About the Book

Book: The Sinner in Mississippi
Author: D.L. Lane
Genre: Historical Fiction, Inspirational Romance
Release Date: May 1, 2020

Not expecting me to live, the midwife cleaned me up, wrapped me in an old tea towel, and placed me in a knitting basket beside the wood-burning stove. According to Mama, the storm raged until morning, but I never made one sound. So, hours later, when they peeked in at me, they were surprised to see me sucking my thumb, staring up at them with eyes the color of bluebells.

Mama told me, that’s when she cried.

See, she hadn’t shed a single tear during the harsh pain of giving birth or out of fear of the horrible storm taking the house and her with it, but she sobbed when she saw me. To her, it would have been better for all of us if I’d passed on in the night, carried off on the wings of angels, never to suffer the evils of this world. And sometimes, I wondered if she hadn’t been right.

–Mississippi Singleton

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My Thoughts:

Going into this story I didn't really know what to expect. This was a new to me author and the back blurb only talks about Mississippi's birth. And what a scene that was. So going into this story was a treat and a lovely surprise.

Mississippi, so named because the river flooded when she was born, has lived in an abusive, dirty shack of a home her whole life. At seventeen she is smart enough to know that when her father comes home drunk with her brothers and their friends, it is time for her to hide. Her mother having died when Mississippi was 14, was the only other female and both of them took plenty of physical abuse.

Then one day things change for Mercy. She meets a man by the name of Mr. King. Now, I don't want to say anything more, but from that moment on I was reading and flipping pages as quickly as possible as I was very invested in her life now. This story is very drama filled and a bit of a roller coaster of a ride. I will say that that this is a clean read, but there is abuse and a horrific sexual abuse encounter. But overall, this story is a redemptive piece about one woman's life who most people thought she was better off dying in infancy and how she overcomes her circumstances to find true love, family, and a God who sees her. And to forgive.

This is the first time I have read author Lane. I went searching for her previous works and they are all in my wish list now. I look forward to more of her storytelling.

I received a copy of this novel from the author. I was not required to post a positive review and all views and opinions are my own.

About the Author

D.L. Lane is a wife, musician, a graduate of Liberty University, and a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. In 2010 she walked away from the day job and started a writing career using a pen name. As far as the world was concerned, she was very successful writing romances, however, success aside, she knew she wasn’t on the right path but stubbornly kept on going for nine years. Although a Christian and raised in a religious home, D.L went her own way, leaving God out of her choices until He said, “Enough.”

Weary and seeking guidance, she finally listened and left the course she was on as an established novelist to take a new path—putting God first in her life where He always should have been.

More from D.L.

I love writing, and I love to challenge myself as an author, and so I thought, why not write a fictional historical piece. This was a test for me since there are many things to research when writing during a different era, especially when I wasn’t around at that time. But I prayed about it, grabbed my laptop, and started writing about a poor, uneducated girl who grew up in Louisiana during the Great Depression in a motherless home with a group of reprobate males.

Not unlike the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis, a boy despised by his brothers who plotted against him, later rose from the depths to become one of the most powerful men in Egypt, facing the very men who had been responsible for the atrocities he’d suffered. Joseph had a choice. Let them die or help the ones who never helped him? This story weaves some of that same treachery with truth, teaching not only the heroine but the hero the ultimate meaning of love.

I wanted to give readers a book demonstrating the fact God will never leave us, even if we have left him for a time. That a personal relationship with Christ is our ultimate source of strength, and with His help, we can be pulled out of the depths of great sorrow, rising to heights we never imagined possible.