Nestled in the Appalachian mountains, Owsley County, Kentuky, is one of the poorest places in the country. Buildings are crumbling as tobacco farming and coal mining decline. But strong women find creative ways to subsist in the hills. Through the women who raised her, Cassie Chambers traces her path out of and back into the Kentucky mountains. Chambers's Granny was a child bride who rose before dawn every morning to raise seven children. Cassie would spend much of her childhood with Granny and Granny's daughter Ruth in the hills of Owsley County. With her "hill women" values guiding her, she went on to graduate from Harvard Law. But while the Ivy League gave her opportunities, its privileged world felt far from her reality, and she moved home to help rural Kentucky women by providing free legal services. Chambers breaks down the myth of the hillbilly and illuminates a region whose poor communities, especially women, can lead it into the future. - from Publisher.
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