The Legend of Nance Dude Book

This book is based on actual events that occured around 1912. The place was in Haywood County North Carolina. This is where I am from and where I found this book innocently sitting on a shelf in the local coffee shop. Waynesville, NC is nestled in the Great Smoky Mountains. It is now a major tourist trap. But during my childhood, I didn't know this. The mountains are known for producing ignorant backwoods people that are slow-witted and talk funny. No sexy southern Georgia drawl there. Nance Dude, the main character, is a woman that was a victim of her own ignorance, hard times and of her surroundings. She was charged and convicted of killing her little three year old grand daughter. The events that led to her sentence more than explain why this happened and even leaves the reader feeling sympathy for her. Life in the mountains can be very hard. I have first hand knowledge of this. But they are my people and I am proud of my heritage. To read Nance Dude is to understand that death is a kindness, when you consider the alternative. In her own ignorant way, she murdered because she loved the grand daughter.