I can hardly find the words to say how much this book has brought to me. It’s a self-revelatory book and lets us into this person’s effort to understand her own thinking as a teen and young adult.
I first learned about it from a local story that about this young woman who grew up in the former coal country of Tazewell County in Southwest Virginia. She now lives in Nelson County and works at UVa in the English Department, having written a NYT best seller that was given a positive review (very worth reading). So, before reading the book, I knew that Emilee Hackney (her pen name) had become deeply involved with a Pentecostal church, had made her way to Harvard, and had come back to Virginia. Of course, this part of Virginia, though close to the mountains, is prosperous, unlike Southwest Virginia.
What I found that was intriguing was the intense interest in the Pentecostal church that she was drawn to by a too-old boyfriend. She examined what she thought in those times when she hoped to have enough faith to speak in tongues and to become willing to obey her boyfriend in all things. I reflected on my own teenage years and reject the notion that my friends and I would be that uncritical. We prided ourselves on being independent thinkers, certainly mistakenly, but it’s hard to imagine us accepting those ideas.
It was amazing to read of the dramatic turns she took during high school and the years after that. Although she did seem to accept the boyfriend’s world view, she did deviate from him enough to attend the local community college. That was a key factor in her ability to make her way to Harvard. Having worked at the community college here in Charlottesville, I was touched by that; in fact, years ago I encountered the librarian at her college and had great respect for her. I knew several students at Piedmont Virginia Community College who went to prestigious four-year colleges, including many who went to UVa.
Becoming a successful student at Harvard was difficult; she felt very alone, and it took a few key connections to make it work. One was the support and encouragement of Michael Pollan who taught a writing class. He wrote one of the most influential books I have read, The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Another important support was a boyfriend, Patrick, another Harvard student who didn’t fit the usual mold. She believed that she would return to Southwest Virginia and would be able to find a job. The failing coal market had changed the economy there dramatically and the pandemic which came the spring of her last year of school must have made it clear she would have to look elsewhere for work.
There’s so much in this book I have left unmentioned and I strongly recommend reading this amazing book.
Emilee Hackney, All That’s Unseen, Penguin Press, 2026, 368 pages (I read the Kindle version). Available in the public library, but I understand there’s a long wait for it.