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Summary
Summary
A luminous, tenderly rendered novel of a woman fighting for her family's survival in the early years of the Dust Bowl; from the acclaimed and award-winning Rae Meadows.
Annie Bell can't escape the dust. It's in her hair, covering the windowsills, coating the animals in the barn, in the corners of her children's dry, cracked lips. It's 1934 and the Bell farm in Mulehead, Oklahoma is struggling as the earliest storms of The Dust Bowl descend. All around them the wheat harvests are drying out and people are packing up their belongings as storms lay waste to the Great Plains. As the Bells wait for the rains to come, Annie and each member of her family are pulled in different directions. Annie's fragile young son, Fred, suffers from dust pneumonia; her headstrong daughter, Birdie, flush with first love, is choosing a dangerous path out of Mulehead; and Samuel, her husband, is plagued by disturbing dreams of rain.
As Annie, desperate for an escape of her own, flirts with the affections of an unlikely admirer, she must choose who she is going to become. With her warm storytelling and beautiful prose, Rae Meadows brings to life an unforgettable family that faces hardship with rare grit and determination. Rich in detail and epic in scope, I Will Send Rain is a powerful novel of upheaval and resilience, filled with hope, morality, and love.
Author Notes
Rae Meadows is the author of Calling Out , which received the 2006 Utah Book Award for fiction, No One Tells Everything , a Poets & Writers Notable Novel, and the widely praised novel, Mercy Train . She lives with her husband and two daughters in Brooklyn, New York.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Meadows's (Calling Out) dark, moving novel chronicles a turning point in the lives of the Bells, a farming family in 1930s Oklahoma. After severe droughts and several dust storms, families are known to pack up and suddenly disappear from the once populous town of Mulehead. Annie Bell recognizes the restlessness in her teen daughter, Birdie, and hopes that Birdie gives herself a shot at a better life elsewhere rather than marrying local boy Cy Mack. Annie feels particularly unmoored herself; her attraction to Mayor Jack Lily-formerly a Chicago newspaper reporter-grows as her husband, Samuel, becomes increasingly religious. Annie and Samuel's bond has been tenuous since their second child, Eleanor, died as an infant. It doesn't help that Samuel regards the drought as a test from God and thinks of his nightmares of an upcoming flood as prophecy. Meadows writes the youngest Bell, sweet eight-year-old Fred, especially well. Fred, who has been mute since birth and besieged with chronic breathing problems, has a love of animals and an endearing, thoughtful nature. Annie and John begin an affair around the time Samuel begins constructing an ark with Fred's help, and Birdie soon finds herself with a secret. Sinister imagery is restrained but has impact: a town rabbit hunt that turns into a bloodthirsty killing spree ends with Fred trying to cry out while protecting the last trembling animal in his lap. Meadows's strength lies in letting her story be guided by the shadow and light of her well-rendered characters. When tragedy strikes or hope emerges, it makes sense and comes to fruition organically. This makes for a vibrant, absorbing novel that stays with the reader. Agent: Elisabeth Weed, the Book Group. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* An exceptional talent for creating vivid imagery and a tender regard for her characters mark Meadows' new novel set in the Oklahoma Panhandle during the Dust Bowl. With other farmers, the Bell family despairs as dust storms replace topsoil and plants with dry grit and grasshopper husks. As some neighbors abandon homes and head west, the remaining citizens of Mulehead respond differently: some cling to their faith, some take advantage of others, many cling to routines, and others grieve in anger, violence, or resignation. Hearing God's voice in his dreams, Samuel Bell builds an ark, with the help of his mute, asthmatic son. His daughter and his wife find clandestine love from others. An air of melancholy settles like dust in these pages, along with stark pictures of slaughtering jackrabbits, shooting cannonballs into the clouds to bring rain, and filling window casings with paste to keep the dust out. And, yet, the Bells' quiet courage and steely perseverance override the despair, becoming an unforgettable symbol of American tenacity and hope. Similar to John Steinbeck's haunting portrait of tenant farmers in The Grapes of Wrath, but also with the gritty, bittersweet elements in Rilla Askew's Harpsong (2007) and the poignant lyricism of Karen Hesse's Out of the Dust (1997).--Baker, Jen Copyright 2016 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
A book about Oklahoma in the 1930s demands a spare, harsh style to match the landscape. "I Will Send Rain" obliges with a grim portrait of a family weathering the Dust Bowl as naggingly evocative as grit in your mouth. Annie Bell is restless in her marriage and attracted to the handsome new mayor. Her daughter Birdie wants to leave for the city, but her relationship with a local farm boy tugs her in a different direction. Mute, delicate Fred - the youngest - has developed "dust pneumonia." Convinced that God will flood the fields, Samuel Bell, the embattled patriarch, begins to build an ark. Meadows works in a biblical or mythic mode, presenting timeless tableaus: the apron left behind in the abandoned house, a souvenir of adultery. The crow's nest made of barbed wire. If the book's meticulously researched, precisely evoked setting can sometimes feel more alive than the Bells, "I Will Send Rain" still eyes them with compassion. These characters learn to practice kindness, even without knowing one another fully. We may not suppose we know them fully either, but Meadows nevertheless makes them deserving of our empathy.
Library Journal Review
Annie Bell went against her family's wishes when she married Samuel, a farmer, instead of choosing the life of a minister's wife. Leaving Kansas for the promise of free land in Oklahoma, the couple discovers their dreams have a price during the severe drought and dust storms of 1934. Loss and hardship leave a once loving partnership in tatters as Samuel becomes increasingly devout, believing that God has instructed him to build an ark to survive the coming flood. Annie turns toward another man with dreams of what might have been, while her daughter Birdie falls in love with a neighbor boy with whom she plans to escape. Annie's mute young son, Fred, may be sickly, but he has a bright and curious mind and notices everything. The dust storm exposes the cracks within the Bell family even as they muster their strength in the face of impending disaster. In her fourth novel, Meadows's (Mercy Train) lyrical and descriptive writing evokes a harsh landscape of dust, bones, and abandoned homes. She uses symbolism to great effect whether sacred (the boat) or mundane (an apron represents ties to family and home). The unforgettable characters show grit, determination, and brokenness in equal measure. VERDICT An outstanding choice for book discussion groups.-Christina Thurairatnam, Holmes Cty. Dist. P.L., Millersburg, OH © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.