The first thing you should know when reading this review is that the author, Barbara J. Taylor, is my first cousin. It’s important to me that I disclose this, both ethically and because I am so very proud of Barb and her writing. The second thing you should know is that I believe in this book. I honestly think that I would have loved it even if I had never met the author. I’m proud of all three of Barb’s books, but this one is my favorite, I think, if I had to pick a favorite. Which I don’t, but I’m going to choose one anyway. It’s my favorite because it ties the first two books together and Barb wrote it with the maturity of a seasoned author. The third thing you should know is that this review is unlike my regular reviews because this book is not Romance per se, but rather Historical Fiction with romantic plot lines.
It started with the story of a family tragedy: the death of Barb’s and my great aunt. I can still see the picture hanging in Barb’s mother’s dining room of a little girl in a white dress with a bow in her hair. Barb used this story for inspiration, and created the saga of the Morgan Family, who lived in the coal mining city of Scranton, PA., and whom we first met in SING IN THE MORNING, CRY AT NIGHT. The saga continued with ALL WAITING IS LONG, and concludes with Taylor’s current book, RAIN BREAKS NO BONES.
Taylor’s strength lies in her characters, and particularly her women. The women of the Morgan family are the main characters in this family saga. Grace, who tarried with Grief when she lost her daughter (referred to in this review as Our Daisy to distinguish her from Young Daisy. Taylor avoids the One Steve Limit trope; there are indeed two characters named Daisy in this novel). Violet, whose involvement in Our Daisy’s fatal accident has scarred her and cast a shadow over her whole life. And Young Daisy, Violet’s adopted daughter, who falls in love with Johnny, a Black man, in a time when interracial relationships are both dangerous and taboo.
A delightful new character is Zethray, who walks with spirits and translates their messages to the living. The one spirit Zethray sees but cannot hear is her mother, who will not speak to Zethray. Zethray’s mother committed suicide and has a message for Zethray about why she died.
Our Daisy is a kind of ambassador between Zethray and her mother (and later between Young Daisy and the waking world). Our Daisy, Grace’s lost daughter, was burned in an accident witnessed by Violet, and died, days later, with hymns on her lips. She became a kind of cultural saint to the locals, who lined up to view her body. Zethray sees her in the white dress and hair bow she was wearing the day of the accident, also the day of her baptism.
Scranton, the city setting of this story, became a multicultural hometown of immigrant coal miners, who unearthed Anthracite coal until the supply gave out decades ago. Scranton is a big city divided into neighborhoods that are each like a small town that gives the book a small town feel. And the spirit of community is strong in this book, particularly when a natural disaster strikes. Taylor deftly balances plot and character with Scranton’s historic past in this well-researched novel. Scranton itself is almost a character in the book.
It started with the story of a family tragedy. But it ended up being a love letter to Taylor’s hometown, Scranton, PA.
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