The prominent role that social conflict, particularly as it involves the impoverished and illiterate mountain people of East Tennessee, plays in Christy reflects Catherine Marshall's interest in social issues. The mountaineers depicted in this novel suffer from the material and educational deprivation which have been longstanding problems in Appalachia. When nineteen-year-old Christy Huddleston leaves home to teach and minister to the people of the Smoky Mountains, she finds primitive conditions she had not thought possible in the twentieth century. She is told that outsiders are not welcome and that she may face violence in response to her attempts to upgrade the mountaineers' social and educational position. As she learns more about the people of Cutter's Gap, Christy commits herself to the betterment of their welfare. She is joined by others, such as Miss Alice, the young Minister David Grantland and Dr. Neil MacNeil. Among their goals...