How They Shine Melungeon Characters in the Fiction of Appalachia

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In How They Shine: Melungeon Characters in the Fiction of Appalachia, Vande Brake argues that fiction writers choose to create Melungeon characters, incorporate Melungeon lore, & replicate the Melungeon experience because Melungeon is such a powerful metaphor. Their use of Melungeon is not intended as an insult, but instead as a way to say more with less. Melungeon means mystery, unpredictability, isolation, prejudice, passion, volatility, superstition, pride. Melungeon means fiery moonshine "likker," beautiful dark-skinned women, & handsome, reckless men. Melungeon conjures visions of independent life on Appalachian ridges, tongues-speaking preachers handling poisonous snakes, secluded log cabins with arched windows, & family genealogies complete with foreign-sounding names. Melungeon assumes exotic ethnic origins in the days before the English colonized North America. How They Shine is the first book of its kind--a book about books with Melungeon characters. Its clear, readable presentation invites scholarly attention from a variety of disciplines, lay readers, residents of Appalachia, & readers who love good books to ask an interesting question: "Why would someone choose to write about Melungeons?"