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Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls

Historical fiction

Hang the Moon

by Jeannette Walls

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Quick take

This moving Prohibition-era family saga and its feisty heroine have all the grit and complexity of good moonshine.

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, Well_Known

    Famous author

  • Illustrated icon, Family_Drama

    Family drama

  • Illustrated icon, Rural

    Rural

  • Illustrated icon, Literary

    Literary

Synopsis

Sallie Kincaid is the daughter of the biggest man in a small town, the charismatic Duke Kincaid. Born at the turn of the 20th century into a life of comfort and privilege, Sallie remembers little about her mother who died in a violent argument with the Duke. By the time she is just eight years old, the Duke has remarried and had a son, Eddie. While Sallie is her father’s daughter, sharp-witted and resourceful, Eddie is his mother’s son, timid and cerebral. When Sallie tries to teach young Eddie to be more like their father, her daredevil coaching leads to an accident, and Sallie is cast out.

Nine years later, she returns, determined to reclaim her place in the family. That’s a lot more complicated than Sallie expected, and she enters a world of conflict and lawlessness. Sallie confronts the secrets and scandals that hide in the shadows of the Big House, navigates the factions in the family and town, and finally comes into her own as a bold, sometimes reckless bootlegger.

Content warning

This book contains mentions of suicide.

Free sample

Get an early look from the first pages of Hang the Moon.

Hang the Moon

PROLOGUE

The fastest girl in the world. That’s what I’m going to be.

I decided this morning. It was the best kind of morning, sunny but not too hot, white clouds that looked like dumplings way up in the bright blue sky, birds chirping away at each other, and little yellow butterflies dancing around. I’d buttoned up my sailor suit and was buckling my shoes when the door opened. It was my daddy. The Duke. That’s what everyone calls him.

“I got a surprise for you, Whippersnapper,” he said. “A present.”

“A present? But it’s not my birthday.”

“I don’t need some special occasion to give my own daughter a present. If I say today is a present-giving day, it is. And mark my words, girl, this present is going to change your life.”

“What is it?”

“Why you little sneak. Are you trying to trick me into telling you?” The Duke was using his pretend-to-be-angry voice and that made me laugh. “Then it wouldn’t be a surprise.” He smiled. “Up in the carriage house. Come with me.”

If I live to be a hundred years old, I’ll never forget today. The Duke took my hand in his and the two of us walked down the hall, past the parlor where my stepmama, Jane, was playing scales on the piano with my half brother, Eddie. He loves that piano and didn’t even look my way. In the kitchen I told our cook, Old Ida, where we were going and she said she loves surprises and tugged one of my braids and then we went into the backyard.

When something good’s about to happen, that makes me feel like skipping—I don’t understand why so many people walk when they could skip instead—but this morning, I couldn’t bear to let go of the Duke’s hand, so I behaved myself for once in my life—like Jane is all the time telling me to.

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Why I love it

Get ready for Sallie Kincaid, a young woman so bold and brave, so agile and quick, she can outrun her own family secrets and circle back around years later to divulge them and set things right. She is the center of Hang the Moon, a Prohibition-Era saga set in the lush mountains of Virginia, and the latest masterwork from great American storyteller Jeannette Walls.

Sallie wants the things we all want: to love and be loved. She also insists on a life of purpose, to claim her life as surely as her father—Duke Kincaid, a local legend—who built the formidable family moonshine business. As a woman who fought for her place in the dangerous family enterprise of moonshine, many obstacles are placed in Sallie’s path, but she is determined to redeem her family name, shake it loose from scandals, and embrace her legacy on her own terms.

The wonder of this grand novel is Jeannette Walls’ singular and authentic style. She captures worlds that are often lost and the souls that are lost within them—fractured families, handsome beaus, wild hucksters, and more, all of them real and unforgettable. She writes women that lead us on the path to redemption and change us all for the better. Jeannette writes with beauty, truth and humor about the things that matter. By the time you read the last, glorious page of Hang the Moon, it will have become an American classic.

Member ratings (10,273)

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Family drama
View all
The Last One at the Wedding
The Night We Lost Him
Madwoman
Hum
Family Happiness
Husbands & Lovers
Same As It Ever Was
Jackpot Summer
The Lion Women of Tehran
Did I Ever Tell You?
Real Americans
The Reappearance of Rachel Price
Just for the Summer
All We Were Promised
Hard by a Great Forest
Family Family
Northwoods
Mercury
The Second Chance Year
A Winter in New York
Check & Mate
What We Kept to Ourselves
The Leftover Woman
While You Were Out
Evil Eye
Just Another Missing Person
Family Lore
Little Monsters
The Connellys of County Down
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women
Paper Names
Divine Rivals
Hang the Moon
The Last Russian Doll
Maame
White Horse
The Family Game
The Fortunes of Jaded Women
When We Were Bright and Beautiful
You're Invited
Marrying the Ketchups
Part of Your World
The Good Left Undone
The Verifiers
The Unsinkable Greta James
Don't Cry for Me
Black Cake
Olga Dies Dreaming
The Family
The Book of Magic
Sankofa
Everything We Didn't Say
Apples Never Fall
The Sweetest Remedy
The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina
We Are the Brennans
Skye Falling
Last Summer at the Golden Hotel
Things We Lost to the Water
Libertie
What's Mine and Yours
The Bad Muslim Discount
The Push
The Chicken Sisters
In a Holidaze
White Ivy
The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany
Practical Magic
Head Over Heels
The Vanishing Half
All Adults Here
The Kingdom of Back
I Have No Secrets
Saving Zoë
Color Me In
Past Perfect Life
Things You Save in a Fire
There's Something About Sweetie
All That You Leave Behind
The Other Woman
Small Fry
The Winter Sister
The Rules of Magic
& Sons