👶👶👶👶👶 The Red Dirt Hymnbook, by Roxie Faulkner Kirk

Roxie Faulkner Kirk hits it out of the park in her debut novel, The Red Dirt Hymnbook. She kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end... never a wane in the storyline. I appreciated the author's ability to soften the blow as we are taken on this bumpy ride in the traveling revival bus that became home for sweet Ruby Fae. Her gentle introduction to the terror brewing within the walls of the bus allows the reader to feel the ascending fear that Ruby Fae experienced. It is amazing how well she depicted the slow, yet deliberate measures taken by domestic abuse offenders. It was terrifying, and I had a knot in my stomach much of the time. In the same breath, the reader experiences the cognitive dissonance felt by this young mother; the central tenets of her strong faith don't quite reconcile with the malevolent events occurring in her life. It's so hard for an outsider such as myself, to understand the decisions of a victim of domestic abuse, but Ms. Kirk does a stellar job of allowing readers several "aha" moments. Stunningly, she even leads readers to feel a bit of compassion for the perpetrator, though not enough to excuse the behavior in any way. Bravo Roxie Faulkner Kirk!

So although some readers should be aware that there is a trigger warning of domestic abuse, it was certainly one of my top reads of 2019.

Many thanks to BookSirens and Fine Dog Press for a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Read 10/29/19