If It Rains

By Jennifer L. Wright

Book Overview

A story of resilience and redemption set against one of America's defining moments--the Dust Bowl.
It's 1935 in Oklahoma, and lives are determined by the dust. Fourteen-year-old Kathryn Baile, a spitfire born with a severe clubfoot, is coming of age in desperate times. Once her beloved older sister marries, Kathryn's only comfort comes in the well-worn pages of her favorite book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Then Kathryn's father decides to relocate to Indianapolis, and only the promise of a surgery to finally make her "normal" convinces Kathryn to leave Oklahoma behind. But disaster strikes along the way, and Kathryn must rely on her grit and the ragged companions she meets on the road if she is to complete her journey.

Back in Boise City, Melissa Baile Mayfield is the newest member of the wealthiest family in all of Cimarron County. In spite of her poor, rural upbringing, Melissa has just married the town's most eligible bachelor and is determined to be everything her husband--and her new social class--expects her to be. But as the drought tightens its grip, Henry's true colors are revealed. Melissa covers her bruises with expensive new makeup and struggles to reconcile her affluent life with that of her starving neighbors. Haunted by the injustice and broken by Henry's refusal to help, Melissa secretly defies her husband, risking her life to follow God's leading.

Two sisters, struggling against unspeakable hardship, discover that even in their darkest times, they are still united in spirit, and God is still with them, drawing them home.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1496449304
• ISBN13: 9781496449306
• Release Date: July 2021
• Publisher: Tyndale Fiction
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

heartbreaking

If it Rains is a heartbreaking story. Yet I was compelled to keep reading to the end. I felt like I was reading about an ill-mannered, precocious teenager. As the novel progressed, more details emerged that explained some of her behavior. Over and over I kept getting annoyed with the attitudes and decisions of the characters. But Jennifer L Wright is a talented author who draws you into her novels and makes it impossible to stop reading until the end. If it Rains was a love/hate novel for me . It is difficult to read a story about such a challenging time in history with horrible poverty. But every one of Jennifer L Wright’s books has captured my attention and kept me wanting to read more. Each one contains lessons to learn also as the story progresses I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

What you want and what you get, aren't always the same thing.

If It Rains by Jennifer L. Wright Melissa and Kathryn are young women in 1935 Oklahoma, as the Dustbowl takes over the farmers and their families. Melissa has just married the richest man in town. She wants to live as her mother did, by helping out others who don't have many advantages. Kathryn is a little spit-fire. She knows what she wants, which is to get her club foot fixed by surgery, she thinks that life will be fairer to her if she isn't cursed with that foot. They both learn that the dust will go on and they will learn that their lives may not take the direction that they were hoping for. Many thanks to #tyndale @tyndale and #ifitrains for the complimentary copy, I was under no obligation to post a review.