My thoughts
This author has written a beautiful book here. It's sad, happy, funny, tragic and yes sad again. But also hopeful. The author of the wonderful ONE FOR THE BLACKBIRD, ONE FOR THE CROW, and a few others, knocked another one out of the literary park.
Del is married to the county's most beloved minister Ian. He's the minister of the Church of God with Signs Following. Everyone thinks he is the most wonderful loving god fearing man ever. Del knows a different side to him though. When she can't seem to deal with his going astray she hops a train to get away from him and everything she is sick of. She meets Louisa Trout and learns the way of life as a hobo. They have rules and I was surprised by this. The things they won't do for fear of ruining things for other hobos coming that way.
Louisa is working her way to the West coast to pick apples. She needs the money so she can go back and take care of her son. The Great Depression is at it's worse and she did what she had to to keep him alive. He's her one true love. The thing she would die for. Louisa wants a good life. She yearns for a better way. When she meets Del she's a bit puzzled at first that Del would give up a life so filled with luxury to live life jumping trains and working at whatever you can find. She finally learns why and tells Del her secret also. They become the very best of friends.
This story takes you through many states. Small towns with descriptions to help you see what life was like back in the beginnings of the 1930s. How poor people were. How mean some could be. How judgmental a preacher could be. When the bible says to help the poor and yet Ian runs them away. Calls them lazy without even trying to find out what or who they are. You get to know Del and Louisa very well. The love they share. The depths of their journey. All they go through. How they always come back for each other....
A couple of my favorite lines:
"The day I met Louisa Trout, it was June in the sky but October in the Earth." (I love that).
"You came back for me." (A very important line.)
One that makes you stop and see exactly how women were and many times are treated by men. Religious men in particular:
"But what did God have to say to the women of His church? Repent, you sinners-you ingresses of evil, you wellsprings of lust and disgrace. Be meek, be silent, and let Man guide you, guard you, tell you how to think, tell you how to speak, tell you how to live." (This truly makes me sick. So many women believe they are not above this.)
You have to read this book if you have read any of Olivia Hawker's books and loved them. If you haven't you still should grab a copy of this and devour it. It's so good. Yes it will make you cry. But it will give you so much more. It's just that good y'all..
Be sure and read the Author's note. You'll learn a bit about Tin Moan and how this book came to be. It's very interesting. Or was to me.
Thank you #NetGalley, #OliviaHawker, #LakeUnionAuthors for this ARC. This is my true thoughts about this book.
Five big stars. Read it with a few kleenex handy. Enjoy. I know you will.
Synopsis
In Depression-era Kentucky, a defiant wife embarks on an impulsive and liberating journey in a powerful novel by the bestselling author of One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow and The Ragged Edge of Night.
Del Wensley, wife of the most celebrated preacher in Harlan County, tries to mind her place. Until her husband’s infidelity pushes an already strained marriage to a breaking point. Clinging to her last hope for self-respect, Del turns her back on the rigid life she’s known. A coal train is rolling through the valley. With her eyes wide open to the unfamiliar, and to the freedom she craves, Del takes to the rails.
Rumbling across America, Del is soon drawn into a transient community among outcasts—and finds a special friend in Louisa Trout. A nomadic single mother, Louisa teaches Del the ways of the boxcars and promises to help her reach a migrant enclave where Del can learn the skills she’ll need to survive. But as they move forward together under desperate circumstances, even the closest of bonds threatens to break.
With the Depression taking its toll, Del must gather her strength and faith. As she carries on toward one unknown after another, her life becomes a fulfilling, sometimes dangerous, and exhilarating adventure. But no matter the risks, it’s a life that she alone controls.
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