A Sky Without Stars | A Quilts of Love Book
In 1951, Frankie Chasing Bear is a Lakota caught between cultures. She wants to raise her son Harold to revere his Lakota heritage, but she knows he will need to become as a white man to succeed. After his father’s killed in a barroom brawl, Harold and Frankie move to Arizona, where she begins a Lakota Star pattern quilt for Harold with tribal wisdom sung, sewn and prayed into it.
She distrusts Christians, as her own parents were forced to convert at an Indian School, until she meets BIA agent Nick Vandergriff, a half-Lakota who’s also caught between cultures. Nick must convince Frankie that white men and Christians aren’t all bad as he tries to win her heart in order to put the stars back into her sky.
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Linda S. Clare is an award-winning coauthor of three books, including “Lost Boys and the Moms Who Love Them” (with Melody Carlson and Heather Kopp), “Revealed: Spiritual Reality in a Makeover World,” and “Making Peace with a Dangerous God” (with Kristen Johnson Ingram). She is also the author of “The Fence My Father Built.” She has taught college-level creative writing classes for seven years, and edits and mentors writers. She also is a frequent writing conference presenter and church retreat leader. She and her husband of thirty-one years have four grown children, including a set of twins. They live in Eugene, Oregon, with their five wayward cats: Oliver, Xena the Warrior Kitty, Paladine, Melchior, and Mamma Mia!
A Sky Without Stars by Linda S. Clare
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I relish historical fiction, and when it involves minorities and women, I am even more intrigued. In addition to this, the novel is purported to be a Christian novel. Therefore, my expectations were high. And some of those notions were justified. I commend the author for depicting the often under-reported racism and immense struggles experienced by Native Americans in this country. Moreover, the revelation that one can be “Indian” and “Christian” is an idea that is rarely heard. Compulsory tension was handled fairly well, and the boy in the novel was pitiable.
Unfortunately, the story was fraught with issues. The supposed Christian message was anemic at best, and the premise of the story left much to be desired. In my opinion, I believe that the author missed some superb opportunities for revelation, encouragement, and evangelism. To the author’s credit, the book was uncomplicated and unpretentious. I am confident that this book will be met with market approval, but it was simply not for me.
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.
