1967
Events
January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 5
** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
) is a historical fiction Christian novel by American author
Catherine Marshall
Catherine Sarah Wood Marshall LeSourd (27 September 1914 – 18 March 1983) was an American author of nonfiction, inspirational, and fiction works. She was the wife of well-known minister Peter Marshall.
Biography
Marshall was born in Johnson ...
, set in the fictional
Appalachia
Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ca ...
n village of Cutter Gap,
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
, in 1912. The novel was inspired by the work of Marshall's mother, Leonora Whitaker, who taught
impoverished
Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little
children in the Appalachian region when she was a young, single woman. The novel explores faith, and mountain traditions such as
moonshining
Moonshine is high-proof liquor that is usually produced illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of creating the alcohol during the nighttime, thereby avoiding detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial dist ...
,
folk beliefs
In folkloristics, folk belief or folk-belief is a broad genre of folklore that is often expressed in narratives, customs, rituals, foodways, proverbs, and rhymes. It also includes a wide variety of behaviors, expressions, and beliefs. Examples of ...
, and
folk medicine
Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...
.
Marshall made notes for a sequel, but she never completed it. These were found by her family some 34 years later."Christy takes a husband: Heroine weds at conclusion of miniseries," ''The Daily Times'' (Maryville, TN), May 11, 2001 (no page number).Renee Peck. "Two guys, a girl and a simpler place - 'Christy' finally ties the knot," ''The Times-Picayune'' (New Orleans, LA), May 13, 2001, page 9. ''
Christianity Today
''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...
'' ranked ''Christy'' as 27th on a list of the 50 books (post-
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
) that had most shaped evangelicals' minds, after surveying "dozens of evangelical leaders" for their nominations.Editors. "The top books that have shaped evangelicals," ''Christianity Today'', Vol. 50, Issue 10, October 2006, pages 51-55.
The novel was adapted for a TV series of the same name, which was aired in 1994 and 1995.
Plot
While attending a 1912 Christian revival meeting, 19-year-old Christy Huddleson is fascinated to learn about an Appalachian mission program when the founder 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 Carolina
Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...
, is drawn to the idea of volunteering to teach the needy Cutter Gap students. Her parents are initially reluctant, but she persists and soon makes travels to the remote area in eastern Tennessee.
From her first day in the
Appalachians
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...
, she is challenged by the primitive conditions and the
folk medicine
Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...
beliefs of the
mountain people
Hill people, also referred to as mountain people, is a general term for people who live in the hills and mountains.
This includes all rugged land above and all land (including plateaus) above elevation.
The climate is generally harsh, with s ...
. Her mentor at the mission, a
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
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, try to educate local students. They also try to teach their neighbors an alternative to the family feuding and cycle of revenge that have been a tradition for decades. Local physician Neill MacNeill is an
agnostic
Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...
who grew up in the mountains; he 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 workers, 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 raped Alice as a young woman). She learns 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 history, geography, and science
The fictional village of Cutter Gap is based on a community centered on the Chapel Hollow in the small Morgan Branch valley (NOT to be confused with Morgan Branch), a few miles west of Del Rio in
Cocke County, Tennessee
Cocke County is a county on the eastern border of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 35,662. Its county seat is Newport. Cocke County comprises the Newport, TN Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is part o ...
."One Week Out: Events coming next weekend," ''The Daily Times'' (Maryville, TN), June 13, 2008, ''Weekend'' section: "Although Cutter Gap does not exist, it is widely believed that Marshall based the village on the real community of Morgan Branch in nearby Cocke County.
Townsend Townsend (pronounced tounʹ-zənd) or Townshend may refer to:
Places United States
*Camp Townsend, National Guard training base in Peekskill, New York
*Townsend, Delaware
*Townsend, Georgia
*Townsend, Massachusetts, a New England town
** Townsend ...
served as Cutter Gap for the popular CBS television series ''Christy'' in the mid-1990s."'' Local landmarks associated with the story are marked for visitors, including the site of the Ebenezer Mission in 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
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
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
Trepanning, also known as trepanation, trephination, trephining or making a burr hole (the verb ''trepan'' derives from Old French from Medieval Latin from Greek , literally "borer, auger"), is a surgical intervention in which a hole is drill ...
on an accident victim and studies
trachoma
Trachoma is an infectious disease caused by bacterium ''Chlamydia trachomatis''. The infection causes a roughening of the inner surface of the eyelids. This roughening can lead to pain in the eyes, breakdown of the outer surface or cornea of ...
in the local population. Several characters suffer from
typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...
. The physician and others work to teach better
hygiene
Hygiene is a series of practices performed to preserve health.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...
to the local population to prevent the disease. MacNeill lectures Christy on the origins of
moonshining
Moonshine is high-proof liquor that is usually produced illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of creating the alcohol during the nighttime, thereby avoiding detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial dist ...
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, has been quoted as saying the book was about 75% historical. The main characters (the physician) and mountain woman descended from ancient royalty, are fictionalized. Catherine Marshall's mother, the model for Christy, married a minister. A detailed comparison between aspects of the novel and the history is detailed in the essa ''Christy and Leonora: City Girl, Country Gal''
Film, TV, or theatrical adaptations
''Christy'' was adapted as a
TV movie
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
and
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
in
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
. The week after the movie and program debuted, the novel jumped from number 120 up to number 15 on the ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
''
bestseller
A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...
list."USA Today best-selling books," ''USA Today'', April 14, 1994, page 4D. Together, the novel and the TV series inspired ChristyFest, an annual celebration in
Townsend, Tennessee
Townsend is a city in Blount County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The city was chartered in 1921 by persons who were involved with the Little River Railroad and Lumber Company. The population was 244 at the 2000 census and 448 at ...