Daughters of Green Mountain Gap by Teri M. Brown

Publication Jan. 23, 2024-Atmosphere Press-Historical Fiction-315pp

Book Summary

An Appalachian granny woman. A daughter on a crusade. A granddaughter caught between the two.

Maggie McCoury, a generational healer woman, relies on family traditions, folklore, and beliefs gleaned from a local Cherokee tribe. Her daughter, Carrie Ann, believes her university training holds the answers. As they clash over the use of roots, herbs, and a dash of mountain magic versus the medicine available in the town’s apothecary, Josie Mae doesn’t know whom to follow. But what happens when neither family traditions nor science can save the ones you love most?

Daughters of Green Mountain Gap weaves a compelling tale of Maggie, Carrie Ann, and Josie Mae, three generations of remarkable North Carolina women living at the turn of the twentieth century, shedding light on racism, fear of change, loss of traditions, and the intricate dynamics within a family. Author Teri M. Brown skillfully navigates the complexities of their lives, revealing that some questions are not as easy to answer as one might think.

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

A mother-daughter “tug of war” with a triumphant winner! Through the emotions and guilt laden struggles of single parenting, nurse Carrie Ann butts heads with her mother Maggie, a granny woman or healer, as they navigate the hills and hollers of North Carolina in the 1890’s. Maggie’s skills are backed by the folklore of previous generations and years of learning from the local Cherokee medicine man. Carrie Ann believes her higher-level education and medical training far outweigh the herb medicines from plants and roots, along with chanting of songs her mother uses. Deftly woven into the plot is the bigotry of Carrie Anne and her neighbors against the Cherokee, their traditions, and the trust Maggie has placed in their methods.  Author Teri M. Brown captures the innermost feelings of guilt and self-doubt when disease spreads and deaths result as mother and daughter each defend their own approaches to healing. In the middle of this battle is Carrie Anne’s own daughter, Josie Mae, who was raised by Maggie, and has developed an interest in becoming a healer like her grandmother.   

The chapters presented from each of the three women’s point of view journal the diseases, pregnancies, and even the seasons on Green Mountain from 1893-1926. Brown does an excellent job persuading readers with convincing situations and outcomes, that each approach-modern medicine or the granny woman- is the right one. When certain death is on the horizon Brown triumphantly illuminates the magical ingredient needed in the gift of healing. Along with it, readers will also find forgiveness and understanding steeped into the healing broth of Daughters of Green Mountain Gap.