Songbird Commotion: The Natural Voice of Lou V. Crabtree

This study proposes that by reading the work of Appalachian author Lou V. Crabtree in light of contemporary feminist criticism on women’s relationships to the concepts of identity, ecology, and religion, critics can find a point of access both for understanding an underappreciated Appalachian writer and for seeing how the concepts interconnect in contemporary literature. This study looks at samples from her short story collection, Sweet Hollow, and from her poetry collection, The River Hills and Beyond, focusing on texts where girls and women use their connections to the natural world to negotiate important life transformations, and to overcome many of the oppressions and repressions women face in contemporary Western society.