Walton’s Creek Land of Our Fathers
Retail Price: $29.95
Walton’s Creek: Land of Our Fathers is the fictional story of the Atlee and Caughill families as they live, love, and survive in the hills and hollers of Walton’s Creek, Kentucky.
The dialogue in this simple story is true to the dialect, vocabulary, and phrasings of the people of rural Western Kentucky in the early twentieth century. Volume One of a two-volume set, the narrative flows through time from the years 1913-1971.
Walton’s Creek native Rick Ashby based the characters on members of his own family, his parents and grandparents in particular, and reflects on what life was like in this humble but hard-working community. It is a land where families tilled the land and raised their own food, supplemented by meat from wild game … a place where men worked in the coal mines and women maintained the home with no indoor plumbing, all while trying to adapt to new technologies and changes to the American way of life.
Walton’s Creek: Land of Our Fathers is the perfect companion piece to Ashby’s first book, At the End of the Road: My Journey from Walton’s Creek, Kentucky—a look back at simpler times not unlike other communities in rural America.
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“Walton’s Creek: Land of Our Fathers (Volume 1),” by Rickie Zayne Ashby. Morley, MO: Acclaim Press, 2024. 272 pages. $29.95.
“The year was 1807 when wooden carts pulled by teams of oxen topped a small hill near the tiny stream called Walton’s Creek,” Rickie Zayne Ashby explains at the beginning of “Walton’s Creek: Land of Our Fathers (Volume 1),” his recently-released sophomore excursion into a past that many of us know all-too-well. “Jake Atlee and his large family surveyed a landscape of 1,000 acres in a small valley that had been purchased from surveyor Matthew Walton.”
“The pristine area was what Jake called their Promised Land,” Ashby continues. “It had been a long journey from Virginia, but the Atlees had finally found the land of their dreams and home for them and their descendants for over two centuries. Jake declared that the Walton’s Creek community is where God wanted them to always live. The book of Isaiah was prominent in the minds of the Atlee clan. The 1000-acre survey was indeed their land of milk and honey.”
So begins Ashby’s latest foray into what life was like in this corner of the world for a vast majority of country folk whose descendants still inhabit the ground they made their own only a couple of generations after the region was originally settled by pioneers who were surely but steadily moving civilization across the great expanse of the United States. And even though I was born and raised in Tennessee, the similarities to my own experience are eerily unmistakable. Yes, this is a “novel,” but it is so close to reality that it might as well have been a true story – and probably was for many families who lived through the harsh conditions Ashby describes.
Witness the following from “Working for Cyrus (1929-1931),” the fourth chapter and one of my personal favorites:
“All his life Mickey heard countless accounts of family hardships – none of these stories impressed him more than the vivid accounts of the Great Depression. Like most people, Mickey’s father’s family struggled; but the family farm was secure and provided shelter and sustenance, even if money was scarce for clothes and other necessities of life. The real struggle was in his mom’s family.”
“Jes Caughill was nearly 60 before he owned a modest home of his own. He worked in numerous coal mines while living in company housing, farmed, and worked in timber. Mickey’s maternal grandfather never failed to provide for his family, but the early years of the Depression were the most trying in his life. That was why, to Mickey, stories about the three years the Caughills lived in a borrowed house and worked for Cyrus Lentz were the most compelling and entertaining in the oral tradition of the family.”
I remember my grandparents – I had all four of them until I was in college – recalling on many occasions what life was like during that exceptionally challenging period in our collective history. Ashby captures both the reality as well as the ambiance of the era perfectly. I could almost hear my grandfather’s voice uttering a barely audible “Amen” at several points when I was reading the book.
Structurally, “Walton’s Creek” is comprised of three “books,” each adding a critical dimension to the story Ashby is telling. Book One, “A Wondrous Requiem,” consists exclusively of “Where the Creek still Flows,” an episode from 2008 which in many ways sets the stage for what follows. Book Two, “Sweat, Tears and Endearment,” is made up of five chapters and covers the years from 1913 to 1947. Finally, Book Three, “A Very Common Place,” also includes five chapters and takes the reader from 1952 to 1955. There is a subtle yet undeniable symmetry to the author’s prose – an equilibrium that reveals itself gradually the further the reader delves into this mesmerizing look at a time many of us relate to in such a visceral manner. I should add that the manuscript is beautifully illustrated by Eric Lindgren and Joe Vick in a style that reminds me of some of the Stephen Covey (“The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”) catalog.
