A Woman in Time, Bobi Conn
A Woman in Time, Bobi Conn
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A Woman in Time
A Novel

Author: Bobi Conn

Narrator: Shannon McManus

Unabridged: 11 hr 8 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/30/2022


Synopsis

A woman challenges the constraints of life in Prohibition-era Appalachia in this sweeping and richly rewarding novel about endurance, survival, and redemption.The McKenzie women, empowered with a formidable history rooted in the foothills of Appalachia, have passed down their folk-healing wisdom through generations. Rosalee, the last living headstrong daughter in Granny McKenzie’s line, soaked up everything she could about the secrets of the forest before a series of tragedies left her alone, without the protection of the women who came before her.The close-knit ties of Rosalee’s childhood are long gone. Now, at her eastern Kentucky farm, she bears a marriage with a volatile bootlegger. She struggles with the demands of motherhood. And her independence is relegated to its “proper place”: under the thumb of men. Her optimism dimming, Rosalee finds solace in the Kentucky woods, a space that holds secret powers of protection from a life Rosalee can no longer control. To the graves of her female ancestors, beside the waters of an enchanting spring, Rosalee returns time and again to consider her future—and discovers a mysterious connection to her past.As Rosalee wrestles with her isolation, with being a wife in an increasingly dangerous marriage, and with being a woman of her time, she must draw on her strength and resilience to survive—and to protect—on her own terms.

About Bobi Conn

Bobi Conn is the author of the memoir In the Shadow of the Valley. Born in Morehead, Kentucky, and raised in a nearby holler, Bobi developed a deep connection with the land and her Appalachian roots. She obtained her bachelor’s degree at Berea College, the first school in the American South to integrate racially and to teach men and women in the same classrooms. She attended graduate school, where she earned a master’s degree in English with an emphasis in creative writing. In addition to writing, Bobi loves playing pool, telling jokes, cooking, being in the woods, attempting to grow a garden, and spending time with her incredible children.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Kylee

A Woman in Time is a portrait of Kentucky Appalachian life starting in 1899 and running through the 1930s. The rural atmosphere, history, and vibrant descriptions of mountain life are wonderfully written. I am thankful that the dialogue isn't overexaggerated with slang or accent, which authors tend......more

I have started to develop a real soft spot for Kentucky fiction and memoirs- there is something about Appalachia that feels comforting and resilient, as if these authors have finally decided to let their stories be heard instead of letting the "hillbilly" reputation speak for them. A Woman in Time i......more

Goodreads review by Zoe

Atmospheric, sensitive, and sobering! A Woman in Time is a moving, multi-generational story that transports you to rural Kentucky between 1899 and 1939 and into the lives of the McKenzie family, especially the women, and all the secrets, smiles, tears, misery, abuse, compassion, strength, powerful em......more


Quotes

“Original, compelling, deftly crafted, and superbly narrated from beginning to end… by Shannon McManus…highly recommended.” Midwest Book Review

A Woman in Time by Bobi Conn is a rich novel that transports readers into the mountains of Prohibition-era Appalachia and into the lives of an incredible family of female healers. An unflinching look at the struggles and suffering that came with being a woman in early twentieth-century Kentucky, A Woman in Time is a truly unique journey into a time and place that are too often overlooked in American history. Bobi Conn proves herself to be a powerful voice for Appalachia.” —Stephanie Storey, bestselling author of Oil and Marble: A Novel of Leonardo and Michelangelo

“The grace and lyricism of Conn’s prose stuns and sustains the reader through this lush tale of women’s strength, creativity, and will to love in Depression-era Eastern Kentucky. Conn’s poise and confidence as a storyteller hold the reader in a loving embrace through many a well-wrought and gut-wrenching episode, then brings us out the other side more awake to the preciousness of life and what it means to be accountable to one another across a span of generations. Bobi Conn’s A Woman in Time is an inspiration.” —Robert Gipe, author of Pop: An Illustrated Novel