She Come By It Natural

In this Time Top 100 Book of the Year, music writer Sarah Smarsh – author of Heartland, a 2018 National Book Award finalist – details how country superstar Dolly Parton forged her success.

Smarsh developed this chronicle from her 2016 articles in No Depression magazine – which covers the roots music known as Americana. Smarsh examines female resilience and power through the lens of Parton’s art and life. Drawing on her own upbringing in rural poverty, Smarsh showcases Parton’s journey from Appalachia to global stardom, her music and her innate feminism, and how they exemplify and illuminate an often misunderstood and discounted American subculture.