The Coffin Quilt: The Feud Between the Hatfields and the McCoys

The Coffin Quilt: The Feud Between the Hatfields and the McCoys by Ann Rinaldi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was excellent. The feud is the background to the story of young Roseanna McCoy who meets and falls in love with Johnse Hatfield. It is told by Fanny McCoy who understand the futility of the feud an its terrible impact on everyone.

The tragedy of the relationship is made more poignant because of the coffin quilt Roseanna works on to preserve the memory of family who are killed over the feud. Coffin quilts were made in the Appalachian Mountains and contained a graveyard in the center of the quilt and an outer border of coffins. When a person is born or married into the family, a coffin with his or her name on it is appliqued on the outer border. When they die, the coffin is moved into the graveyard in the center.

Coffin Quilt: http://folkwaysnotebook.blogspot.com/...

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