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The Hum and the Shiver
- The Tufa Novels, Book 1
- Narrated by: Emily Janice Card, Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
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The Hum and the Shiver
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Publisher's Summary
In this valley songs live … and kill.
No one knows where the Tufa came from or how they ended up in the mountains of east Tennessee. When the first Europeans came to the Smoky Mountains, the Tufa were already there. Dark-haired and enigmatic, they live quietly in the hills and valleys of Cloud County, their origins lost to history. But there are clues in their music, hidden in the songs they have passed down for generations.
Private Bronwyn Hyatt, a true daughter of the Tufa, has returned from Iraq, wounded in body and spirit, but her troubles are far from over. Cryptic omens warn of impending tragedy, while a restless “haint” has followed her home from the war. Worse yet, Bronwyn has lost touch with herself and with the music that was once a part of her life. With death stalking her family, will she ever again join in the song of her people and let it lift her onto the night winds?
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Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- T. L. Walker
- 01-10-15
Excellent story that combines music and folklore
I should briefly point out that in this book the term “the hum and the shiver” is used frequently and in many beautifully poetic ways. It can be used to express many different things in the Tufa life.
Don’t think you’re going to get just a flowery book about music and magic. There’s politics at play among the Tufa. While many believe them to be one people, they are actually two separate and equally power factions of people who don’t like each other much and seem to be vying for power. Don’s story can seem a little disjointed from the rest of the book until you keep in mind there is a power struggle going on. Also, there’s much prejudice that the Tufa deal with, especially with the state trooper that patrols the area whose role isn’t much more than to be your standard racist villain. There’s also a few villains among their own including a man named Dwayne Gitterman, an ex-boyfriend of Bronwyn’s, who has “burned” the music out of him through his own evil. While he’s more interesting as a villain for this, he isn’t much better a villain than the state trooper except for his Tufa connection. This is redneck country, expect some ugliness is what I’m saying–in language and actions. It’s totally in keeping with the setting of such a story, but it may offend some.
I will admit in explaining the Tufa at points I think Bledsoe was trying to be as plain as possible for clarity’s sake, but instead those passages started to feel redundant and had me asking, “What can’t the Tufa do? Can one Superman punch someone into the sun? Asking for a friend.” On their own land, they hold a lot of power. Some people may even ask why would the Tufa even ever leave their lands with that in mind, but just because something is the “best” thing for you doesn’t mean that your heart doesn’t long to see things, to see the outside world, to have new experiences, even if that means weakening yourself or facing the unknown to do it. People run from their heritage all the time. That’s part of why Bronwyn left and she is hardly the first Tufa to leave, even in her family, but she found the need to be home greater than her need for something different. Bronwyn as a character left me conflicted. She was selfish and selfless, and maybe that describes most of us. However, so many of her actions that seemed selfless also seemed to really further her own selfish actions. Despite the terror she’s been through, though, she is still a twenty-year-old woman barely out of girlhood and it shows. She’s strong, weak, self, sexual, and a million other things, and despite this, we need rounded female characters that don’t just embody our idea of what a heroine of a story should be.
The love interests of the story come in two forms. One is a older teenaged boy (which may squick some people because he is like seventeen), Terry-Joe Gitterman, the brother of Bronwyn’s former boyfriend, and a pastor ten years Bronwyn’s senior named Craig. Tufa don’t have religion per se. That’s not to say they don’t believe in God, but they have their own beliefs and they are very private about them. So, giving Bronwyn a Christian love interest was intriguing. Both provided different angles to Bronwyn’s idea of love and sex, and in the end I really thought Bledsoe did something unique where this love triangle was concerned. While I did think Bledsoe played it a little safe with Craig, doing much to make him so likable despite him not really being someone the Tufa would open up to, I did like that Bledsoe presented Christianity not as something that should be about brimstone and fire but as about your actions and what you do to help your fellow man without their being some burdened placed on the actions because “God is watching!” In other words, Craig did things because he knew they were the right thing to do, and he didn’t condemn those he helped because they might not believe as he did. I only say he played it safe because there were moments when he did have the Christianity be so “in your face” and then back away from it instead of leading to more challenging conversations.