One of the most endearing features of Ashby’s writing involves the explicitly authentic voice that permeates his narrative. I grew up surrounded by people who talked exactly the way they do in “Walton’s Creek,” and it brought back several warm memories from my childhood and adolescence. Check out the following from “Aunt Polly’s Iced Tea (1953),” one of the concluding chapters, for an illuminating glimpse of what I mean:
“Now, my young man, gonna go over to yere Uncle Al’s and Aunt Polly’s today. Gonna spend the whole day. I done give ye yere marchin’ orders, but I’m gonna do it ag’in. Better pay attention. Uncle Al and Aunt Polly ain’t used to no snotty nosed kids a runnin’ ‘round the house and ding dongin’ them ever 15 minutes for somethin’ to eat or drink. Stay outta the house ‘cept when I call ye for dinner. When we set down to dinner, don’t be askin’ for nothin’. I’ll fill yere plate, and don’t ye take a bite ‘til the grownups start to eat. Mind yere manners, and don’t ask for seconds, or I’ll wear ye out when we get home.”
It could almost hear my beloved Granny giving me similar advice – on more than one occasion – when I used to visit her family and friends back in the early 1960s.
Full disclosure: I have known Ashby for over 25 years. He had a long and distinguished career at Western Kentucky University before eventually retiring to pursue his passions of gardening and reading. When he mentioned this project at one of our breakfast meetings at Lisa’s Fifth Street Diner here in Bowling Green, I was instantly intrigued by the concept he described. I have always been fascinated by the similarities in our childhoods and upbringing. As such, the subject matter he knows so well is instinctively familiar and appealing to me on many levels. Moreover, I loved his first book, “At the End of the Road: My Journey from Walton’s Creek, Kentucky,” which he published in 2017 and I reviewed in the Daily News on February 4, 2018. His latest offering is an extension of that first effort – but it is also apparent that he is continuing to improve as an author. I am really looking forward to “Volume 2,” which I plan to review in the Daily News when it is published.
If you are a fan of historical fiction (and even if you’re not), my sense is that most readers – especially those who have roots in this part of the country – will find “Walton’s Creek: Land of Our Fathers (Volume 1)” irresistible. Honestly, I stayed up way too late on a couple of nights completely enthralled by this heart-wrenching tale of perseverance and the unparalleled power and importance of family in life’s journey. Highly recommended.
-Reviewed by Aaron W. Hughey, University Distinguished Professor, Department of Counseling and Student Affairs, WKU.Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Old KY Living
Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2024
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A masterfully engaging novel exemplifying the reality and struggles of an extended rural Kentucky family and changes in their lives and lifestyle during depression era times and the years to follow. It makes the reader simultaneously wish for simpler times and thankful for the conveniences of modern life. This book gets my highest recommendation.
-Brant BReviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Very entertaining read
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2024
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Interesting read of the life of folks growing up in rural Kentucky. Families working together to survive. Loved the way they talked
-Robot34Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Hard work in simpler times
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2024
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In this book, Rickie Ashby does for Depression era, rural Kentucky what other notable Southern authors have done for their families and communities. The solution to hard times is a united, loving family willing to work together to survive against all odds. Enjoyable read and journey
-Michael E JohnsonReviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful! As smooth as aged Kentucky bourbon.
Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2024
Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars A Glimpse Into Yesteryear.
Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2024
An excellent read for those of us who love to travel the “Nostalgia Road” and wonder how our elders made it “way back then”. Rickie Zayne Ashby gave his readers a bird’s eye view, in great detail of what bus and train trips were like back in 50’s. They probably took a brief break from the story to quench their parched throats with a cool drink of water or tea, after reading about Aunt Polly’s Iced tea. How young Mickey had to adhere to his strict parents expectations or how they struggled to survive and even prosper with such minimal resources will show the reader that hard work and determination really does pay. This heart warming story told here in volume one will surely leave you wanting for what happens in volume two.
-Noel BartonReviews
“WALTON’S CREEK, LAND OF OUR FATHERS” BY RICKIE ZAYNE ASHBY
Walton’s Creek, Land of Our Fathers (Acclaim Press 2024), Rickie Zayne Ashby’s debut novel, is a book you should judge by its cover. Not only is the artwork evocative of the story inside, but also the cover itself under the dust jacket, is a thing of beauty. This book is available in hardcover only, so you tablet readers will miss out altogether. I must mention that the pages inside are of a quality that feels good when you turn them and the nice size type face in soft black ink is a perfect contrast to the bright white paper, making the book very easy and enjoyable to read. (This is an odd way to start a book review, I realize. But how many of you, like me, who read paper books, have gone into a bookstore or library and picked up a book, opened it somewhere and read a sentence and then put it down because it simply wasn’t going to visually be easy to read?)
Unlike his first book, My Journey from Walton’s Creek, Kentucky, which was a collection of essays about his life, this book is a fictionalized story of two families and the people with whom they associate, in rural Western Kentucky between the years of 1913 – 1955.
The ambiance of this story begins the moment you open the first page. The story is narrated by Mickey Atlee, who may bear a strong resemblance to the author, and begins in 2008 when Mickey has come back to Walton’s Creek Cemetery on Memorial Day, to decorate the graves and remember his family who are buried there. As Mickey drives around his old community and starts his journey back home, he is flooded with memories.
