Taps for Private Tussie

Taps for Private Tussie remains Jesse Stuart’s most well-known novel. Soldier Kim Tussie’s death brings his widow, Vittie, $10,000 in insurance money. Innocent young Sid Tussie describes what happens when a poor mountain clan comes into sudden wealth and their antics become a tale of high comedy, as forty-six Tussies pack themselves into their new “mansion” and proceed to live the good life—until something unexpected ended it all. The Beverly Hillbillies television show was loosely based on this novel.