About halfway through the book, I stopped listening to the narration. My reasoning for this is because Card’s voice reminded me too much of the lady who co-narrated the novel, Wreckage (and that book annoyed me, so she faced a prejudiced in me getting to really enjoy her narration) and didn’t fit how I think Bronwyn–young, yet old all at the same time–would sound like, which came off too flighty and just didn’t feel right. Also, Card wasn’t really singing the verses in the book more than chanting them when I was looking to hear some twangy, bluegrass type music for the Tufa songs. As for Rudnicki, his voice was so deep that it distracted me. I love deep-voiced narrators both male and female, but his voice actually lulled me and made me miss bits of the story because it was easy to get caught up in his voice, which is very musical in nature compared to Card’s. Don’t let my thoughts on the narration deter you from listening to it, though, if you’re considering the audiobooks. Fun fact: Card attributes Rudnicki for much of her training.
I would be lying if I said that part of my ratings and feeling on these books come from many reasons aside from just the story itself. I connected with the story as a southerner and knowing how small towns can be with their secrets and their “haints.” Secondly, and the larger reason I started this series, is that I love books that combine music and magic in inventive ways. As a musician, I could relate too well to so many lines in this books about the hum and the shiver. My instructor was one of those people who believed you had people who played music and then you had people who music was so much a part of them that to rip music from their soul would surely kill them. She always said proudly that music was in my soul, and she still brags to this day about me being the youngest child she’s ever taken as a piano student because she “saw” something in me. I played a few other instruments, but the piano is my Magda (what Bronwyn calls her mandolin and most treasured instrument). In a way, she believed much of what this books believed, but in a much more realistic way. And I can name a few musicians that can touch me in a way that feels like something short of magic. This book does a beautiful job of capturing that feeling, the emotions and stories that music can capture in them. And I truly appreciate it for that
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16 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- bluestategirl
- 06-11-11
Lacking something important
I really wanted to like this book, and at times I found it promising. It wasn't until the last third or so that I felt a deep disappointment. If it was supposed to be about a strange tribe of people with a mysterious past, it failed to create the right atmosphere. While bits and pieces of the mystery are sprinkled throughout, it really isn't about that at all. It's all done so vaguely that when something finally happens it's hard to tell that it's happened. (Were they flying at the dance? why not say so?)
It IS about pettiness and violence and a spoiled brat of a female lead. And it's about the people who know there's something weird going on but who can't find out anything. Ultimately, it was a disjointed letdown, as if even the author didn't know what it was about. I will take a look at the reviews for book 2 before I decide to buy it. I hope the author stops being so tentative about the Tufa, and leaves out the red necks and white trash element. I also thought the foul language was gratuitous. Why would a Tufa join the military and fight in a war? I just didn't get it. Why would Tufa go to college? It made no sense.
The part where the two men finally go to look at the painting was absurd. They recognize a character from the painting while describing it as showing a woman from the back. How do you recognize someone from the back?
I also really didn't care for the shared narration -- it was distracting and odd. Either reader would have been fine alone, but not both.
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13 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 02-02-12
The Hum and the .... Ummm?
I enjoyed the characters in this book, I loved the setting and I adored the premise. Mountain folk in Tennessee are known for being steeped in tradition, superstition and folklore, and the author slipped the story into that setting flawlessly. The trouble was, the story lacked excitement. It was driven along by strong characters for as far as they could take it, but in the end, sadly, the story itself fell flat. In short, this book was good, but not gripping.
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12 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Bonnie
- 18-10-11
Fantastic new paranormal
First book in series, there are two narrators and I think they do a wonderful job. I am familiar with Stefan Fudnicki, but not with Emily Janice Card. The story revolves around a group of people called the Tufa. They lived in an area of Tennessee, and was there when the first white men came to the area. I don't want to give away the story, because it progresses, and you find out things that will draw you into the characters. I can't wait for the next book in this series. I have read others by Ales Bledsoe, but I think this series will be something far above his others.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Bonnie Buchanan
- 01-08-21
Couldn’t Finish
y? not sure if was just a very slow start or the languid pace of story, but I give, just couldn’t hold my interest...Hope You fare better..
