Christy (novel)
Encyclopedia
Christy is a historical fiction novel by Christian author Catherine Marshall
set in the fictional Appalachia
n village of Cutter Gap, Tennessee
, in 1912. The novel was inspired by the story of the journey made by her own mother, Leonora Whitaker, to teach the impoverished
children in the Appalachian region as a young, single adult. The novel explores faith and mountain traditions such as moonshining, folk beliefs
and folk medicine
. Marshall also made notes for a sequel, never published, which were found by her family some 34 years later. Christianity Today
ranked Christy as 27th on a list of the 50 books (post-World War II
) that had most shaped evangelicals' minds
after surveying "dozens of evangelical leaders" for their nominations.
, finds herself drawn to the idea of volunteering for the mission to be a teacher to the needy Cutter Gap students. Her parents are initially reluctant, but she persists and soon makes the trip to the remote area. From her first day in the Appalachians, she is challenged by the filthy conditions and primitive folk medicine
beliefs of the mountain people, but her mentor at the mission, a Quaker named Alice Henderson, encourages her to notice also the beauty in the community and people, and to help preserve the best of the Appalachians in ways that will help the locals to become self-sustaining. Christy and her co-worker, minister David Grantland, attempt to educate local students and to teach their neighbors an alternative to the family feud
ing and cycle of revenge that have been a tradition for decades. Local physician Neill MacNeill is an agnostic who grew up in the mountains and who seeks to make Christy more sympathetic to locals' concerns and traditions.
Plot threads include Christy's experiences in the school house and her burgeoning friendships with local women, David's challenges in reaching a community that views him as an interfering outsider, family feuds, moonshiners who use schoolchildren as their assistants, and questions of faith. As Christy becomes better acquainted with MacNeill and Miss Alice, she discovers that the physician's late wife was Miss Alice's daughter (conceived when a predatory visiting minister molested Alice as a teen), and that the physician's agnosticism was partly a reaction to the apparent injustice of his wife's death. Christy's faith is tried by these and other revelations, at the same time that she is romantically drawn both to the minister and the physician.
in Cocke County, Tennessee. Local landmarks associated with the story are marked for visitors, including the site of the Ebenezer Mission in the smaller nearby community of Chapel Hollow.
At a women's society meeting where Christy was giving a talk regarding the plight of those living in Cutter Gap, a woman shares with her information regarding the Danish
folk schools
established by Grundtvig, in which adults learned to use traditional folkways and crafts to become self-sustaining.
A wholly fictional MacNeill performs trepanation
on an accident victim and studies trachoma
in the local population. Several characters also suffer from typhoid fever
, and the educated characters in the book set out to teach better hygiene
to the local population in order to prevent the disease. MacNeill also lectures Christy on the origins of moonshining
and the reasons why many locals — including MacNeill — consider its prohibition to be an unfair block to their earning money from their crops. Christy eventually marries the physician.
Catherine Marshall, the widow of Dr. Peter Marshall when she wrote the book, following up on her best seller "A Man Called Peter," has been quoted as saying the book was about 75% percent historical, although the main characters (the physician) and mountain woman descended from ancient royalty, are fictionalized. While in the book it is implied she ends up with the doctor, the real "Christy," Catherine Marshall's mother, married a minister.
. The week after the movie and program debuted, the novel jumped from #120 up to #15 on the USA Today
bestseller
list. Together, the novel and the TV series were the inspiration of ChristyFest, an annual celebration in Townsend since 1999.
Catherine Marshall
Catherine Wood Marshall was an American author of nonfiction, inspirational, and fiction works. She was the wife of well-known minister Peter Marshall.-Biography:...
set in the fictional Appalachia
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
n village of Cutter Gap, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, in 1912. The novel was inspired by the story of the journey made by her own mother, Leonora Whitaker, to teach the impoverished
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
children in the Appalachian region as a young, single adult. The novel explores faith and mountain traditions such as moonshining, folk beliefs
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
and folk medicine
Folk medicine
-Description:Refers to healing practices and ideas of body physiology and health preservation known to a limited segment of the population in a culture, transmitted informally as general knowledge, and practiced or applied by anyone in the culture having prior experience.All cultures and societies...
. Marshall also made notes for a sequel, never published, which were found by her family some 34 years later. Christianity Today
Christianity Today
Christianity Today is an Evangelical Christian periodical based in Carol Stream, Illinois. It is the flagship publication of its parent company Christianity Today International, claiming circulation figures of 140,000 and readership of 290,000...
ranked Christy as 27th on a list of the 50 books (post-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
) that had most shaped evangelicals' minds
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
after surveying "dozens of evangelical leaders" for their nominations.
