Book Review: Green Forest, Red Earth, Blue Sea

Green Forest, Red Earth, Blue Sea is a beautiful Southern fiction set of short stories by Jim Gulledge. I fell instantly in love with these stories that take place in the state I call home - North Carolina. Each of the three stories takes place in a different part of the state and follow three connected families. The stories, though they take place during different times and in different places, stay connected through a family heirloom.

Unlike most books I enjoy this one has many varied characters, so there isn't one character to fall in love with. Instead, readers fall in love with place. And Jim did an excellent job helping readers come to love North Carolina, from the green hills of the mountains to the red clay of the piedmont to the sandy shores of the ocean. I also enjoyed discovering how each family connected with one another and how they managed to cover the state in a few generations.

We start in the mountains as trains bring change - meeting two young lovers whose time together is fleeting. Next, we find ourselves saving peaches from a deadly spring freeze. Can this couple eek out a living in the clay? The last story asks us to cheer for an orphan boy and the chance to find buried treasure against the backdrop of a tropical storm. And finally, catch a quick glimpse of a story yet to be told when a boy from the beach glimpses a girl from the mountains - and we feel that it will all start again.

Jim tells a delightful series of stories, and you won't want to miss this book. It would make a great gift for any NC native!

Purchase a copy of Green Forest, Red Earth, Blue Sea:
Paperback: https://amzn.to/4oI77Mw​
Kindle: https://amzn.to/47IXRAE

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