Sean Dietrich–also known as Sean of the South–weaves together a humorous and heartfelt tale about the dignity of humanity and the value of enduring hope. One child preacher traveling across the plains. One young woman with a mysterious touch. Two old friends, their baby, and their bloodhound. And all the stars that shine above them. When fifteen-year-old Marigold becomes pregnant amid the Great … fifteen-year-old Marigold becomes pregnant amid the Great Depression, she is rejected by her family and forced to fend for herself. And when she loses her baby in the forest, her whole world turns upside down. She’s even more distraught upon discovering she has an inexplicable power that makes her both beautiful and terrifying–and something of a local legend.
Meanwhile, migrant workers Vern and Paul discover a violet-eyed baby and take it upon themselves to care for her. The men soon pair up with a widow and her two children, and the misfit family finds its way in fits and starts toward taking care of each other.
As survival brings one family together, a young boy finds himself with nary a friend to his name as the dust storms rage across Kansas. Fourteen-year-old Coot, a child preacher with a prodigy’s memory, is on the run with thousands of stolen dollars–and the only thing he’s sure of is that Mobile, Alabama, is his destination.
As the years pass and a world war looms, these stories intertwine in surprising ways, reminding us that when the dust clears, we can still see the stars.
Praise for Stars of Alabama:
“Sean Dietrich has given us an absolute treasure of a novel . . . Dietrich is an author who understands the hidden landscape of a soul; his voice both clear and authentic. The separate storylines are vivid and distinct yet they also move inexorably closer to each other in a world both cruel and beautiful. Healing and hope come alive in these characters, allowing it to come alive in us.” –Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of Becoming Mrs. Lewis
“Sean Dietrich–you already love him. Prepare to love him even more for giving you this story–Stars of Alabama–the characters, human and canine, that will sew themselves to your very heart.” –Jill Conner Browne, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sweet Potato Queens series
“Sean Dietrich has woven together a rich tapestry of characters–some charming, some heartbreaking, all of them inspiring. Stars of Alabama is mesmerizing, a siren’s call that holds the reader in a world softly Southern, full of broken lives and the good souls who pick up the pieces and put them back together into a brilliant, wondrous new mosaic full of hope.” –Dana Chamblee Carpenter, award-winning author of the Bohemian Trilogy
- Stand-alone historical novel set in the twentieth century
- Book length: approximately 98,000 words
- Includes discussion questions for book clubs
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This beautiful, well written book is about hope during the darkest times. Even though the main characters face what seem like insurmountable problems, they are always working and hoping for a better life. They could face their problems because of the families they created out of the people they loved and who loved them — not families by blood but families out of love.
This Depression era book has three main characters and the story is told by each character. There seems to be no connection between the characters during most of the book but these stories intertwine in surprising ways and we see the real stars.
The three main characters were memorable and their journeys make this a book that you don’t want to miss. Even in the darkest of times, there is still hope for the future. The story is beautiful written and the three main characters touched my heart.
Sean Dietrich knows how to tell a tale! This novel set during the Great Depression wonderful weaves the stories of several characters together. A young teenage Mom loses her baby and in the aftermath discovers she has a healing touch. Two traveling workers discover the baby and then soon meet up with a widow and her two children- their small group do what they can to make ends meet. Across the country, a child preacher begins a journey that ends up in Mobile, Alabama. The invisible strings that slowly pull them together are wonderfully written.
Stars of Alabama: A Novel by Sean of the South is my first introduction to writing of Sean Dietrich. It is a novel full of humor and drama that I enjoyed. The story is heartwarming and inspiring. The characters are ones that made feel as though I personal knew. The writing style is unique that took me a couple of chapters to get used to.
I am giving Stars of Alabama: A Novel by Sean of the South four and a half stars. I recommend it.
I received this book from the publisher, but was not required to write a review. This review is 100% my own honest opinion
This is the first book I have read by Sean Dietrich, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I did enjoy it, but it did seem to be a little slow moving. This actually made me giggle because, being from Alabama, I liken the pace of this book to our southern drawl: slow, but with purpose.
I do recommend giving “Stars of Alabama” a try.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. The audio version is read by the author and his voice and inflections really enhance the story. I wish the three parallel stories had insersected earlier in the book than at the very end, but that’s just a personal preference. I laughed out loud several times, and almost cried at least once. I love a book that makes me feel something.
Loved this sweet story. Cried my way through lunch reading one crucial scene toward the end (and it takes a lot for me to cry in a book–but this was the best kind of cry.) I’m thinking I’ll read whatever Dietrich writes…
Stars of Alabama is an extraordinary visit back to the Alabama of the 1920s, 1930s after their world was changed by the cotton-destroying boll weevil and the stock market crash on Wall Street when parents helplessly watched their hungry children die and adults were held hostage by the few paying jobs that were available. But southerners are very strong people. And Sean Dietrich tells this wonderful story with heart and hope and laughter to counter the tears.
We have a full arsenal of people to tell this story. Religious Revivalists both honorable and crooked, to keep the heart and hope up in the afflicted. Shopkeepers and farmers and millers and whore house madams who offered the only employment. Kids just starting out in this scary world, and old geezers still hanging on. Dogs. Lots of dogs in these doings.
Stars of Alabama is a historical novel you can’t put down. It is a book I am honored to recommend to friends and family. Be ready to laugh and cry, and assign important chores to someone else before you settle down with this book. It’s an all-nighter. Sean Dietrich is an author I will follow.
I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Sean Dietrich, and publisher Thomas Nelson. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work.
Pub date July 9, 2019
Reviewed July 6, 2019, at Goodreads and Netgalley.
Set during the Great Depression, this story follows a hodgepodge of diverse characters (a 15 yo pregnant homeless girl, two men-one black, one white, who in wandering to find jobs also find and raise a “lost” baby, two itinerant preachers-one good, one not-so-good and a child preacher-on his own at 14). They take disparate paths, searching for different things (jobs, food, a home, a family, love, acceptance) but above all simply trying to survive through a dark period in history. And in surviving, their disparate paths lead to the same destination.
I wanted to like this more than I actually did, and I’m not quite sure why I didn’t. The writing was fine. I had some annoying moments when the narrative skipped over years, and I couldn’t keep track of time/ages. And I found parts of it very slow going.
In the end, as a whole, I think it’s just that I’ve read better stories based both in the South and during this period.
Thanks to #NetGalley and #ThomasNelson for providing me the ARC. The opinions are strictly my own.
I love Sean Dietrich’s blog posts. They are insightful, touching, and well worth reading, so I was excited to be able to preview this upcoming release. It’s typical for his style of writing. While it is a full book, it reads a lot like his blog posts. It’s written from the omniscient point of view, which works for this type of book. It holds with the realism one expects from Mr. Dietrich. Not everything wraps up into a happy ending. Not everyone gets a trophy. It’s a little gritty in some areas, a little tear-jerking in some, and suspends belief in a couple of places, but that’s all good. It works.