition story, though mostly behind the curtain in the world of the men. While there has always been a divide in the experiences of city-dwellers and those in rural areas of the United States, arguably these differences peaked in this time period. Rosalee's husband, Samuel, spends significant time away from home on moonshine business and returns from the city with fancy dolls and dresses as gifts for his wife. These gifts are both wholly apropo and ironic given the Rosalee was only a child when she was forced to marry him and that she would never have an instance to wear a fancy dress. Samuel returned home with great expectations of the types of meals Rosalee should cook from her homegrown garden based on the extravagant city restaurant meals.

Conn is an expert storyteller with beautiful, moving prose, even - perhaps especially - when her characters explore the ugliest sides of humanity. She tackles tough topics with sensitivity and perspective and brings the wilds of Kentucky from a century ago into light.

While not overtly stated, A Woman in Time cannot explore the inherited wisdom passed from one woman to the next in the McKenzie line without subtle hints at the inter-generational trauma that must also be passed along.

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