Hang the Moon, a novel by Jeannette Walls is an exciting, heart-rending story that takes place in Claiborne County, Virginia during Prohibition-era (1920 – 1933).

Sallie Kincaid, is the daughter of the well-known, wealthy Duke Kincaid. She idolizes her father, but remembers little about her mother who died in a violent argument with the Duke. When Sallie is eight years old, Duke marries his third wife and has a son, Eddie. While Sallie has many of her father’s traits, Eddie is more like his mother, timid and intellectual. Duke encourages Sallie to help Eddie be more masculine, and while doing what she thought would help her little brother become bolder, an accident occurs that sends Sallie away to her mother’s sister, Aunt Faye.

Although Sallie loves her Aunt Faye, they live in hardship conditions, the opposite of how Sallie has been raised. She helps her Aunt Faye hand-wash sheets for a living; they scrimp to meet their bare needs. After Eddie’s mother dies, and after nine years away, Sallie is brought back home. She is almost eighteen. Her father wants her to help Eddie, now 13, become a man. The boy is frail, has no friends or pets, doesn’t play sports, but he is very bright and shows talent playing the piano. The two become close, but Sallie soon understands that she’s not going to change Eddie.

Duke Kincaid is involved in many enterprises including a store, warehouse, lumber mill, hauling company, and rental properties. The store, Emporium, is the “go to” place in town. It carries a huge variety of goods, including a large inventory of contraband whiskey. Sallie convinces her father that she should work for him, and he reluctantly agrees. When Prohibition comes to Claiborne County, people’s livelihood drastically change. As the local citizens reason, Claiborne County citizens don’t break laws, but just follow a different set of laws. It’s true moonshine whiskey can ruin people, destroy families, even get people killed, but it’s been going on for years. Now, with Prohibition, it’s obey the law and starve, or break the law and eat. It’s the only work many of these people know. Sallie finds herself in the middle of the conflict and becomes involved trying to save the family business, and that of her fellow citizens.

Hang the Moon is a well told, exciting read, and an eye opener for me regarding the challenges of Prohibition. I could have used a cast of characters—many people are involved in this exciting story. I loved the author’s memoir, The Glass Castle, and consider Hang the Moon another winner.