Passing through Perfect: Wyattsville #3

Bette Lee
Crosby
Genre: 
Inspirational

HISTORICAL/WOMEN'S FICTION:  It’s 1946 and Benjamin Church has returned home from the war, thinking things in his hometown have changed. However, everything in Grinder’s Corner, Alabama, has remained the same - except for the passing of his mother.  His father has given up on life since his mother’s death and Benjamin works hard to revive the neglected farm they sharecrop. Although he is resigned to his future, everything changes when he attends a local dance and meets Delia.  He knows in a moment she is the love of his life - and dreams of a wife, a family and a home begin to take shape. When a cruel tragedy takes it away, he must make decisions that change his life again.

 

This powerful, moving story takes place at a time in American history that was rife with racial inequality, bigotry, and injustice. Ms. Crosby does an exceptional job of taking the horrors and the inhumanity suffered by black people and transforming their struggles into a novel of family, love, and hope. There are some issues of changing POVs in the same scene; however, these instances are overshadowed by the memorable and extremely well-written story that touches the soul and has the reader experiencing a myriad of emotions. Tragic and heartwarming at the same time, one smiles, laughs, and then cries. The characters are well developed and engaging with a plot that moves smoothly and unfettered. Vividly descriptive, this memorable and poignant story pulls at the heartstrings and stays with the reader long after the last page is turned.

 

Janna Shay