"miracle in a dry season" by sarah loudin thomas

It's 1954 and Perla Long's arrival in the sleepy town of Wise, West Virginia, was supposed to go unnoticed. She just wants a quiet, safe place for her and her daughter, Sadie, where the mistakes of her past can stay hidden. But then drought comes to Wise, and Perla is pulled into the turmoil of a town desperately in need of a miracle.

Casewell Phillips has resigned himself to life as a bachelor...until he meets Perla. She's everything he's sought in a woman, but he can't get past the sense that she's hiding something. As the drought worsens, Perla's unique gift divides the town in two, bringing both gratitude and condemnation, and placing the pair in the middle of a storm of anger and forgiveness, fear and faith.

Though I struggled to get into Miracle in a Dry Season in the early pages, I soon found myself swept into Wise, and I couldn't put the book down.

In Casewell's journey from judgement to grace, author Sarah Loudin Thomas paints a powerful—and convicting—picture of what our own Christian walks should look like. Maybe you don't struggle with extending grace to other believers, but I sure fall on the side of judgement far too often. This lesson—which I seem to need to learn over and over again—is wrapped in a wonderfully compelling story.

Really, Miracle in a Dry Season is a beautiful novel. It has a literary fiction feel to it that I don't encounter too often in Christian fiction. (The last book I can remember reading that had this same overall feel—though it was completely different—is Christa Parrish's Stones for Bread.) It's a book that I could send to my literary snob sister, and I'm confident she would love it as much as I did.

Miracle in a Dry Season is a special novel, the likes of which you don't see every day. I'm thankful that this is just the first book in a series, as I'm anxious to return to Wise! 5 stars.

Buy the book.
Get the prequel novella, "Appalachian Serenade," free for Kindle.

Sarah Loudin Thomas is a fund-raiser for a children's ministry who has also published freelance writing for Mountain Homes Southern Style and Now & Then magazines, as well as The Asheville Citizen-Times and The Journey Christian Newspaper. She holds a bachelor's in English from Coastal Carolina University. She and her husband reside in Asheville, North Carolina. Learn more at www.sarahloudinthomas.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free for review from Bethany House Publishers through its book reviewer program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."