Linda S. Clare is an
award-winning author and coauthor of several books and has also published many essays, stories, and poems in publications, including The Christian Reader, The Denver Post, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Her most recent book is A Sky without Stars, the newest release in Abingdon’s Quilts of Love line. Born in Arizona, Linda and her husband now make their home in Eugene, Oregon, where Linda has taught college-level creative writing classes, and writes, edits, and mentors other writers. She also is a frequent writing conference presenter, a church retreat leader, and mom to four grown children and five wayward cats.
Learn more about Linda and her books on her Website
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Frankie Chasing Bear is caught between cultures. She wants to raise her son Harold to revere his Lakota heritage, but she also thinks he will need to learn the white man’s ways to succeed. After the untimely death of her husband, Frankie joins the U.S. Government’s Relocation Program and moves to Arizona. There she begins sewing a Lakota Star pattern quilt for Harold with tribal wisdom sung, sewn, and prayed into it.
A bed without a quilt is like a sky without stars, but neither the quilt—nor her new life—comes easily to Frankie. Nick Vandergriff, for instance, is the last man Frankie wants to trust. He’s half-Lakota but Christian, and Frankie can see no good coming from that faith after her own parents were forced to convert at an Indian school. Can Nick convince Frankie that white men and Christians aren’t all bad? And will Frankie learn that love is the most important ingredient—for her son’s quilt and life itself?
If you would like to read the first chapter of A Sky Without Stars, go HERE.
MY REVIEW:
With Native American ancestry in both my family and my husband’s family, I am always interested in reading about them. There have also been quite a few quilters in our families and I have quilted some myself so the entire Quilts of Love series has been special. A Sky Without Stars combines the two and was both entertaining and informative.
Interestingly enough, the novel took place the year I was born. I was somewhat surprised at the amount of prejudice toward the Native Americans that was still prevalent during that era and also by the contempt so many of them held toward the “white God”. A Sky Without Stars opened my eyes to how these people were treated – possibly with good intentions to help improve their lives but with total disregard to their history and culture. No wonder they resisted the gospel!
I enjoyed A Sky Without Stars very much. The story was well-written and easy to read with strong characters that I could care about. Situations and emotions throughout the book were realistic and believable. I liked how everything was resolved at the end and would not mind reading more about these characters. I actually hated to see the story end.