I have never met Mr. Ashby, had never heard of him at all until I read this book, but his story is stunning in its simplicity. I felt as if he and I were on a long back road trip in his truck and he was just telling me about what his growing up life was like. I imagined that I would go into the convenience store with him and order a sandwich and bag of chips and we would sit and eat companionably while he rambled through recollections and recipes and such. I would get to know who was who and what their voices sounded like, and then I would recognize the similarities in some of my own family. I think of my grandparents who lived through the Great Depression and those same times, and the privations they suffered. I recognize that certain things were done in certain ways because that was the best they could do with what they had; they never forgot, and never got completely comfortable again.
In his author’s note, Mr. Ashby informs the reader, “The dialogue in this simple story of the Atlees and Caughills is as close to authentic as I knew how to write it. By using genuine dialect, I hope to present the reader with fully faceted characters molded by the richness and complexity that common speech provides.”
The dialect sprinkled throughout the story, does indeed lend a deeper richness and insight into the characters:
“Come on in if ye can get in. Anna, what did you all bring over here? I tol’ Al not to let ye do that. Got stuff a runnin’ out my ears now.”
“Polly, ye orta know better than to tell this woman a thing like that. Ain’t goin’ empty handed. Went to a restaurant one time and she brung her own tomatoes.”
“I did no sech thing. I jest had one in my purse in case they didn’t have none fer our hamburgers.”
“I rest my case. Well, I’m gonna let the womanfolks run this part of the shindig. Al and me gonna jaw a spell.”
As was common during those times, especially there and in other similar parts of the country, making do was the way of life. Those people worked hard in the coal mines, on the farm, raising tobacco, doing whatever they could to feed their families and keep a roof over their heads. Things we don’t even think about now, like indoor plumbing and refrigeration, were distant dreams.
“I’m not a store bought lawyer like you. No sir, I can’t claim to be a Philadelphia lawyer.
I was on my own when I was ten years old. I slept in a man’s barn and did chores for one meal a day. I grew up the hard way and read law to become a lawyer.”
“Jim, Jim, Jim, I grew up poor, too. If you weren’t so durn ornery, you might have more law business. I bet you have a gun and a bottle of whiskey in your pocket right now.”
“Now Bill, I haven’t left home in forty years without a gun and a bottle of good whiskey.
I’m going to be buried with the bottle but not the gun. A man told me one time you can’t shoot your way into heaven, but I bet old St. Peter can be had with a good bottle of Kentucky Tavern.”
Entering into the world of Mr. Ashby’s memories is like accepting an invitation to dance the waltz. He engenders a great deal of empathy for his characters, not only with dialect and dialogue, but also with their humanity. Albeit, they are mostly families who have their differences from time to time, but they look after each other and understand and embrace the concept of community. The special talents that many of them have, are born of necessity, education, or interest.
Of his grandfather, Mickey tells us, “Marv was merely a horse doctor, a self-educated man with little knowledge or training. He ordered vet books from a mail order company and applied the contents of the books, living and farming in Western Kentucky to become an animal doctor.”
Marv was rarely paid for his services in anything other than what the recipient had in their store rooms.
One night, Marv spent the night at Charlie and Sally’s house because when he had finished doctoring their milk cow in the evening, a storm was about to set in. Marv remembered that he had promised to teach the family’s little boys to read and in his renewed determination to do so, he gave the boys something to study on before he left in the morning.
“Marv took a piece of paper from his saddle bags and methodically sharpened a pencil with his pocketknife.
‘Do you know the Lord’s Prayer? Well, I will read it to you someday, but right now I want you to watch closely. I have drawn a circle around this dime on this piece of white paper.
I’m going to start writing inside that circle starting at the outer edge and I’m going to write in a spiral fashion, and the last letter of the last word will be right smackie dab in the middle.’”
For those of a certain age, we will see our family history replayed to some extent in the memories. But if you’re of the age where none of this is recognizable to you, consider it history, not fiction; our history, your family history, because this story is universal to almost any family who lived in this country during those times.
Rickie Zayne Ashby is retired and lives near Bowling Green, Kentucky, where much of his time is spent gardening and reading.
-SOUTHERN LITERARY REVIEW A Magazine for Literature of the American SouthIllustrator
Book Details
Author: Rickie Zayne AshbyProduct Dimensions: 6" x 9"
ISBN: 978-1-956027-71-6
Cover Type: Hardcover
Case Quantity:
Book Tours
Ben Ashby's Walton's Creek Barn Sale and Southern SupperRickie Ashby will be signing his newest book Walton’s Creek Land of Our Fathers at Ben Ashby’s Walton’s Creek Barn Sale and Southern Supper located at 321 Chandle Loop, Centertown, KY