For this installment of our weekly book reviews from Booklist, the American Library Association’s nationally distributed book and media review publication, we have Carrie Rasak’s review of “All That’s Unseen: An Appalachian Memoir” by Emilee Hackney, first published June 3, 2026, in Booklist Online.
Enjoy.
“All That’s Unseen: An Appalachian Memoir”
By Emilee Hackney. July 2026. 384p. Penguin, $32 (9780593831403).
Appalachia is a polarizing place. Many media representations depict it as poverty-ridden and depressing, a place people stay if they have no other options. It’s also home to beautiful rolling hills and tight-knit groups of people who band together through tough times. Hackney, who grew up in Tazewell, Virginia, part of Appalachian coal country, has written a compelling memoir that documents her family’s history as well as her experiences growing up. Her identity is ever-changing: she goes from being a conservative Christian to a wild child to, when finally leaving her home, a Harvard undergraduate. At Harvard, she struggles at first with some cultural clashes but ultimately carves a place for herself in Cambridge, though her roots call her back. 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.— Carrie Rasak
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