John Fox, Jr. (1862–1919)

Review from Amazon:

"The story itself I find one of the great American coming of age novels. My father introduced it to me when I was in high school (1946-1950) and I recently reread it. It can draw tears, Set in the years leading to and of the Civil War, it's about Chad Buford, a wronged and orphaned Kentucky mountain boy, who escapes with his dog and trusty rifle to a hill country village named Kingdom Come, where he is taken in by a local family. The school teacher inspires him to learn. Lost on a school trip, he is found in Lexington by Major Buford, who in time finds Chad is his nephew. As Chad grows up, he is torn by love, and more, by the division of Kentucky by the Civil War. He chooses the Union and is drained by combat. At war's end he decides to go west alone. His surviving love says she will follow. The language can be old fashioned, and in places like that in Huckleberry Finn, but always understanding."… (més)

I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of the lives of the people of the Kentucky mountains and the way that their lives changed as 'furriners' bring their own notions of law and order and civilisation into the area in the hunt for coal and iron ore. The book was a top seller in 1908 and 1909 and it's easy to see why: Fox's writing is descriptive without being verbose and his tale of warring clans in the mountains is easy to believe. I was a little disappointed with the way Dave's part of the story turned out (I felt Fox had run out of energy at that point), but otherwise thought it was a good read.… (més)