That Which Binds Us - by Cathy Rigg

About the Book

In the 1860s, on Virginia's Appalachian frontier, the fates of five people are forever linked as they navigate love, loss and the cost of buried secrets amid the strife and turmoil of an unimaginable civil war.

Book Synopsis

In the 1860s, on Virginia's Appalachian frontier, the fates of five people are forever linked as they navigate love, loss and the cost of buried secrets amid the strife and turmoil of an unimaginable civil war.

Review Quotes

"The debut novel from Cathy Rigg comes with fine polish and skill... Rigg's grasp of the Civil War's emotional impacts and costs is well woven into a memorable balancing of love, loss, grief, rediscovery of buried secrets, and the persistence that leads to recovery." -Historical Novels Review

"Rigg's moving debut, a paean to the indomitable spirit of Virginia's Appalachian people and the beautiful geography they inhabit, should be savored. Fans of Southern literature and historical fiction will welcome this new voice." --Booklist

"That Which Binds Us is an Appalachian love story with glorious twists and turns, longing and grief, and resplendent redemption. Elizabeth is an original character of strength and purpose. You won't be able to put it down!" --Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author of The Good Left Undone

"That Which Binds Us is a superior work of Southern Appalachian fiction, marking the debut of a gifted writer to watch. Mining the rich literary terrain of authors like Lee Smith and Adriana Trigiani, while breaking new ground of her own, Cathy Rigg has written a heartfelt historical tale of a people and their place that resonates long after the last page is turned." --Amy Greene, author of Bloodroot

"Cathy Rigg has come up with the liveliest, most interesting and compulsively readable historical novel I have seen in many a year--I love this book! Of course I'm a Virginian too...but these themes are universal and the writing is wonderful." --Lee Smith, award-winning author of Silver Alert and Dimestore

"Rigg has written a historical novel of exquisite storytelling, with an ear tuned to the voices of mountain people." --Amy D. Clark, coauthor and editor of Talking Appalachian: Voice, Identity, and Community and host of the Talking Appalachian podcast.

"Cathy Rigg's That Which Binds Us is historical fiction at its best, showing us exactly what it meant to survive the Civil War as it impacted the old ways in Appalachia. Rigg's novel is a fine-tuned ballad made of strong women, lost love, and family secrets. The characters are ones I recognize via my own ancestors, and its setting--from Cumberland Gap to Pound--is a place I know and love. This is a novel I will long remember." --Karen Salyer McElmurray, author of Wanting Radiance and I Could Name God in Twelve Ways

"Cathy Rigg's ability to evoke place is special. While reading her captivating debut novel, That Which Binds Us, one feels the mountains of Southwest Virginia beneath one's feet. The ridges and seasons fill the reader's eyes, nose, and ears--a literary feat made more astonishing by the equally dizzying ease with which Rigg transports her reader to a world nearly two centuries gone. Research and imagination meld with crack storytelling skills to make That Which Binds Us a brilliant depiction of the Civil War years in the Appalachian mountains and one humdinger of a read." --Robert Gipe, author of Trampoline, Weedeater, and Pop

"Cathy Rigg's debut novel offers a rich patchwork of voices, all deeply rooted--and fiercely loyal to--the mountains of Southwest Virginia, and who will, in one way or another, be forever changed by the Civil War. That Which Binds Us is a heartfelt, hard won tale of devotion, endurance, and the inexhaustible resilience of those who call Appalachia home." --Allison Alsup, author of Foreign Seed

"Even a close-knit, isolated mountain community in southwest Virginia cannot escape the terrors of the American Civil War in this multi-voiced story told cleverly