MY REVIEW:
Stealing Home is a book about life in a small town in Missouri in the early 1900’s – particularly about four very different people and the circumstances that brought them together and changed their lives and the town forever. In Stealing Home each of the main characters comes to life through the detailed portrayals penned by the author so that the reader can identify with and care about each of them. The baseball theme set the pace for the entire narrative and added a unique element to the novel.
As in her earlier books, Pittman is not afraid to deal with tough realities – this time racism and alcoholism as well as the stigma faced by a handicapped person. Journal entries by Morris scattered throughout the book reveal a keen insight into the people of Picksville as seen through the eyes of a young black boy who is almost invisible to most residents because of his race.
Stealing Home is a story of despair and hope, triumph and tragedy, bad and good, but most of all redemption. It shows the way basically decent people can overcome their differences when someone else just does the right thing.
Stealing Home is a wonderful book that I would recommend to all readers. I suggest that you pick up a copy for yourself as soon as possible. You can find more information on the Random House website.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
It’s 1905 and the Chicago Cubs are banking on superstar Donald “Duke” Dennison’s golden arm to help them win the pennant. Only one thing stands between Duke and an unprecedented ten thousand dollar contract: alcohol.
That’s when sportswriter David Voyant whisks Duke to the one-horse town of Picksville, Missouri, so he can sober up in anonymity. He bides his time flirting with Ellie Jane Voyant, his unofficial chaperone, who would rather hide herself in the railway station ticket booth than face the echoes of childhood taunts.
Ned Clovis, the feed store clerk, has secretly loved Ellie Jane since childhood, but he loves baseball and the Duke almost as much–until he notices Ellie Jane may be succumbing to the star’s charm.
Then there’s Morris, a twelve-year-old Negro boy, whose only dream is to break away from Picksville. When Duke discovers his innate talent for throwing a baseball, Morris might just have found his way out.
Four individuals, each living in haunted isolation, each harboring a secret passion. Providence brings them together. Tragedy threatens to tear them apart. Will love be enough to bring them home?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Allison Pittman spent seventeen years as a high school English teacher, and then shunned the advice of “experts,” quit her day job and set out to write novels that bring glory to God. She relishes inspiring other writers and leading the theater arts group at her church. She and her husband and three sons live in Universal City, Texas.
