Category Archives: Yancey

Yancey

by | February 4, 2011 · 5:04 pm

Vicki Lane. The Day of Small Things. New York: Dell Books, 2010.

In the remote mountains of Dark Holler, North Carolina in 1922, a girl is born to a bitter mother who vows to keep her last child all to herself. Least, as the girl is called, grows up with very little affection from her mother and few interactions with others. Neighbors are told that she is a simple child, and she learns neither to read nor to write.

When Granny Beck, her maternal grandmother, comes to live with Least and her mother, light is cast upon Dark Holler. Granny Beck secretly teaches her skills to the girl and captivates her with old mountain stories and Cherokee legends. Granny Beck tells Least that she has magical “Gifts and Powers” to save herself and to protect others. As Least matures, she feels a kinship to the Little People (Yunwi Tsunsdi). However, some people are suspicious of her Gifts and Powers; they see them as contrary to Christianity. Luther Gentry, Least’s sweetheart, is one of those doubters. When the two marry, Least promises to part with her old life, which includes her magic as well as her cheerless name. She becomes Birdie Gentry and, for once, lives in a home of unconditional love.

When she is an elderly woman of eighty-five, she is faced with a difficult choice. A relative is in trouble, and her Gifts and Powers are needed – fast. Miss Birdie must weigh the promise she made to her husband and to herself so many years ago against the safety of a young boy.

Interspersed throughout the novel are images of artifacts from Birdie’s life, including hymns and advertisements.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2010, 2010-2019, Lane, Vicki, Madison, Mountains, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Yancey

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by | January 25, 2010 · 8:48 am

Fern Michaels. Vanishing Act. New York: Kensington Publishing Corp., 2009.

The women of the Sisterhood hate to see innocent individuals suffer. When Harry Wong, boyfriend of Sisterhood member Yoko Akia, discovers that his entire life savings has vanished due to identity theft, the women are upset.  Their concern turns to anger when they learn that the criminals behind Harry’s misfortune are the ringleaders of an enormous enterprise that involves stealing the identity of foster children. The Sisters go undercover in Washington, D.C. to catch the thieves. Those thieves will pay for taking the savings of their friend and countless others, and for putting those innocents in the financial hell of a compromised identity, false credit cards, and low credit scores.

This is the fifteenth novel in Fern Michaels’ Sisterhood Series, but not all of the novels in the series are set in North Carolina.

Check out this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Michaels, Fern, Mountains, Novels in Series, Suspense/Thriller, Yancey

by | January 22, 2010 · 11:14 am

Fern Michaels. Razor Sharp. New York: Kensington Publishing Corp., 2009.

The United States of America finally has a female president, and members of the Sisterhood could not be happier.  The group, which seeks justice for mistreated women at any cost, is thrilled that their friend, Martine Conner, is the new commander-in-chief.  However, when Martine asks the Sisters not to prosecute members of her cabinet and other influential Washington politicians who are involved in an illicit prostitution ring, the women question her judgment.  Although they do not want the first female president’s term to be overshadowed by a sex scandal, the Sisters also do not want the “johns” to get off scot-free while “the girls” are charged with crimes.  As the women search for more clues, they discover that the vice president is behind the entire scandal; it is part of his plan to succeed the shamed Martine.  The Sisterhood must return to Washington, D.C., from Big Pine Mountain in Yancey County to put the disgraced politicians where their careers are headed: in the Dumpster.

This is the fourteenth novel in Fern Michaels’ Sisterhood Series, but not all of the novels in the series are set in North Carolina.

Check out this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Michaels, Fern, Mountains, Novels in Series, Suspense/Thriller, Yancey

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by | · 11:11 am

Fern Michaels. Under the Radar. New York: Kensington Publishing Corp., 2009.

