What We're Reading: Edward

Requiem by Fire: a novel


by Wayne Caldwell


If you have been to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, you will have some idea of the beauty of the Cataloochee Valley. The Cataloochee and Little Cataloochee valleys are the setting for Caldwell's books: Cataloochee and Requiem by Fire.The first book contains the story, not a history, of the settlement of the valleys after the Civil War to the beginnings of the national park. The second book continues the story of those trying to live with both their history and the new rules of the national park. Be sure to read them in order. The evocation of place is wonderful. Caldwell tells us not only what people did but why they chose to do it. These two books will make you feel every emotion. Great for the armchair traveller.