Another Wonderful Debut

I've been taking the opportunity to catch up on reading some of the books I picked up at ICRS back in June, and I am enjoying discovering some new authors in the process. Today I'm pleased to introduce you to another wonderful debut novel.

Miracle in a Dry Season
(Appalachian Blessings, Book 1)
Sarah Loudin Thomas
(Bethany House Publishers)
ISBN: 978-0764212253
July 2014/304 pages/$14.99
In a Drought, It's the Darkest Cloud
That Brings Hope

It's 1954 and Perla Long's arrival in the sleepy town of Wise, West Virginia, was supposed to go unnoticed. She just wants a quiet, safe place for her and her daughter, Sadie, where the mistakes of her past can stay hidden. But then drought comes to Wise, and Perla is pulled into the turmoil of a town desperately in need of a miracle.

Casewell Phillips has resigned himself to life as a bachelor...until he meets Perla. She's everything he's sought in a woman, but he can't get past the sense that she's hiding something. As the drought worsens, Perla's unique gift divides the town in two, bringing both gratitude and condemnation, and placing the pair in the middle of a storm of anger and forgiveness, fear and faith.


ABOUT THE AUTHER

Photo Credit:
© Kristen Delliveniri

Sarah Loudin Thomas is a fund-raiser for a children's ministry who has also published freelance writing for Mountain Homes Southern Style and Now & Then magazines, as well as The Asheville Citizen-Times and The Journey Christian Newspaper. She holds a bachelor's in English from Coastal Carolina University. She and her husband reside in Asheville, North Carolina. Learn more at www.sarahloudinthomas.com.

MY THOUGHTS

Miracle in a Dry Season is a marvelous debut novel that transports the reader straight into the mid-1950s, to a small West Virginia town populated with an array of personalities that are, at times, painfully authentic. Perla and her daughter, Sadie, immediately captured my affection. Sarah Loudin Thomas skillfully portrays the attitudes of the era towards Perla, even-and perhaps especially-from those who call themselves Christians as they judge her by the visible consequences of her past and the strange happenings that surround her present. And while it's easy to say I've known legalistic folks such as those, Casewell reminds me to take a look inside my own heart. Simultaneously inspiring, convicting, and completely satisfying, Miracle in a Dry Season is a must for your fall reading list. I'll be watching for more from this promising author.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a copy of this book free from Baker/Bethany House Publishing at ICRS last summer. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”