Review: A Cup of Dust by Susie Finkbeiner

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About:

• Where you come from isn't who you are
  
  

  Ten-year-old Pearl Spence is a daydreamer, playing make-believe to escape life in Oklahoma's Dust Bowl in 1935. The Spences have their share of misfortune, but as the sheriff's family, they've got more than most in this dry, desolate place. They're who the town turns to when there's a crisis or a need--and during these desperate times, there are plenty of both, even if half the town stands empty as people have packed up and moved on. 

  
  

  Pearl is proud of her loving, strong family, though she often wearies of tracking down her mentally impaired older sister or wrestling with her grandmother's unshakable belief in a God who Pearl just isn't sure she likes. 

  
  

  Then a mysterious man bent on revenge tramps into her town of Red River. Eddie is dangerous and he seems fixated on Pearl. When he reveals why he's really there and shares a shocking secret involving the whole town, dust won't be the only thing darkening Pearl's world. 

My Thoughts:

A Cup of Dust is not really my normal read.  I am much more of a romance reader so reading through the eyes of a ten year old girl was different for me.  However, it was a read that captured my full attention and pulled me into the pages of the book.  In the middle of the dust bowl, Pearl lives with her Daddy, the sheriff, her Mama, older sister Beanie (who has some mental disabilities), and her Meemaw.  As Pearl lives her life with her family, we see how the town has been decimated with all the dust; the way of life that was as it was, and how people tended to mind their own business even as abuses took place and refused to take charity as it shamed them.  I appreciated how the author incorporated fascinating facts during that time and I still find it amazing how those peopled lived with all the dirt and dust storms.

I quickly became very fond of this family and as certain mysteries are revealed to Pearl, I liked watching her childlike comparisons of what a true family is.  Daddy and Mama are characters that I enjoyed reading about especially their love and generosity that they showed to all of their neighbors throughout the novel.  I valued that the author stayed true to the thinking and prejudices of the day making the story more authentic.

The childlike faith that Pearl had in Jesus was especially poignant as well as her love of fairy tales.  This was an intelligent and thoughtful read and I look forward to reading more by author Finkbeiner.

I received a copy of this book for free through Bookfun, Inc.  I was not required to post a positive review and the views and opinions expressed are my own.