The Moonshine Women
- Judith D Collins
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
ISBN: 9781496748300
Publisher: Kensington
Publication Date: 03/31/2026
Format: Other
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
In the Prohibition era Missouri Ozarks, three sisters take over their father’s moonshine business in an evocative story of reinvention, sisterhood, and the alchemy of love for readers of Jeannette Walls, Fannie Flagg, Sue Monk Kidd, and Donna Everhart.
Every batch of Strong moonshine has its own special flavor, thanks to the secret ingredients that matriarch Lidy Strong adds to the barrels of fermenting corn mash. Whether a bucketful of golden peaches, a ripe melon or juicy, jewel-toned berries, that extra “something something” is what makes the Strong “shine” so prized—and allows the family to survive after crop prices plummeted in the wake of the Great War.
Each of the Strong sisters, too, is distinct. Stoic, steadfast Rebecca would rather be with her beloved farm animals or off hunting in the woods than socializing. Middle sister Elsie is kindhearted, beautiful—and itching for a life more thrilling than the farm can offer. Jace, the youngest, is known far and wide as “Shine,” a name that suits her fiery personality and flaming red hair as much as her innate skill with a still.
Their father, Hiram, has been drowning himself in grief and liquor ever since his wife died. But the moonshine business is unforgiving, especially with Prohibition agents turning up in every creek and holler. When tragedy strikes, it falls to the Strong women to keep the still running, the family together, and hope burning on the horizon.
From the Ozark mountains edged in oak and pine, to the outlaw paradise of Hot Springs, Arkansas—where gangsters like Al Capone line the bar at the Southern Club—the sisters’ quests for vengeance, healing, and love will drive them forward, in search of a future as transformative and powerful as the purest Strong moonshine.
Praise
“A feminine odyssey of legendary proportions, The Moonshine Women absolutely brims with hope, heat, and heart. Tender and gripping, this story is juicy all the way down to the last drop.” —Amy Jo Burns, author of Shiner
“This captivating story of family secrets, vengeance, run-ins with the law, and even gangsters such as Al Capone, are impeccably crafted. The descriptive prose will have you breathing in the Ozark mountain air as the determined Strong sisters do whatever it takes to keep their family together, and they’ll leave you thinking about them long after closing the book.”
—Loretta Ellsworth, author of The French Winemaker’s Daughter on The Moonshine Women
“A must-purchase for Ozarks-region libraries. Recommended for readers who enjoy novels about strong women characters and rural survival.”
—Library Journal on The Moonshine Women
“From the Missouri hills to the flashy resort town of Hot Springs (where even Al Capone enjoys the nightlife), the fierce protagonists of The Moonshine Women find their own places in this turbulent world but never break the bonds of love and respect that tie them together. This is a rip-roaring family saga that proves a man can't hold a candle to a woman when it comes to protecting—and avenging—the ones you love. ”
—Melanie Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Children's Blizzard
About the Author
Michelle Collins Anderson grew up on a farm in the Missouri Ozarks — a place and a way of life that has shaped her writing. She received her MFA in Fiction from Warren Wilson College and has a journalism degree from the University of Missouri.
Her short fiction has appeared in Nimrod International Journal #37 Awards Edition, Literal Latté, Midwestern Gothic, bosque, The Lascaux Review, Pooled Ink, Literary Mama, The Green Hills Literary Lantern and The Sulphur River Literary Review. Michelle has been an adjunct professor at the University of Missouri and Stephens College, taught creative writing at her local elementary school, and serves on the board of The Missouri Review.
She and her husband have three adult children and live in a 1907 brick row house in St. Louis, Missouri, with two sister cats and a rambunctious border collie. WEBSITE