When it comes to fighting injustice, distance and danger never deter the Sisterhood. In Michaels’ thirteenth installment of the Sisterhood series, the women and their posse travel from their Yancey County hideaway to rural Utah. Former Supreme Court Justice Pearl Barnes is a friend to the Sisters whose retirement activities involved establishing an underground railroad for battered women and their children. While on a mission, Pearl discovers fourteen pregnant teenagers in a broken down bus on the side of the road. Fearing for their safety, she picks them up with plans to help them escape. However, because they are members of the local polygamous sect, Heaven on Earth (HOE), her initial plan is thwarted when their leader finds them. With the Sisterhood’s full attention, Pearl is able to help the young women she finds – and many more victims. As the Sisters discover many lewd and illegal aspects of the HOE, they work tirelessly to put an end to the injustice.

This is the thirteenth novel in Fern Michaels’ Sisterhood series, but not all of the novels in the series are set in North Carolina.

Check out this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Michaels, Fern, Mountains, Novels in Series, Suspense/Thriller, Yancey

by | January 19, 2010 · 9:13 am

Fern Michaels. Collateral Damage. New York: Kensington Publishing Corp., 2008.

The women of the Sisterhood are at it again. Although this group of vigilante women has done good in ridding the world of evil individuals, their unlawful methods have forced them to go into hiding. Now back at their secret Yancey County retreat on Big Pine Mountain, the fugitives are tempted to get back to work after being promised a presidential pardon. Donor databases of both the Democratic and Republican parties have been hacked, and with the election just a year away, both organizations approach the Sisterhood for their help. The thought of being free again is tantalizing to the women, but they soon realize that the deal is simply a ploy by the unpopular incumbent president to have them arrested. With the FBI hot on their trail, the women must travel to Washington, D.C. to kidnap the president’s chief of staff and an important GOP fundraiser, the two men at the center of the scandal. Once they have the criminals, the Sisterhood transports them to the CIA’s Harvey Point location in Hertford where the women position the crooks right where they belong: dangling twelve inches above a quicksand pond in the Great Dismal Swamp. Once again, the Sisters prove that they can protect themselves and their enterprise.

This is the eleventh novel in Fern Michaels’ Sisterhood Series, but not all of the novels in the series are set in North Carolina.

Check out this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Coastal Plain, Michaels, Fern, Mountains, Novels in Series, Perquimans, Suspense/Thriller, Yancey

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by | December 4, 2009 · 1:42 pm

Fern Michaels. Fast Track. New York: Kensington Publishing Corp., 2008.

Fern Michael’s Sisterhood, the tight group of women who seek revenge on individuals who dodge justice, is back in the States after banishment to a Spanish villa as a result of their last adventure. Now on a remote mountaintop estate in western North Carolina – Big Pine Mountain in Yancey County, to be exact – the fugitives are faced with undertaking a new high-stakes, extremely dangerous venture. When approached by World Bank board members who are concerned with the misplacement of twenty billion dollars (yes, billion with a “b”), the women accept the challenge to find fairness for the bank’s beneficiaries… and the blank check. The Sisterhood travels to Washington, D.C. to take down the slimy Maxwell Zenowicz, who is serving as World Bank president thanks to his questionable Capitol Hill connections. The money is recovered, the corrupt playboy is punished, and the elusive group succeeds once again.

This is the tenth novel in Fern Michaels’ Sisterhood Series, but not all of the novels in the series are set in North Carolina.

Check out this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Michaels, Fern, Mountains, Novels in Series, Suspense/Thriller, Yancey

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by | December 18, 2008 · 12:28 pm

Elizabeth Van Loon. The Shadow of Hampton Mead. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson & Brothers, 1878.

The Hamptons live an Edenic life on their plantation the western North Carolina. Mrs. Hampton died young, but Mr. Hampton has had the pleasure of watching his children Walter and Norva grow to adulthood. The snake who enters this garden is Norva’s new husband Lawrence Hastings, a man she met in London. Hasting is lascivious and greedy, and his plot to seize the Hampton’s family’s wealth almost succeeds. The novel is thought to be set in Yancey County; the time is the early nineteenth century.

Check this title’s availability and access an online copy through the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 1870-1879, 1878, Mountains, Novels to Read Online, Van Loon, Elizabeth, Yancey

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