Review: A Trail of Crumbs by Susie Finkbeiner

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About the book:

"I believed it would have been a sin to stay inside when God had sent us such fine weather. According to Pastor Ezra Anderson, sin was the reason we'd got in the dusty mess we were in. The way I saw it, that day was God's way of letting us know He wasn't mad at us anymore. Just maybe He'd seen fit to forgive us."

Pearl Spence has been through more in her young life than most folks could handle. But through it all, her family has been by her side. They may not be perfect, but they love her and they all love each other, come what may. That's one thing Pearl no longer questions.

But the end of her beautiful day signals the beginning of the end of her secure life.

Now her family is fleeing their Oklahoma wasteland. Pearl isn't sure she'll ever see home or happiness again. Are there any crumbs powerful enough to guide her back to the dependable life she once knew?

 

The strong narrative voice of Finkbeiner's young protagonist from A Cup of Dust returns in this gritty yet hopeful sequel, sure to please her many fans.

My Thoughts:

A Trail of Crumbs continues the story of Pearl Spence and her family about four months after the events that took place in A Cup of Dust.  Again we see life through young Pearl’s life, a ten year old girl growing up in the time of the dust bowl, the Great Depression, a time of desperation for most people.  I thoroughly enjoyed the first novel and looked forward to their continuing story.

Wow.  There are some things that happen in this book that really took me by surprise.  The author knows this time period and writes it as if this family is real and we are reading the diary of this young girl with all the fears and raw emotions she has.  Pearl and her family have faced one tragedy after another and to some it has made them stronger and others it has made them weaker.  The author writes about a difficult path and shows us timely lessons where grief can weaken us and make temptation all that stronger to turn away from. Again I appreciate the author’s sensitivity to history and writes the facts in a way that feels very authentic. 

I am not sure how I feel about how this story left off.  I am anticipating the next in the continuing story of Pearl and her family- hopefully certain story lines will be resolved and I would like to see how Pearl turns out as a young woman after all she has been through.  I also liked how Pearl had to remember what was True and what was a lie in regards to her and her family’s love for her. I think all of us can take that to heart when we are faced with lies that want to sneak in versus the Truth we know deep down about our heavenly Father’s love for us. Impressive story-telling.

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