Sisters, Secrets, Liquor, and Law: The Moonshine Women

Novel by Michelle Collins Anderson

The lore and lure of moonshine...

In our family, there's a story about an older half-sister of my dad's who married a well-known moonshine maker in the 1920s. Prohibition was the law of the land, and this distant relative was arrested for running a still in the hills of Southern Indiana and served time in a Federal Penetentiary. My dad always called him "Moonshine Smitty." (I haven't done any solid research on this, but there is a record of six men being arrested in 1925 in Floyd County, Indiana, for violation of the Volstead Act.) No wonder my interest was piqued when I saw the new release of a historical fiction novel The Moonshine Women, by Michelle Collins Anderson.

The father of The Moonshine Women was Hiram Strong. Hiram was taught by his mother, Lidy, the old family tradition of making moonshine in the Ozarks. The liquor is what keeps the family alive, and it's known as the best moonshine west of the Mississippi, partly because Lidy always adds a secret ingredient.

But tragedy strikes when Hiram's wife, Alta, falls out of the barn loft, heavily pregnant with her third child. Lidy delivers her granddaughter, but Alta doesn't survive. Over the years, Hiram, racked with grief, turns more and more to the solace of alcohol, but not before teaching everything about the business to his daughters, primarily the third daughter, Jace Alta Strong, the fiery, red-headed baby that survived without a mother.

The many themes of The Moonshine Women

I came from a family of three daughters, and reading about other families with three sisters always appeals to me. In The Moonshine Women, the three siblings are very different. Rebecca is a hardworking, tall, lean woman who much prefers the company of animals and nature to the company of people. Elsie, the middle daughter, loves the finer things of life and wants more than she has. She's girly, compassionate, good with people, and inclined to housework rather than farm chores. Jace, known to everyone as "Shine" because of her fiery temperament and flaming red hair, is a determined, driven, independent young woman. It is "Shine" who has learned all the family secrets of running a still, making liquor, selling it, pricing it, and distributing it. Shine is the daughter who is the closest companion to her father and the one most affected by another tragedy the Strong family suffers.

The permanent bond of sisterhood is a prevalent theme in the novel. All three Strong daughters love each other without fail. In addition to their love for each other, they share an intense commitment to the survival of their family, taking great risks to thwart the impact of Prohibition on their way of life.

Like most families, secrets simmer in the lives of each of its members. These are "biggies," not just tiny little secrets without any real meaning. The keepers of those secrets sometimes decide not to divulge them to protect others.

Other issues erupt in the book: domestic abuse and infidelity; the clash between law enforcement and cultural heritage, the addiction to and abuse of the liquor that was tasted and tested so frequently by its makers, and the physical attraction between two people on different sides of a chasm.

Infusion of Folklore

I grew up in Southern Indiana, not the Ozarks, but my dad had enough old-country upbringing that I picked up a smattering of folksy beliefs. Once, he rubbed a wart off my wrist with half of an old potato, and Daddy told me to plant certain crops by the light of a full moon in spring.

One of the things I enjoyed most about The Moonshine Women was the infusion of folklore into the plot. Beliefs like "making a cap for a baby before it was born was bad luck," and putting a skillet under the bed of a birthing mother would guarantee a girl child would be brought into the world were two superstitions I hadn't heard of. A dimple meant that an angel had kissed the baby on the cheek on his way out of Heaven and onto earth.

Hot Springs, Arkansas, and Prohibition

While I knew the general principles of Prohibition, I had not really given much thought as to how the Federal agents, the "Prohis," found the stills hidden in the hills and hollows. I'd never imagined the violence involved when the agents came upon the moonshine makers, or the dire economic strain on the people who counted on the income from moonshine.

The truth is that I often avoid novels involving mobsters, which may explain why I haven't read more about Prohibition before this novel. Even though there's mention of Babe Ruth's gambling problem as well as a few non-violent incidents with Al Capone, The Moonshine Women doesn't dwell on the mob that controlled much of the illegal moonshine trade.

Hot Springs, Arkansas, however, was a surprise to me. The book detailed the hot spot of drinking, gambling, and prostitution that was going on in full view, regardless of the Volstead Act and the resulting period of Prohibition.

Based on historical fact, in the early 1900s, Hot Springs was frequented by tourists who loved the hot springs and bathed in the waters for a variety of therapeutic health and beauty cures. Since those who frequented the springs were wealthy, they wanted great restaurants, shopping, and accommodations when they came to town. Business owners paid law enforcement handsomely to keep their businesses open, so police officers overlooked the infractions. Business owners made their money catering to these wealthy tourists who engaged in drinking, gambling, and prostitution. Law enforcement made a killing from the business owners' bribes.

Hot Springs was viewed as a neutral territory for criminal gang members from all over the nation. Chicagoans like Al Capone could visit Hot Springs without worrying about fighting gangs from New York. Most importantly, these crime bosses could enjoy their vices without concern of arrest since policemen turned a blind eye.

Hiram Strong's daughter, Shine, ends up in Hot Springs, in the thick of the illegal activity.

A different era of historical fiction

If, like me, you love historical fiction, you've probably read dozens of WWII era novels since they've predominated the market recently. What a pleasure to read about a place and time period that feels fresher!

Four "Strong" females running a business in a male-oriented industry. Definitely a good read!

One of the blurbs on the back of the book touts The Moonshine Women as

A compelling, Prohibition-era historical novel set in the Ozarks and helmed by an unforgettable family of women, this is an exhilarating and evocative story of reinvention, sisterhood, and the alchemy of love.

If you're interested in folklore.... If you want a change from the World War II era....

If you're interested in the 1920s and Prohibition....

If you appreciate family sagas...

If you like whiskey...

Read Michelle Collins' Anderson's The Moonshine Women.

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