“Feathers–no matter what size or shape or color–are all the same, if you think about them. They’re soft. Delicate. But the secret thing about feathers is . . . they are very strong.” In the pre-Katrina glow of New Orleans, Amanda Salassi is anxious about chaperoning her daughter’s sixth-grade field trip to the Big Easy during Halloween. And then her worst fears come true. Her daughter’s best … daughter’s best friend, Sarah, disappears amid the magic and revelry–gone, without a trace.
Unable to cope with her guilt, Amanda’s daughter sinks into depression. And Amanda’s husband turns destructive as he watches his family succumb to grief. Before long, Amanda’s whole world has collapsed.
Amanda knows she has to save herself before it’s too late. As she continues to search for Sarah, she embarks on a personal journey, seeking hope and purpose in the wake of so much tragedy and loss.
Set amidst the murky parishes of rural Louisiana and told through the eyes of two women who confront the darkest corners of humanity with quiet and unbreakable faith, The Feathered Bone is Julie Cantrell’s master portrait of love in a fallen world.
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What an amazing story! The Feathered Bone had everything in it — love, life, loss. I thought it was going to be a book about human trafficking. And it was that, but oh, it was SO MUCH more! I salute Julie Cantrell’s amazing, creative writing that had me spellbound for hours and look forward to reading more of her stories.
Extremely well written, this story will break your heart. I can’t imagine any tougher topics to cover than the ones in this novel. There are a few theological and other issues I might have in places, but still a thought provoking novel.
This book will be unforgettable after you read it so true to what is happening in our world today. Everyone who has children and grandchildren should read this book.
This book was so moving. It deals with hard issues that need to be brought to people’s attention. Love the way faith is woven through the story. Powerful book!
In spite of wanting to hurl the book across the room at one point, I hung in there and was deeply touched by how Julie redeemed the tragedy.
I received this books for a honest review from Fiction Guild. What a great story and also a wonderful storyline. Amanda is chaperoning her daughters 6th grade class to New Orleans with 2 of her other friends and their children and other parents and the teacher, then have gone to the Float museum and had lunch after riding on the ferry and then shopping in the French Quarter and go to get biguettes and use the bathroom before they have to take the bus back to school which is about 2 hours away, they are partnered up and her daughter and her best friend are last in line and they tease her calling her a helicopter because she hovers to she goes to help the teacher and the girls get separated and her daughter’s friend disappears. Amanda is scared because it is her best friends daughter who she promised to watch because she had to get back early to help with a wedding at their church. They call their hometown police chief who is a friend, the NOPD police and search for her but she is gone. They go days trying to find her. And try to get back to some normalcy but it doesn’t work and they mark everything in the future from that date. The day she disappeared, the day of Hurricane Katrina, the day Amanda’s husband left, the day Amanda’s daughter can’t take it anymore and kills herself and the day Sarah comes back. I loved this story thinking that I was someone looking from the outside in when Katrina hit and did all the damage it and what those families must have felt like.
I loved it. Didn’t want to put it down.
Wow! What an awesome book to help us realize the real dangers of the dark world of sex trafficking. Great story for teens to read. So well presented and gently written so that many can learn how to be protected from this awful industry with out being too horrifically traumatized by what you read. What an example of a positive, joyful child of God with undying faith despite the circumstances. This one needs to be read.
Loved this book. It discusses hard topics but is so well written. You can’t help but fall for the characters.
Being from the area in which the book was set, I recognized a lot of the places that were in the book and I felt as if I were personally in this book. Once again, the characters came to life. I felt as I read this book, that I was reading about people I knew in real life. I loved the book. This book has brought to attention a very real and serious issue that we are having in real life today.
This book tackled some tough issues in a thoughtful and realistic way, allowing the reader to identify with the characters and cheer them on. I laughed and cried, moved in a way that not many books accomplish.