Deepwater Mountain is a saga about Willa May Kincaid and her husband, Daniel Shrewsbury. It begins at the outbreak of the Civil War shortly before Daniel is drafted and serves as a scout for General Sherman. When he returns home, he and Willa May get married and settle on a farm on Deepwater Mountain. There, they raise a large family, facing challenges of nature, the KKK, the rise of timber and coal industries which threaten to destroy the natural beauty of the area, the mine wars, two world wars, and the Great Depression. Together, they watch their children grow up, marry, and have grandchildren. When Daniel dies, Willa May is devastated, but she continues on, moving to Glen Ferris on the banks of the Kanawha River. She lives to see West Virginia celebrate its centennial. Over a hundred years old and the oldest living resident of the state, Willa May tells her life story to a reporter from the Charleston Gazette on the day when President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas.
REVIEWS
THE BEST! –This is far and away the best book I have ever read. It was a real page turner. A friend suggested I read it, and I suggested my mother and my daughter both read it as well. My mother said she actually cried while reading it (something she has never done over a book). My daughter laughed and said Willa Mae was “the Forrest Gump of West Virginia”. It was a rich documentation of WV history, and included several events that I did not know. I am a WV native from near Hawk’s Nest State Park, and was fascinated with its pre-history. What a wonderful book! –Laura McCall
EXCELLENT! A DEFINITE PAGE TURNER! — With what seems like a cast of thousands, a sweeping mountain panorama for a setting, and a journey across one hundred years of West Virginia, and subsequently American, history, Deepwater Mountain is a rich, complex, and compelling read. This finely crafted first novel follows the life of Willa May Kincaid Shrewsbury, the daughter of West Virginia mountain folk, from the time she is eight through her long life of tragedy and triumph. It is a moving story of the strength and comfort that can only be found in family, and the grit and compassion that helped to build this country. Willa May marries her `soulmate’, one Daniel Shrewsbury, a wise and heroic mountain man and Civil War veteran, who is at once tough and tender, and immediately likeable. Rebecca Camhi brings her characters to life through her expert use of details culled from what must have been years of painstaking research. She shows us West Virginia’s past through intricate anecdotes, fresh, snappy dialogue, and a genuine, heartfelt understanding of human nature. She lets her reader laugh with Willa May at wedding receptions in the rolling green hills a cry with her through the devastating loss of a child. Through her eyes we watch the Civil War unfold, the Twentieth Century ushered in, the horror of World Wars I and II. We witness the terrifying early days of the Ku Klux Klan, and get a first hand, inside look at the tyranny of the coal mine owners and the birth of the United Mine Workers. Camhi weaves her characters’ lives through actual events in history, such as the infamous strikes at Matewan and the torpedoing of PT-109. As interesting as the history may be, this novel’s strongest points are its characters. Despite the multitude of two-named folks running around, and the epic passage of time that takes place here, the reader gets to know these people as family. Their deep-rooted, basic family values remind us of what’s always been truly important – the inseparable bonds between people and their parents and siblings. “Blood is the only thing that matters,” we are told more than once. I’m looking forward to this talented author’s next work. She has a bright, homespun style of storytelling that kept me turning pages. And with each new chapter, she never failed to surprise and entertain me –Adam Bader
GREAT READ! — This book is so good. First read it when I lived in NC and was so homesick for WV! I never read a book more than once and have read this one 3 times now. It was passed around my family so many times that it was starting to fall apart so we bought another copy. Everyone that has read it, have loved it. It is fiction but based on WV history and the writing draws you in and makes this family feel so real. Such a great book! ☆☆☆☆☆ –RALPH
DEEPWATER MOUNTAIN — What a wonderful story. Only a poet with a heart as big as our mountains, the keen insight of a storyteller and a love of family that is burned into her soul could do justice to this story in the manner of Rebecca Cale Camhi.
This book grabbed me on the first page and never turned me loose, I don’t think I have ever gone through so many emotions while reading a book as I did with this one. The Characters were so real I had to keep reminding myself that it was a story. I kept hearing echoes of my Father, my Mother, my Grandma, my Grandpa, my Uncles and my Kin.
There is a unique mystique about being a West Virginian that few who have not been born and raised here understand. It is so hard to describe or explain, because it is spiritual. Rebecca has captured it and woven it throughout her book. It starts where her story starts and ends, well it don’t end, it is still here in these hills and in our hearts.
If you have not read this book you are robbing yourself of one of life’s good experiences.
I sure hope there is more where this came from. –Dallas R. Criner
A MUST READ! — As I turned the first page of “Deepwater Mountain”, I was completely taken aback as the novel instantly involved and engrossed me. As I met Willa May and her family for the first time, I found myself caring deeply about each family member. As Willa May experienced joys and sorrows, the tears would stream freely down my cheeks (An experience that has not happened to me since “The Bridges of Madison County”). This was quite honestly, a book I could not put down. My only regret upon reaching the last page was that the story did not continue and I sincerely hope author Rebecca Camhi will consider writing a sequel. This novel, focusing on the strong Willa May will capture any woman’s heart. It should be seriously considered as a selection for Oprah’s Book Club. –Amazon Customer
WHERE DEEPWATER MOUNTAIN IS AVAILABLE — Amazon Books, Goodreads, AbeBooks, eBay, Gibbs Books, ThriftBooks, BookScouter
Rebecca Cale Camhi, Writer 