{"product_id":"all-thats-unseen-an-appalachian-memoir","title":"All That's Unseen: An Appalachian Memoir","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eEmilee Hackney \u003c\/b\u003egrew up in the coalfields of southwest Virginia. She graduated from Harvard University with a BA in English and briefly attended Vanderbilt University's MFA program. \n\u003ci\u003eAll That's Unseen\u003c\/i\u003e is her first book.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Hackney, an eighth-generation Appalachian, details her upbringing in the coal-mining hollers and Pentecostal churches of southwestern Virginia, including an early marriage that went darkly wrong.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Harvard graduate Hackney debuts with a thought-provoking account of her early life in Appalachian Virginia, which was characterized by lush landscapes, financial hardship, and church . . . Hackney examines the explosive intersection of charismatic Christianity, misogyny, and young love, and offers an inspiring testament to writing one's way out. This heartfelt missive successfully humanizes hot-button subjects.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Thoughtful memoir of a forgotten corner of forgotten Appalachia. The holler in southwestern Virginia in which Hackney grew up is but a small part of 'a place undefinable, so worn and wild, that had been stripped and scavenged and shaken and robbed, yet never conceded to the forces that tried to hold it down.' But, she makes clear, if there's a stubborn pride to it, then the whole region is shadowed by a sense of hopelessness. Her first book is full of both moods . . . The educational adventure she recounts includes surprising and sometimes even shocking turns, while her visits home provoke both alienation and a determination to speak up for her home and its people, victims of eternal exploitation . . . A lucid portrait and defense of a region too often caricatured but little understood.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Hackney writes as though readers are sitting at a coffee shop talking to an old friend; her irrepressible spirit and drive to make something of her life making her instantly relatable. She paints a picture of Appalachia that counters its mainstream media gloom without shying away from portraying the area's problems, bringing a refreshing blend of realism and hope.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Devastating and hopeful in turn, \n\u003ci\u003eAll That's Unseen\u003c\/i\u003e exquisitely captures a complex and contradictory world.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003eJeannette Walls, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Glass Castle \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \" \n\u003ci\u003eAll That's Unseen\u003c\/i\u003e is a searing, deeply original memoir about escaping the gravitational pull of a controlling faith and a controlling man--and discovering that leaving home is never as simple as putting miles between yourself and the mountains. Emilee Hackney traces her improbable journey from a fundamentalist Pentecostal church in the Appalachian coalfields to the halls of Harvard, and the long, difficult work of learning to trust her own mind. Told with rare courage and precision, this is a luminous, fierce, and achingly honest reckoning--a memoir about all that remains unseen until, suddenly, you can no longer look away.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003eRuth Wariner, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Sound of Gravel \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\" \n\u003ci\u003eAll That's Unseen\u003c\/i\u003e is a bold and brave memoir about home, family, community, and change. Emilee Hackney writes compellingly about the complexities of her Appalachian community, showing us both what is beautiful and what is broken. It is an always honest, at times heartbreaking, account of the ways people and places shape us forever. You can't help but root for Emilee--cheer for her success, cry for her trauma, and walk with her on her journey. From the first page, I was hooked, and I could not put this book down. This book is a wonderful read for anyone who understands what it means to leave a place, see its flaws, but still feel the pull of home.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003eCassie Chambers, author of \u003ci\u003eHill Women \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"There is so much to admire in Emilee Hackney's brilliant memoir--vivid writing, the ability to tell a story well--but what sets it apart from so many depictions of Appalachia is her refusal to sentimentalize or demonize the people and its culture. Hackney vividly acknowledges instances of ignorance and small-mindedness in Appalachia, but she refuses to shirk how often the same attributes reside in Ivy-League academia. Instead, we are given a complex, in some ways transcendent, vision of how to love and honor a place and yet also realize we must leave it. \n\u003ci\u003eAll That's Unseen\u003c\/i\u003e is a marvel.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003eRon Rash, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Caretaker \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eSerena\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eNamed a nonfiction book \"Everyone Will Be Reading This Summer\" by the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Devastating and hopeful in turn, \u003ci\u003eAll That's Unseen\u003c\/i\u003e exquisitely captures a complex and contradictory world.\" --Jeannette Walls, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Glass Castle\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn her luminous debut, Emilee Hackney offers both a love letter to and a reckoning of the place that made her--a story of losing her faith, finding her way back to her Appalachian home, and discovering what endures\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBorn and raised deep in the hollers of the Appalachian Mountains, Emilee Hackney knew little beyond the ridgelines and coalfields of southwest Virginia. As an eighth-generation Appalachian, her childhood was steeped in the stories of her grandparents--tales of the coal mines' brutal grip and the way the land, both beautiful and unforgiving, never quite let anyone go. At fourteen, Emilee meets Sam, a senior at her high school, who offers her a glimpse at a promising future together. But as they begin attending services at Deliverance Christian Church as a couple, Emilee is thrust into the radical realm of Pentecostalism. In a culture where marriage at nineteen isn't uncommon, Emilee is engaged to Sam. Eager to make her relationship work, she embraces the extremist doctrines of the religion, submitting herself fully to God, to Sam, and to a life of repentance. But what she doesn't yet know is the man she plans to marry is not who he claims to be. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eYears later, Emilee finds herself isolated from friends, family, and her own sense of truth. Wracked with shame and self-doubt, she reaches a breaking point. On the verge of spiraling out of control, in a stunning act of defiance and hope, she applies to Harvard; against all odds, she is accepted. From the magisterial mountains of Tazewell to the storied halls of Cambridge, Emilee begins the arduous process of reinventing herself and her relationships with her home, faith, and values against the backdrop of the divisive 2016 election. \n\u003ci\u003eAll That's Unseen\u003c\/i\u003e is Emilee Hackney's fiercely honest memoir about spiritual entrapment, hard-won liberation, and the courage to reclaim her voice after she had been taught to stay silent.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e 05\/04\/2026 (EAN 9780593831403, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/span\u003e 06\/01\/2026 pg. 93 (EAN 9780593831403, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e 06\/15\/2026 (EAN 9780593831403, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Penguin Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496247525654,"sku":"9780593831403","price":38.4,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9780593831403.jpg?v=1783058157","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/all-thats-unseen-an-appalachian-memoir","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}