The Creek, the Crone, and the Crow
I read mostly horror, so, as much as I enjoy a lot of what I read, I rarely find myself wishing I were part of the world of the book. But in The Creek, the Crone, and the Crow, Leah Weiss has created not only a world I would be happy to inhabit, she has created characters I would like to know and a mystery I would like to investigate.
Set in the very small town of Baines Creek in the heart of the North Carolina Appalachians, The Creek, the Crone, and the Crow reintroduces some characters from Weiss' previous books but can easily be read as a standalone. (Review spoiler: This is the first one I've read, but I enjoyed it so much, the previous works are going on my TBR.)
It's 1980, and skeptic schoolteacher Kate Shaw has been left a big collection of books and journals from Baines Creek's granny witch and healer, Birdie. The narrative is split between Kate and Lydia Brown, a psychic (whose ability has been dormant since she was a teenager) and book restoration specialist originally from Eastern North Carolina who now lives about an hour from Baines Creek. The two of them will work together to catalogue the books, and, most importantly, to solve the mystery of how a 500-year-old illuminated manuscript on Apothecary - an incredibly rare topic for manuscripts - came to be part of the collection.
The Creek, the Crone, and the Crow isn't a book to be raced through, though I did not want to put it down. The beauty of this book is in its slow pace, get to know the people in the town and in their lives, learn the folklore, and enjoy the story as Kate and Lydia share their inner thoughts and who they are.
I recommend this book to anyone who would enjoy a visit to a small Appalachian mountain town and hear about the folklore and community before vicariously diving into a witch's collected tomes and journals.
The audiobook version was beautifully narrated by Kate Forbes. She perfectly embodied both Kate and Lydia, making it easy to keep track of which narrative we were in.
Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark, and RBmedia for the advance copies for my unbiased review.
