The Big Idea: Amanda J. McGee

Grow where you are planted. In author Amanda J. McGee’s case, that’s right in good ol’ Appalachia. It is because of this that she felt compelled to write her newest novella, A River Wide, about more than just a character from Appalachia, but about the land that so many of us see the beauty and incredulousness of on a daily basis. AMANDA J. MCGEE: Appalachia is in the news a lot. It’s got a sort of reputation at this point. But a lot of those who pontificate on Appalachia don’t really get it. They don’t get the disinvestment, the disillusionment. They buy their retirement homes — their second or third ones, mind — up against the National Forest because they like the views, but they don’t really know anything about the history of those views. The land doesn’t breathe for them. Personally, I’m a bit of an animist. I grew up in a community very much like Belfont, on the banks of one of the oldest rivers in the world. So much of knowing a place is about listening, being sensitive to it. In…