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Joe
- 03-10-11
Great characters
Sometimes i'm not certain if it's the book or my mood...i really enjoyed this one, but it was a little too vanilla. The plot and characters were terrific, but it needed more intensity to be five stars...and that won't make sense until you listen to it. I do recommend it for it's great characters and the theory behind the book. I hope we see more of this story in a second or third book. I find that first books in series tend to be less detailed and lacking direction when compared to the middle or end of a series..
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
- Moxie
- 08-05-21
DNF
I really did try. I didn't like any single part of it. Not the characters, not the writing, not the premise, not the truly shoddy treatment of a minority group, just horrific.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Elizabethe of Saratoga Springs
- 22-12-20
too slow, bad language, weak plot
read ten chapters and just couldn't like it well enough to finish it. it has an interesting premise, but didn't live up to it's potential, and the bad language was too much to ignore when the book was so slowly paced. I usually finish even mediocre books, but just gave up on this one.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Joseph C.
- 22-06-17
A romance novel, plain and simple
I wanted to give up on this book several time but figured, what the hell.
throwaway book you can take to the beach
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Audrey
- 09-04-17
not bad
The story was fine. The use of two narrators was unnecessary and awkwardly executed. Would have preferred just one.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 11-03-12
At last, a fantasy with a bit of depth !
Just finished listening to this, thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't normally write reviews, but I can't let this one go completely unreviewed, it deserves to be listened to.
I'm sure you can all read reviews of the paper version of this book. Do that now. The first three reviews I read all seem to capture the essence.
I liked this book because it starts off as a complete mystery. There is the ongoing story concerning the return of Bronwyn from Iraq, her convalesence and re-integration into Tufa society, her reaction to and handling of an impending crisis. There is also the drip, drip, drip of snippets of information concerning the Tufa, what they are and where they come from.
There are a lot of characters, all richly detailed. No-one is completely explained, everyone has more history you can learn, no character is too simplistic, they all seem so complicated that it really piques your interest as to where they are going and what will become of them.
Parents beware, though ! I was thinking that this would be a perfect recommendation for my 15-year old daughter (to get her away from yet more vampire stories), but the sexual references are frequent and leave little to the imagination - quite a distraction when you're listening in the car on the way home from work !
All in all, a satisfying listen and I finished the book wanting more. I shall certainly keep a watch out for any succeeding books in the series.
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10 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Deborah
- 05-05-12
Engaging and different
A strange mix of a book - I was setting myself up for a standard mystery-folk-who-might-be-magical-living-with nature sorta thing, but was quite quickly jarred out of that. The Tufa are no cute backwoods folk, strummin' their guitars and spouting homilies; they can be nasty, crude and casually violent. On the other hand, they love their children, respect their parents and get joy from their music. So in short they can come across as normal folk - but there's a strangeness about them and what's with their music???
So what is this story? It's essentially about Bronwyn, who spent her early years fighting what she saw as a pre-ordained path by rebelling with a capital "R" and ultimately running away to the army. The book starts with her coming home from Iraq a decorated and (reluctantly on her part ) much feted hero. She's been badly injured, and as she struggles to sort out her concussed head and traumatised body, things are not quite as she expected back home. There's a "haint" - or ghost - that needs to talk with her, the family are seeing death omens everywhere, there's a new preacher trying with patient decency to engage with his new flock, and there's an underlying sense of threat. There are a host of well drawn supporting characters, a well conceived and developed world, and if things are a tad slow to start with, they gather a pace and I was totally absorbed by the final sections.
There's a fair degree of swearing and while there's no loving descriptions of sex, seemingly essential in certain genres these days, there's sexual talk and imagery, some of it pretty crude. It's in context though, and mostly sits within the storyline, altho it grated occasionally.
