A Land More Kind than Home

Wiley Cash’s novel A Land More Kind Than Home (2012) is set in rural tobacco country in North Carolina. It focuses on the events that unfold over just a few days involving a charismatic church and its leader, Pastor Carson Chambliss. The story is told in alternating points of view from the perspectives of three characters, each of whom witnesses the events that unfold from a different angle. The story speaks to themes of The Influence of Religious Fervor, The Danger of Secrets and Silence, and The Pursuit of Justice and Healing.

Cash—the author of three additional novels, including The Last Ballad (2017)—is regarded as a writer of rural noir (sometimes called Southern noir). Such work focuses on the dark experiences of tight-knit Southern communities. A Land More Kind Than Home was Cash’s debut novel and received numerous accolades, including the Thomas Wolfe Book Prize, the Maine Reader’s Choice Award, the Southern Book Prize, the Crook’s Corner Book Prize, the Appalachian Writers Association’s Book of the Year, and the Crime Writers Association’s Debut of the Year in the UK. Cash’s other novels have been honored with the Southern Book Prize, the Indie Next Pick Book, the American Library Association’s Book of the Year, the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction, the Weatherford Award, and the Bloodroot Mountain Prize, among others.

This guide refers to the 2012 hardcover edition published by Harper Collins.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide discuss mistreatment of a child with a disability, ableism, death of a loved one, murder, violence, domestic abuse, and alcohol addiction.

Plot Summary

The novel takes place in 1986 in North Carolina over the course of a few days; it alternates between three perspectives, and some of the events are presented out of order. As it opens, nine-year-old Jess Hall and his friend Joe Bill sneak away from their Sunday school class—led by Adelaide Lyle, an elderly resident of the town—to peer into the window of the local church. Though Jess’s mother, Julie Hall, has warned him not to spy on adults, Jess is curious as to why his brother is allowed to attend the service when he has been forbidden. His brother—Christopher, nicknamed “Stump”—is older but has an undiagnosed disability that prevents him from speaking. Jess and Joe Bill are alarmed when they witness the church members holding Stump down forcefully on the ground. 

In a panic, Jess calls out his mother’s name. Jess is leery both of the church—which covers its windows with newspaper to keep its activities a secret—and its pastor, Carson Chambliss, whom Jess witnessed leaving his mother’s bedroom just a few days earlier. Though too young to understand that his mother is having an affair with Chambliss, Jess senses that he has witnessed something he should not have. 

Joe Bill attempts to reassure Jess that the congregation was trying to heal Stump by laying hands on him, but Jess remains upset. After the service, Julie explains to Jess that she and the rest of the congregation heard Stump speak his first word and that she plans to bring him back to the church later that night for a prayer service. Chambliss has assured her that he can heal Stump and bring speech to him. To avoid punishment for spying, Jess does not tell Julie that the voice she heard call out “Mama” was his own. 

That night, Jess waits in the truck in the church parking lot during the service. He falls asleep but wakes up when a member of the congregation enters the truck and says that he is driving Jess to Adelaide’s home. Jess is confused but assumes that something bad must have happened to Stump. At Adelaide’s home, Julie is being comforted by several church members, and Jess is told to wait in the dining room. He witnesses two men carrying Stump inside and knows that Stump is dead. 

Jess’s father, Ben Hall, and his estranged grandfather, Jimmy Hall, arrive. Ben gets into a physical fight with some of the men from the church just before the local sheriff arrives. Jess’s grandfather drives him home while his parents remain at Adelaide’s so that the sheriff can speak with them. 

As the days following Stump’s death unfold, the novel provides the backstories of key characters in flashbacks: Adelaide recalls her decision to leave the church after Chambliss arrived and made drastic changes to the services. After a parishioner named Molly Jameson died from a snake bite during a service, Adelaide grew more convinced that Chambliss was dangerous. However, she told no one of her suspicions but instead taught the Sunday school class away from the church. She recalls delivering Stump during a snowstorm and the discovery of Stump’s disability shortly after his birth.

In addition, Sheriff Clem Barefield recalls the accidental death of his son, Jeff, during line work as an electrician. He suggests that Jeff’s death resulted from neglect by the job supervisor, Jimmy (Jess’s grandfather), who was frequently intoxicated on the job. Barefield and others know that Jimmy physically abused his son, Ben. When Ben grew up, he distanced himself from his father, refused to touch alcohol, and ultimately cut ties with Jimmy as he established his own family. 

As Barefield sets about investigating Stump’s death, he researches Chambliss’s past. Chambliss appeared suddenly from Georgia, where he had been incarcerated for producing methamphetamine and for manslaughter when a teenage girl was killed in an explosion in Chambliss’s meth shack. Chambliss was badly burned over much of his body. In prison, he began insisting that he was saved by God and that he could not be harmed by fire. His ministry grew from there, and he established a charismatic church. 

Jess is cared for by his grandfather—whom he had previously never met—in the days that follow Stump’s death. Ben begins drinking and, blaming Julie for Stump’s death, does not allow her to return to their home. She resides at Adelaide’s, though Adelaide will not allow Chambliss—whom she suspects Julie is romantically involved with—to enter her home. Julie maintains that Chambliss was attempting to heal Stump. 

Sheriff Barefield questions Adelaide, Chambliss, and others about Stump’s death. His encounter with Chambliss is a disturbing one, in which Chambliss sits in a darkened barn surrounded by his many snakes. Barefield informs him that though some of Stump’s ribs were broken, his cause of death was asphyxiation. Barefield insinuates that Chambliss (or a member of the congregation under Chambliss’s instruction) suffocated Stump. 

Jess spends more time with his grandfather and wonders why he had been absent. A few days after the funeral, which Jess’s parents do not allow him to attend, Jess reveals to his father that he witnessed Chambliss inside their home one afternoon. Ben instantly understands that Julie has been having an affair. He begins drinking heavily, and he goes to Adelaide’s home to confront Julie. While there, he threatens Chambliss. The next day, Julie makes plans to leave with Chambliss, telling Adelaide that she is certain that Ben will seriously harm Chambliss otherwise. She contacts the police station, asking for law enforcement to meet her at their home while she retrieves some items. 

When Sheriff Barefield learns of Julie’s request for a police escort, he tells his deputy that he will handle the task himself. The penultimate scene alternates between Barefield’s point of view and Jess’s: Barefield arrives at the Hall home just in time to witness Ben shooting at Chambliss’s car with a shotgun. Chambliss is killed, and Julie is injured. In the confusion, Jess steps outside. Fearing that Ben may accidentally shoot Jess, Barefield shoots and kills Ben in a split-second decision. 

At Ben’s funeral, Adelaide observes that Jimmy provides comfort and support for Jess and notes the irony that Barefield and Jimmy now both have deceased sons in the same cemetery. Shortly thereafter, someone removes the newspaper from the church windows, and the “regular” services that were held before Chambliss’s arrival resume. Adelaide returns to teaching the Sunday school class inside the church, noting that Jess continues to attend.