Book Blurb:
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 listeners 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.
My Review:
Three sisters in the Ozarks during Prohibition. Definitely could write a book regarding the sisters in that setting, but this is more complicated than that, given the family dynamic on a farm in the Missouri mountains. Rebecca, Elsie, and Shine, in that order from oldest to youngest, the latter being the sister most likely to follow in daddy’s footsteps. She has a whip-smart wit and sense about her that clearly deems her the designated heir apparent who will carry on the family business.
Yeah, moonshine. Not like it’s new to them because of Prohibition. No self-respecting farm family would buy booze when they could make their own—and better. Grandma Liddy had her secret recipes, it’s very popular and kept food on the table.
The Strong family were pretty careful with not only the location of their still, but the trafficking of it as well. When daddy Hiram is picked off by a federal agent, Shine harbors a vendetta. She’ll find the man who killed her Pa and make him pay.
I greatly enjoyed the first part of the novel, introducing and fleshing the characters and there were quite a number of them besides the three sisters. The main characters each had strong and unique characteristics of their own and they carried a strong bond for each family member.
I also enjoyed the description of the area, the hills, and the shout-outs to the different major historical points such as Al Capone, the impact of the stock market crash, and particularly the stories of Hot Springs. We got to experience those hot springs a couple years ago—those wonderful warm, mineral hot baths then in it’s infancy, now a destination.
The second half spreads thin with the safe marketing and distribution of their product and detailed ideas for safe transport. A romance is introduced which always slows the telling for me. It’s a storyline featuring real historic events, family secrets, love and loss, and vengeance. You’ll enjoy this historical fiction if you are into Prohibition era novels and descriptive visions of the Ozark Mountains.
Many thanks to my local library for providing me with the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. The thoughts expressed here are my own.
Rosepoint Publishing: Three point Five Stars 
Book Details:
Genre: Small Town & Rural Fiction, Coming of Age Fiction
Publisher: Recorded Books
Narrators: Libby McKnight, Graham Winton
Release Date: March 31, 2026
Title Links:
Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo
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 debut novel, The Flower Sisters, was an instant USA Today bestseller and won the Missouri Library Association Literary Award in 2025. Her second novel, The Moonshine Women, is forthcoming from Kensington in March 2026. Michelle’s short fiction has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and appeared in Nimrod International Journal, Literal Latté, Midwestern Gothic, Elder Mountain: A Journal of Ozarks Studies, Literary Mama and more. She and her husband have three adult children and live in St. Louis with two sister cats and a rambunctious border collie.
©2026 V Williams
Rosepoint Publishing 