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

Quickly...this was a wonderful read. I had just watched the Kevin Costner mini-series of the Hatfields & McCoys and wanted to learn more about it. This was written for a younger audience I believe; however that didn't bother me one bit. I'm over 50 and read all sorts of books for all ages.I chose this book because it sounded like it would be different. And it was. Mainly due to the fact that it is told from the view-point of a child. Her name is Fanny and she starts out at age 7 and then progresses in age as the book goes along. She is one of the many McCoy children. So she's right in the middle of all the action. But she is from that side of the feud - so you get her perspective of it from that family. She is not neutral.The mini-series made the McCoy family look like they lost the most and had to endure the brunt of the hardships in the feud. So does this book. You will feel even more sorry for this family as it goes into way more detail.This is historical fiction though and some of the things are not factual and have been thrown in to jazz up the story. I like that. It didn't bother me at all and in fact made the story all the more interesting.Sometimes when you don't have all the information you need you do have to make up some things as fillers in a story to make it flow smoothly and make sense. We can't know what the "real" Fanny felt - we weren't there. She left no diary. So we can only guess and that's what this author did. But it works out fine. I feel the author threw her heart and soul into this character and brought her back to life for us.We can feel Fanny's confusion and her fears. We understand her sorrow and agony. We want to step in there and rescue her when nobody else seems to care.The book is written in such a way that it teaches you how people lived back in the late 1800's. It explains to you how they lived back in the woods and were isolated and had to do back breaking work in order to survive.Most of the work fell to the women-folk including the young girls. They weren't sitting around watching reality TV shows or checking out their Facebook - ya know? They were stirring soap in a big pot and sewing clothes, making quilts, chopping wood, feeding the hogs, milking cows, scrubbing floors, gardening & cooking all day long. Every day.Like the mini-series it shows that back in that time the men were in charge. Women-folk were not taken into consideration much. They were second class citizens who were told to keep their mouth shut and just do as their husbands told them. If a daughter disobeyed her father then she was shunned and disowned. How tragic. And unfair. But that's how it was.We don't realize how fortunate we are in today's world. This book will take you back to that time so you can see and feel and hear what it was like - just like a time machine, you will be transported.The feud will come alive and you'll wonder who is going to be the next victim. It is not the same as the mini-series at all. Same people for the most part with a few additions; but shown in a different way.I'm not going to tell you what the actual coffin quilt is. That you'll have to find out for yourself when reading the book. If other reviewers have spoiled it for you by revealing what it is - then try not to read about it. I don't believe in putting spoilers in my reviews as it ruins the story for others who have yet to read it.

This is a good introduction to the Hatfield McCoy fued, but I should have paid more attention to the Amazon product guide and other reviewers (it's a young adult read, and well, I'm not a young adult). I was in a hurry and wanted a Hatfield McCoy book and also wanted to get free shipping on my order so popped this modestly priced book into my cart. Having said that, I am reading it, and enjoying it, but this is not for me a detailed account of the events of this fued. It is written from the perspective of a young girl--Roseanna McCoy's sister Fannie, and I'm not sure how much is fact and how much is fiction. I recently researched other more pricey Hatfield McCoy books on Amazon, and opted to buy The tale of the devil--a biography on Devil Anse. Like I said this is a good "light" read of this famous American feud, but leaves alot of holes in the story for me.

I read this book in just a few sittings. It was hauntingly beautiful. One of those books that years later you can see as images in your mind so you are never quite sure if you read it or watched the movie. I think it is categorised as Young Adult but not sure why. The only reason I can think of is that the narrator is a young girl. BUT and for me it is a big but. Since it is fiction albeit with a lot of historical accuracy why why why did it have to send so hatefully. I will not spoil it and perhaps others will not agree with me but it broke my heart and i dreamed about Rosanna McCoy for days afterwoods. The truth is I loved it but took a point off because it didnt have to end that way.

This is the third historical novel I read of Ann Rinaldi. Her books are often very good depictions of various American historical events from the point of view of a young female protagonist.The feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys is a rather dismal subject due to the ill will it generated in the region and the number of people who died as a result of it. This novel does a good job showing the McCoy side of the feud and why the events occurred as they did. Ann Rinaldi created a number of interesting characters from the historical facts and added some embellishments based on the local culture such as the coffin quilt.On the negative side, I thought the author was too critical about some of the characters and did not provide enough levity to offset the darkness of the feud. Despite this, her books are good enough that I expect to read more of them in the future.

The book was in perfect condition

After seeing the movie on TV about the Hatfields and McCoys, my 12 year old daughter and I were looking for some good books to read on the subject. We weren't disappointed with this book. I like that it's from a child's perspective. I like that facts were also included in the book. I felt for both families, they went through so much. A valuable lesson is to be learned from all of this! A very enjoyable read, I highly recommend it!

I just finished reading this book on my Kindle, in fact it's the first book I've read on my kindle. I loved the book. My father's family was from around this area of Kentucky and the feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys has fascinated me for years.The author of this book brings that feud to life for the readers. It's a book about a lot of killing, but that's what happened, so to leave the killings out would make the book pointless. The author also did her background work well with this book.I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good historical read. :)

Bought this for a Mccoy friend of mine. He enjoyed it.

Bought this after watching the Kevin Costner version of the story. It's only a small book but really well written and takes you back to a violent and often very sad era.. It was despatched fro the USA and I was very impressed with the delivery time and packing.

The detail of the characters and how life must have been at that time is brought alive by the author. I savoured each page but wanted to get to the next page.