Barbara’s Pick
January 2021
She Come by It Natural
Sarah Smarsh
If anyone came out of 2020 smelling like a rose, it had to be Dolly Parton. She was everywhere by the end of the year thanks to a new Christmas recording and holiday TV special and a coffee table tome on a few of her 3,000+ songs. This book, originally written as a four-part magazine series, is all about Dolly Parton and her relationship with her people—the women whose causes she has championed her entire life.
Smarsh’s first book, Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth, was a finalist for the 2018 National Book Award. (If you haven’t read it, please do. It’s an eye opener.) Her Grandma Betty, a fan favorite, appears in She Come by It Natural as one of the women who let Dolly speak for her. Parton does not label herself as a feminist, but her songs speak for the marginalized and silent. She leads by example when she overturns the status quo, escapes male “mentorship,” and becomes a philanthropist. The contrast of Parton’s story with Smarsh’s personal connection is compelling.
This book is a relatively quick read, but I promise it is worth it. I dare you not to be humming a Dolly tune by the end!