As to the narration - there are two narrators, alternating chapters, or clusters of chapters. Both do fine, but he has a very distinct, dark, deep voice that took me a while to take to - that said, by the end he sounded just fine! Well read, characters well inhabited and differentiated - a good listen.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Paul D
- 01-12-13
Good for the gardening/walking/whatever
Is there anything you would change about this book?
No it is what it is. A lightweight listen.
What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)
It does not end . . . .sequel. No great cliff hanger, "chapter 1" ends. Am I bothered about what becomes of these character . . . No not really,nobody that interesting.
Did the narration match the pace of the story?
Narration fine, handled the provide d material fine.
Was The Hum and the Shiver worth the listening time?
Difficult. As my header suggests, fine to listen to while busy doing other things. Tis lightweight and perhaps ideal for this. Nothing to keep me riveted on its own.
Any additional comments?
I did feel that the author was "new" and trying a little too hard to be modern and cutting edge. Sex was dropped in, nothing wrong with that, but I felt it was a little forced. A young author out to show how liberated they were. I am probably wrong, sorry grandma.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mrs MJ Harrop-Davies
- 19-03-22
What a fabulous find !
I was getting stressed trying to choose a book and this one was included so I pressed play more out of desperation.
I almost gave up two chapters in as it’s not my usual type of book and wasn’t sure where it was going. I’m so glad I left it on.
A fantastic story that grew slowly, I really connected to the people, I loved the fact that the women were the strong ones and the story wove around them. It wasn’t forced or making a point .
I would have loved to know more ,
The narration was good . I liked the male and female narrators , it still felt like a book but with believable voices.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Annie
- 24-10-14
The Hum and the Shiver.
Any additional comments?
I chose this book. It was not my usual read, but something intrigued me. Then it took four attempts before I got into it. I really think that it is worth a try. Now I will look out for book two.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Colin
- 31-03-22
Reasonable Yarn
Story entertaining, but unnecessarily crude at times for my taste. Nothing particularly wrong with the narration, but didn't see the need for two voices. Didn't work for me.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Ailsa
- 06-02-22
Entertaining tale with disturbing undertones
I’m not a fan of audiobooks but ill health forced them into my life so when i find a book that I actively want to listen to, it’s a real treat. I love the surreal, magical fable aspect of the book but I really enjoyed the way contemporary social issues and behaviours were addressed. There are plenty of gritty, resourceful woman and some awful discrimination has been thrown at them. Yet they survive. As does the music which gives them all a voice.
I was quite happy with the two narrators and they fit each other well.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 14-12-21
Powerful
this book grips you from the start and takes you on a thought proving journey. the narration is good.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Miss K Wait
- 09-07-14
An unexpected surprise
The most enjoyable part of the experience was the story, which was unusual for me enough to keep me hanging. The characters are well fleshed out and have substance. The challenge with the story is that while it is set in our world, it is describing something that is super natural. But the complexities of everyday life and challenges are familiar enough. It reminded me of the 'Wood Wife', another similar story. In terms of audio I liked the realistic American accents of the narrator which brought the story to life. AS a non/native english speaker, I wouldn't be able to read the book on its own as phonetics in english are harder to read for me. Plus I tend to listen on the go when I don't have time to sit and read.
Overall it is a good book with some rivoting themes, I particularly like that fact that the characters are able to evolve in some way and that they can be critical of their own environment. In other words they are quite realistic. This can be rare in fantasy fiction.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Janeyann Is
- 16-04-23
ho hum..no shiver
teenage rebel leaves narrow culture, returns home, rediscovers place in community, lots of trips down memory lane. lots of kicking at constrictions of cultural and familial expectations. lots of other characters introduced and could have been interesting but they just popped in to move the story forward an incremental inch and petered out. few people die at the end and she gets burst of clarity..all sorted decisions made rest of life planned with no consultation with those she's planning it with.
nice soothing voice but let down by long-winded uneventful story
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Catherine
- 23-08-17
Fantastic
The story intertwined old traditions and current culture really well. They chose a great voice for it as well. If you enjoy fantasy fiction and faeries then this could be for you. I have bookmarked the rest of the series now as follow up listening material
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