47 pages • 1 hour read
Wiley CashA Land More Kind than Home
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2012A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
What does the novel’s title mean? Consider how the physical setting of rural North Carolina impacts the people who live there and the action in the novel.
How does the use of flashback and other nonlinear elements impact the novel?
Though the novel employs several different narrators, many characters who are central to the plot and conflict—such as Ben and Julie Hall and Carson Chambliss—do not narrate. Why does the author rely on secondary characters to narrate instead?
How does Chambliss gain the trust of his congregation? How do his actions develop the novel’s broader themes?
Adelaide Lyle did not notify authorities of her suspicions of Chambliss when Molly Jameson died. What prevented (and continues to prevent) her from doing so? What does she risk by challenging Chambliss? What does she risk by remaining silent?
Both Chambliss and Adelaide claim to be healers. How do their approaches to healing and their abilities differ? What does each character contribute to the novel’s exploration of healing?
How does the isolation of the novel’s setting impact the conflict?
Wiley Cash’s writing is often categorized as Southern (or rural) noir. How does Cash depict the South in this novel? What associations or stereotypes does the novel draw on or subvert?
Examine the characters of Jimmy Hall and Sheriff Clem Barefield: Are they most accurately categorized as foils, or are they parallel characters?
The exact circumstances in which Stump dies are never revealed. Why does the author make this choice? What does this suggest about the intended focus of the novel?
