Book Review: "Wisp Of A Thing" by Alex Bledsoe

Alex Bledsoe’s The Hum and the Shiver was named one of the Best Fiction Books of 2011 by Kirkus Reviews. Now with Wisp of a Thing Bledsoe returns to the isolated ridges and hollows of the Smoky Mountains to spin an equally enchanting tale of music and magic older than the hills….

Touched by a very public tragedy, musician Rob Quillen comes to Cloud County, Tennessee, in search of a song that might ease his aching heart. All he knows of the mysterious and reclusive Tufa is what he has read on the internet: they are an enigmatic clan of swarthy, black-haired mountain people whose historical roots are lost in myth and controversy. Some people say that when the first white settlers came to the Appalachians centuries ago, they found the Tufa already there. Others hint that Tufa blood brings special gifts.

Rob finds both music and mystery in the mountains. Close-lipped locals guard their secrets, even as Rob gets caught up in a subtle power struggle he can’t begin to comprehend. A vacationing wife goes missing, raising suspicions of foul play, and a strange feral girl runs wild in the woods, howling in the night like a lost spirit.

Change is coming to Cloud County, and only the night wind knows what part Rob will play when the last leaf falls from the Widow’s Tree…and a timeless curse must be broken at last. - from Amazon.com

This novel follows the story that started in The Hum and the Shiver and brings back the story that is going on in Cloud County in the Smoky Mountains. Rob Quillen, a musician, is lead to go there to find a song to ease the grief in his heart. He has heard and read a bit about the Tufa, and physically resembles many of them , though he is not of Tufa roots. Once reaching Cloud County, he starts his search, and becomes involved in the local goings-on, and becomes a key factor in the major changes that are being wrought to the Tufa from the wind.

In the first novel, Bledsoe engrossed me in the story of dark-haired, olive skinned people that lived in the backwoods of the Smoky Mountain part of the Appalachians. These people were rumored to have been there long before the first European settlers found the area, and possibly before even Native Americans. They are strong in musical ability be it voice or instrumental, each seemingly to specialize in one area or instrument. They also seem to have a touch of magic to them, and appear to be more, or other, than they are. The background woven into each story has just kept me reading, wanting to know more of where they came from and what will happen to them. I would love to see possibly another tale of these folk from Cloud County, but - not wanting to ruin any persons reading of the books - not sure if there will be another tale tied in after this one. Great read!