From the back of the book- Growing up amid Kansas wheat fields and airplane factories, Sarah Smarsh witnessed firsthand the particular vulnerabilities—and strengths—of women in working poverty. Meanwhile, country songs by female artists played in the background, telling powerful stories about life, men, hard times, and surviving. In her family, she writes, “country music was foremost a language among women. It’s how we talked to each other in a place where feelings aren’t discussed.” And no one provided that language better than Dolly Parton.
Smarsh challenged a typically male vision of the rural working class with her first book, Heartland, starring the bold, hard-luck women who raised her. Now, in She Come By It Natural, originally published in a four-part series for The Journal of Roots Music, No Depression, Smarsh explores the overlooked contributions to social progress by such women—including those averse to the term “feminism”—as exemplified by Dolly Parton’s life and art.
Far beyond the recently resurrected “Jolene” or quintessential “9 to 5,” Parton’s songs for decades have validated women who go unheard: the poor woman, the pregnant teenager, the struggling mother disparaged as “trailer trash.” Parton’s broader career—from singing on the front porch of her family’s cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains to achieving stardom in Nashville and Hollywood, from “girl singer” managed by powerful men to leader of a self-made business and philanthropy empire—offers a springboard to examining the intersections of gender, class, and culture.
Infused with Smarsh’s trademark insight, intelligence, and humanity, She Come By It Natural is a sympathetic tribute to the icon Dolly Parton and—call it whatever you like—the organic feminism she embodies.
Review- An interesting series of essays about how Dolly Parton is seen by the people that she writes about in her songs, the rural and working poor. Smarsh grew up working poor and she watched her mother and grandmother listen and live the songs that Parton writes. Smarsh interviews many people, those around Parton herself, Smarsh’s friends, and music industry experts about Patron, her influence, and her business sense. Smarsh has a deep respect and love for Parton and that is reflected in these essays. The book is broken up into different sections about different times in Parton’s life and in the world around her. From when she was the ‘girl singer’ on the Porter Wagoner Show to being the boss and owning her own music label. It is an inspiring journey, about an inspiring and kind woman. We could stand to be a little more like Dolly.
I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.
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