The Girls in the Stilt House: A Novel Paperback – April 6, 2021

A rich story about friendship between girls from similar but different places. Loved it. Great ending! I enjoyed the 2 different view points to bring the stories together

What a great read! I loved the characters and could really picture the story. This is a tale that makes you feel something. I look forward to more work by this author.

Ada ran off to Baton Rouge with Jesse and cam back within a year Aline and pregnant. Matilda showed up at the stilt house just when Ada needed help the most. Not friends - Matilda wouldn’t allow that - but each girl held onto secrets for the other. Each had hardships and each managed to overcome.A very good book.

Close your eyes. Travel back to when the Natchez Trace was the main avenue of travel. When foot traffic greatly outnumbered the mule- or horse-drawn carts. When the well-worn road was a dividing line for wealth, color, education – and opportunity of all kinds.That’s the Natchez Trace featured in Kelly Mustain’s debut novel, The Girls in the Stilt House, timestamped in the 1920s during the no-holds-barred Prohibition. The Trace is both protector and provocateur as two teenage girls struggle to escape the pull of the swamp and its secrets.Ada had sworn she’d never return the swamp shack occupied by her drunk and abusive bootleg father. After all, she’d run away with the love of her life. Now’s she’s back. Afraid of her dad, his drunken tirades. Afraid to be mother with no mother. Back in the swamps, screams go unheard.One person hears them, though. Matilda, the daughter of a black sharecropper, comes from the other side of the Trace. Her family is scraping by, trying to square up with the plantation owner and then buy their own plot of land. The problem is that the “crop” of choice is illegal peach whiskey, so danger hangs over all their heads.Ada and Matilda become the most unlikely of friends. An unintended murder now bonds them even tighter. And when Ada’s baby is born, the deal is sealed. They must survive, keep their secrets and find freedom.Eyes are everywhere. Alligators, killers, snakes, thieves, bigots. They are all watching, waiting for their chance to hurt, overcome, even kill. There are scenes you’d rather avoid, but as readers, you know they’re coming. The South in the 1920s wasn’t a fairy-tale story. It was a hard life with few ways to avoid the pitted paths that lie ahead.Some of the two protagonists’ actions weren’t pretty or respectful. They were grim, deadly – and necessary. When it comes to options, there are very few for cheating-thieving landowners and stinking-drunk fathers. What should be done, has to be done, weighs as heavy on the girls as the stifling humidity of a Mississippi summer day.Throughout Mustain’s novel are the weavings of racial inequalities, corruption and abuse of women who are valued less than a good mule. Social status, color and corruption build an emotional rollercoaster piece by piece until finally the reader is caught in the front seat and unable to get out.Mustain grew up in Natchez, Mississippi, surrounded by the stories and mysteries of the Natchez Trace. It’s no wonder that its mystique is the background for this heartbreaking, yet uplifting story of two young women who just want a choice at a life. Not a life dominated by men or skin tone, but rather one earned by determination and relentlessness.Through the author's words, she gives life to Ada, Matilda and future generations of strong women. And as readers, we want to read more words from Mustain, a true Southern storyteller.ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for my opinion.

It was a good book. I'm not a reader that focuses on all the little details I THINK should have been in there. I read it as it is written and see it in my mind as I read. I felt it was good. Not great, but good enough to finish. My only complained is that at chapter 34, the pages suddenly were upside down and backwards. I had to go forward maybe 30 pages, flip the book over and read it that way until I got back to chapter 39, then I could continue with the book the right way when reading beyond. However, it was then missing a couple pages in chapter 39 so I missed some of the story. Poor quality control during production.

Oh my goodness! I loved this book!!! The characters well developed. The setting accurate for the historical time period. The trials the characters experienced were believable and heart wrenching! I loved seeing how the characters supported each other and developed trust. I recommend this book without hesitation!

Was a good read, however the end left me feeling that there should have been more to the story.

From the very beginning the author captures your attention and keeps you turning the pages as she draws you into her character development and story line. Kelly Mustian knows how to write and continualy does so with confidence developing each character and intertwining their lives into a believable story of event that could have happened during the 1920s in the south.