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Start giftingWhen Stars Rain Down
Narrator
Joniece Abbott-Pratt
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Length
10 hours 39 minutes
Language
English
Opal is an eighteen-year-old Black woman working as a housekeeper in a small Southern town in the 1930s—and then the Klan descends. A moving story that confronts America’s tragic past, When Stars Rain Down is both heartwarming and heart-wrenching.
The summer of 1936 in Parsons, Georgia, is unseasonably hot, and Opal Pruitt senses a nameless storm brewing. She hopes this foreboding feeling won’t overshadow her upcoming 18th birthday or the annual Founder’s Day celebration in just a few weeks. She and her Grandma Birdie work as housekeepers for the white widow Miss Peggy, and Opal desperately wants some time to be young and carefree with her cousins and friends.
But when the Ku Klux Klan descends on Opal’s neighborhood, the tight-knit community is shaken in every way possible. Parsons’s residents—both Black and white—are forced to acknowledge the unspoken codes of conduct in their post-Reconstruction era town. To complicate matters, Opal finds herself torn between two unexpected romantic interests—the son of her pastor, Cedric Perkins, and the white grandson of the woman she works for, Jimmy Earl Ketchums.
Faced with love, loss, and a harsh awakening to an ugly world, Opal holds tight to her family and faith—and the hope for change.
“When Stars Rain Down is so powerful, timely, and compelling . . . an important and beautifully written must-read of a novel.” —Silas House, author of Southernmost
- 2021 Langum Prize in American Historical Fiction – Finalist
- Stand-alone novel
Angela Jackson-Brown is an award-winning writer, poet, and playwright who is an Associate Professor in Creative Writing at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN and a member of the graduate faculty of the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University in Louisville, KY.
Angela is a graduate of Troy University, Auburn University, and the Spalding low-residency MFA program in creative writing. She has published her short fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry in journals like the Louisville Courier Journal and Appalachian Review. She is the author of Drinking from a Bitter Cup, House Repairs, When Stars Rain Down, and The Light Always Breaks.
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Reviews
When Stars Rain Down is so powerful, timely, and compelling that sometimes I found myself holding my breath while reading it. Rarely have I been so attached to characters and felt so transported to a time and place. This is an important and beautifully written must-read of a novel. Opal is a character I will never forget. In this world there are writers and there are artists. Angela Jackson-Brown is both. Angela Jackson-Brown interrogates race, love, and family with empathy and style, making her an author you will want to read again and again. This tale of America's tragic past is both compelling and cinematic as the Pruitt and Ketchum families struggle in the mire of racism in the 1930s. It's a moving novel that boldly illuminates the past but also speaks directly to today's politics and the power of faith. You will fall in love with the book's resilient protagonist, Opal. I certainly did. Jackson-Brown (House Repairs) paints a vivid picture of family and community persevering in the pressure cooker of the Deep South. Readers will be drawn to Opal's intelligent and authentic voice, as the book confronts issues of racism, injustice, and white privilege head-on. This is a powerful Own Voices contribution to the historical fiction genre, joining titles such as Alka Joshi's The Henna Artist and Kim Michele Richardson's The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek in their unflinching look at the past. All in all, When Stars Rain Down is worthy of any reader's attention--especially fans of Southern literature. The writing is eloquent, the story is filled with conflict and tension balanced by warmth and charity, the characters are vivid and well-developed, and the impact is profound. This is the kind of book that will resonate long after the last pages are read. When Stars Rain Down is a book with religious themes, but if that's not your preference, don't let that stop you. The writing is beautiful, the story compelling, the characters vividly drawn, and religion is a backdrop, not the main story. Opal's voice is pitch-perfect, and the plot has enough surprises to keep you turning pages late into the night. I give this book a whole-hearted thumbs up. Expand reviewsWant the printed book?
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