ISBN: 0-9728071-4-4
352 pages, 5½ x 8½,
softcover, $15.95
Jennifer and Sandra are our debut novelists from
Tennessee and Alabama respectively. Here, in their first work, they give us a superbly written book that you won't be able to put down.
They have crafted the setting in and around the towns
where they grew up, and the story is inspired by the real-life experiences
of Sandra’s grandmother.
Besides being intimately familiar with the region and the people, Sandra and
Jennifer have carefully researched the time period to make the setting
historically accurate. The story takes place in western Georgia and eastern
Alabama from the late twenties to the early thirties. Times are hard, and
the cotton industry is failing. Families need to bind together to survive.
Cultured, attractive, and strong-willed, Shelby Collins is
mature for a sixteen-year-old. She and her family live in Cartersville,
Georgia. Her mother has taken a trip to Alabama to tend Shelby’s ailing
grandmother. Shelby has been left at home to care for her younger brother
and sister and to see to the needs of her father. One night her father, who
has come home drunk, tries to molest her. Frightened, she fights him off and
flees, but it isn’t long before her angry father tracks her down and places
her in a reform school in distant Birmingham.
While Shelby is able to make a new life for herself in
Birmingham, she suffers greatly. Her happy home life is over, and it appears
she will never see it again. But, through her many difficulties, she learns
that blessings can come in unexpected ways.
This poignant and heart-warming novel addresses several
fundamental human longings. Is there an overshadowing influence for good
that can help direct our lives? Can we learn to trust again after we’ve been
betrayed? Is
there a power that can come into our hearts to help us forgive?
Click here for more information about
Jennifer Youngblood and
Sandra Poole.
Click here to read
chapter 1.
Click here for a list of
promotional appearances.
"A compelling story of family loyalty,
love, loss, and strength, as warm and fertile as the rich red clay of a
Georgia field. The inspiring, hardscrabble lives of Depression-era
southerners make for a vivid story of love and forgiveness."
—Deborah Smith,
New York Times bestselling author of A Place to Call Home.
"Livin' in High Cotton is
selling like hotcakes! It's our number one bestseller." —David
Palmer, Cold Water Books, Tuscumbia, Alabama.
“You’ve got to read this book. I
loved it. You won’t be able to put it down. It evoked so many emotions and
it was easy reading. I felt like I was actually there. It’s one of those
books you want to pick up and read a second time.”—Rilly Winkle,
Alabama TV and radio personality.
"Strongly recommended and superbly crafted reading"—Midwest Book Review
Livin' in High Cotton was adopted as course
material by Dr. Larry Adams for his course, EN 323 at the University of
Northern Alabama.
"It's not often I can recommend a
book without reservation. But I know I can recommend Livin' in High
Cotton without reservation to anyone, even church libraries, because not
only is it fast-paced and exciting, but it's clean and uplifting"
—Mary Scott Norris, librarian, Signal Mountain Public Library.
"The novel is the first work of the LDS
mother-daughter team Sandra Poole and Jennifer Leigh Youngblood and vividly
captures the depression-era South in not only its setting but also through
its engaging characters. With a combination of heartbreak, romance, and
triumph, Livin' in High Cotton is a page-turning pleasure."
—LDS Living January/February 2005
"Livin' in High Cotton," is an exciting,
well-written tale of a Depression-era family living in the rural south, torn
apart by family strife and an alcoholic father. The central character is a
young girl named Shelby Collins. When her father arrives home drunk one
night and tries to molest her, Shelby flees to the home of an aunt and
uncle, who agree to shield her and her siblings from their abusive father.
But the father manages to wrest Shelby away from them and enroll her in a
work-camp style school, getting her out of the way. Shelby's mother is away
taking care of her own ill mother, and won't return until Shelby is long
gone.
Shelby meets a young man named Harlan, and
takes an instant dislike to him. But Harlan becomes a central character in
Shelby's evolving story. We come to appreciate Harlan's presence as Shelby's
life devolves into a nightmarish existence, lending some credence to the
idea of generational curses. Can these be overcome? Can the human spirit
conquer in the midst of severe adversity?
As we journey with Shelby from life as a young girl to a devoted mother and
wife, we see in the lives of some of the characters the devastating effects
of marital infidelity and alcohol abuse. But we also see the power and
strength that can carry a person through such hard times.
I was moved by this story. The writing was very good, the characters well
defined and believable. The authors, a mother and daughter team, created
this story from the life of Sandra's grandmother, and so it rings with
authenticity and grace. And a brief epilogue rounds out the story in a
completely surprising way, bringing together the core teachings of
redemption and forgiveness. Rich in detail, carefully crafted, and only
occasionally predictable, "Livin' in High Cotton" is well worth reading.
I'm very happy to commend this book to the general reading audience. I
hope to see more from this writing team, as they surely know how to craft a
story. I really liked this book.—Jeff Needle,
Association for Mormon Letters, Aug. 1, 2004
"If you love romance, a local setting and
inspiration, all combined, look for Livin’ in High Cotton, an
enjoyable and uplifting first novel."—Mary Scott Norris,
Signal Mountain Mirror, September, 2004
Read the rest of this review.
