Fiddler’s Ghost is clever and funny, delving into the archaic speech and customs of the Ozarks folks. Clark’s scholars are polite and shy, eager to learn anything he can teach them, while the young schoolmaster soon realizes that he has much to learn himself. The novel is a suspenseful page-turner as well, as the Clarks attempt to protect their “Uncle Hiram’s” true identity from some superstitious and small-minded townfolk.
Ultimately, however, Fiddler’s Ghost is a love story – love of family, love of place, love of music. The author knows the Missourian Ozarks and its denizens well, his affection clear in his warm portrayal of the book’s characters. Mitch Jayne is also a lifelong musician, a founding member of the bluegrass group The Dillards, and his novel swirls with happy notes. Reading Fiddler’s Ghost transports the reader to a joyful, simpler place, much like whiling a summer afternoon away on a shady porch with a tuneful fiddle for company.
Article comments
1 - Regis Schilken
Sounds like a fascinating book from your description of it.