"Birth, death, marrying, first love, going to the settlement schools -- the full round of living is here. Jean writes with such tenderness at times that one murmures an apology for intruding on the family circle." -- Chicago Tribune
" Singing Family of the Cumberlands, her memoir about growing up in Perry County, is considered a gem of Appalachian literature." -- Jason Howard, Kentucky Living
""Her memoire about growing up in Perry County is considered a gem of Appalachian literature."" -- Kentucky Living
""Ritchie writes as she sings -- naturally and with an instinctive sense for rhythms. Her story of her rearing in the hill-circled town of Viper is simple, vivid, and moving.... A beautiful story of American living."" -- New York Herald Tribune
""The Ritchies are rare peope, of sturdy poineer stock. Jean Ritchie sees them fondly, and the reader is likely to share her warmth."" -- New York Times Book Review
"Ritchie writes as she sings -- naturally and with an instinctive sense for rhythms. Her story of her rearing in the hill-circled town of Viper is simple, vivid, and moving.... A beautiful story of American living." -- New York Herald Tribune
"The remarkably gentle nature of the book seems even more remarkable when on considers its locale -- the stern, rugged Cumberland Mountains, a stratified rock escarpment in the Appalachian Range. Seen through the gracious prose of Jean Ritchie, however, the cruel, forbidding mountains become kindly shields against the bustling outside work." -- Saturday Review of Literature
"The rich headnotes and photographs speak to the regional culture, the history of the songs and the family's life of simple, enduring values." -- Come-All-Ye
"The Ritchies are rare peope, of sturdy poineer stock. Jean Ritchie sees them fondly, and the reader is likely to share her warmth." -- New York Times Book Review
"What a pleasure it is to have this book back in print... each time I open it and re-read the lyrics, I can hear, in my mind's ear, Jean Ritchie's voice, as so many have heard it, clear, calm, and strong." -- Paintsville Herald