Plot
While attending a Christian revival meeting, 19-year-old Christy Huddleson is fascinated when she listens to the founder of an Appalachian mission program as he describes the work his group is doing and the needs of the Cutter Gap community. Christy, the daughter of a well-to-do family in Asheville, North CarolinaAsheville, North Carolina
Asheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the 11th largest city in North Carolina. The City is home to the United States National Climatic Data Center , which is the world's largest active...
, finds herself drawn to the idea of volunteering for the mission to be a teacher to the needy Cutter Gap students. Her parents are initially reluctant, but she persists and soon makes the trip to the remote area. From her first day in the Appalachians, she is challenged by the filthy conditions and primitive folk medicine
Folk medicine
-Description:Refers to healing practices and ideas of body physiology and health preservation known to a limited segment of the population in a culture, transmitted informally as general knowledge, and practiced or applied by anyone in the culture having prior experience.All cultures and societies...
beliefs of the mountain people, but her mentor at the mission, a Quaker named Alice Henderson, encourages her to notice also the beauty in the community and people, and to help preserve the best of the Appalachians in ways that will help the locals to become self-sustaining. Christy and her co-worker, minister David Grantland, attempt to educate local students and to teach their neighbors an alternative to the family feud
Family Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
ing and cycle of revenge that have been a tradition for decades. Local physician Neill MacNeill is an agnostic who grew up in the mountains and who seeks to make Christy more sympathetic to locals' concerns and traditions.
Plot threads include Christy's experiences in the school house and her burgeoning friendships with local women, David's challenges in reaching a community that views him as an interfering outsider, family feuds, moonshiners who use schoolchildren as their assistants, and questions of faith. As Christy becomes better acquainted with MacNeill and Miss Alice, she discovers that the physician's late wife was Miss Alice's daughter (conceived when a predatory visiting minister molested Alice as a teen), and that the physician's agnosticism was partly a reaction to the apparent injustice of his wife's death. Christy's faith is tried by these and other revelations, at the same time that she is romantically drawn both to the minister and the physician.
Allusions to actual history, geography and science
The fictional village of Cutter Gap is based on a community centered on Morgan Branch, near Del Rio, TennesseeDel Rio, Tennessee
Del Rio is an unincorporated community in Cocke County, Tennessee, United States. Although it is not a census-designated place, the ZIP Code Tabulation Area for the ZIP Code that serves Del Rio had a population of 2,138, according to the 2000 census....
in Cocke County, Tennessee. Local landmarks associated with the story are marked for visitors, including the site of the Ebenezer Mission in the smaller nearby community of Chapel Hollow.
At a women's society meeting where Christy was giving a talk regarding the plight of those living in Cutter Gap, a woman shares with her information regarding the Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
folk schools
Folk high school
Folk high schools are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal...
established by Grundtvig, in which adults learned to use traditional folkways and crafts to become self-sustaining.
A wholly fictional MacNeill performs trepanation
Trepanation
Trepanning, also known as trephination, trephining or making a burr hole, is a surgical intervention in which a hole is drilled or scraped into the human skull, exposing the dura mater in order to treat health problems related to intracranial diseases. It may also refer to any "burr" hole created...
on an accident victim and studies trachoma
Trachoma
Trachoma is an infectious disease causing a characteristic roughening of the inner surface of the eyelids. Also called granular conjunctivitis and Egyptian ophthalmia, it is the leading cause of infectious blindness in the world...
in the local population. Several characters also suffer from typhoid fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
, and the educated characters in the book set out to teach better hygiene
Hygiene
Hygiene refers to the set of practices perceived by a community to be associated with the preservation of health and healthy living. While in modern medical sciences there is a set of standards of hygiene recommended for different situations, what is considered hygienic or not can vary between...
to the local population in order to prevent the disease. MacNeill also lectures Christy on the origins of moonshining
Moonshine
Moonshine is an illegally produced distilled beverage...
and the reasons why many locals — including MacNeill — consider its prohibition to be an unfair block to their earning money from their crops. Christy eventually marries the physician.
Catherine Marshall, the widow of Dr. Peter Marshall when she wrote the book, following up on her best seller "A Man Called Peter," has been quoted as saying the book was about 75% percent historical, although the main characters (the physician) and mountain woman descended from ancient royalty, are fictionalized. While in the book it is implied she ends up with the doctor, the real "Christy," Catherine Marshall's mother, married a minister.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
Christy was made into a TV-movie and television series in 19941994 in television
The year 1994 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1994.For the American TV schedule, see: 1994-95 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-Miniseries:...
. The week after the movie and program debuted, the novel jumped from #120 up to #15 on the USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
bestseller
Bestseller
A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and...
list. Together, the novel and the TV series were the inspiration of ChristyFest, an annual celebration in Townsend since 1999.