{"product_id":"a-cup-of-dust-a-novel-of-the-dust-bowl-9780825443886","title":"A Cup of Dust: A Novel of the Dust Bowl","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"Riveting. An achingly beautiful tale told with a singularly fresh and original voice.\"\u003cbr\u003eJocelyn Green, \u003c\/b\u003e award winning author of the Heroines Behind the Lines Civil War series \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003e\"The book is suspenseful and gritty with true-to-life characters. It is about hope, family, survival and faith.\" \u003c\/b\u003e - \u003ci\u003eThe Historical Novel Society\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003ci\u003eWhere you come from isn't who you are\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTen-year-old Pearl Spence is a daydreamer, playing make-believe to escape life in Oklahoma's Dust Bowl in 1935. The Spences have their share of misfortune, but as the sheriff's family, they've got more than most in this dry, desolate place. They're who the town turns to when there's a crisis or a need--and during these desperate times, there are plenty of both, even if half the town stands empty as people have packed up and moved on. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePearl is proud of her loving, strong family, though she often wearies of tracking down her mentally impaired older sister or wrestling with her grandmother's unshakable belief in a God who Pearl just isn't sure she likes. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThen a mysterious man bent on revenge tramps into her town of Red River. Eddie is dangerous and he seems fixated on Pearl. When he reveals why he's really there and shares a shocking secret involving the whole town, dust won't be the only thing darkening Pearl's world. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhile the tone is suspenseful and often poignant, the subtle humor of Pearl's voice keeps A Cup of Dust from becoming heavyhanded. Finkbeiner deftly paints a story of a family unit coming together despite fractures of distress threatening to pull them apart. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEnjoy all the Pearl Spence Novels\u003cbr\u003e1.\u003cb\u003eA Cup of Dust\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e2. \u003cb\u003eA Trail of Crumbs\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e3. \u003cb\u003eA Song of Home\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"If you are looking for a compelling story with a message of hope in the midst of a dark time and characters that will live on in your imagination, then you need to get\u003ci\u003e A Cup of Dust\u003c\/i\u003e.\" - \u003ci\u003eBy the Book Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"This is a suspenseful page-turner, intricately plotted and bursting with meticulously drawn characters who jump from the page.\"\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003ci\u003eRT Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFinkbeiner, Susie:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cb\u003eCBA bestselling author Susie Finkbeiner is a story junkie. \u003c\/b\u003eAlways has been and always will be. It seems it's a congenital condition. After decades of reading everything she could get her hands on (except for See the Eel, a book assigned to her while in first grade, a book she declared unfit for her book-snob eyes), Susie realized that she wanted to write stories of her own. She began with epics about horses and kittens (but never, ever eels). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn order to learn how to write novels, she read eclectically and adventurously. After reading the work of Lisa Samson, Patti Hill, and Bonnie Grove she realized that there was room for a writer like her in Christian fiction. Susie is also greatly inspired by the work of Jocelyn Green, Rachel McMillan, and Tracy Groot. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHer first novels, \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003ePaint Chips\u003c\/b\u003e (2013)\u003c\/i\u003e and\u003ci\u003e \u003cb\u003eMy Mother's Chamomile \u003c\/b\u003e(2014)\u003c\/i\u003e have contemporary settings. While she loved those stories and especially the characters, Susie felt the pull toward historical fiction. When she read\u003ci\u003e Into the Free\u003c\/i\u003e by Julie Cantrell she knew she wanted to write historical stories with a side of spunk, grit, and vulnerability. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eA Cup of Dust: A Novel of the Dust Bowl\u003c\/b\u003e (2015)\u003c\/i\u003e, Finkbeiner's bestselling historical set in 1930s Oklahoma, has been compared to the work of John Steinbeck and Harper Lee (which flatters Susie's socks off). Pearl's story continues with \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eA Trail of Crumbs: A Novel of the Great Depression\u003c\/b\u003e (2017)\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eA Song of Home: A Novel of the Swing Era\u003c\/b\u003e (2018)\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSusie Finkbeiner is a stay-at-home mom \u0026amp; speaker from West Michigan. She has served as fiction editor and regular contributor to the Burnside Writers Guild and \u003ci\u003eUnbound\u003c\/i\u003e magazine. Finkbeiner is an avid blogger (see www.susiefinkbeiner.com), is on the planning committee of the Breathe Christian Writers Conference, and has presented or led groups of other writers at several conferences. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhat does she have planned after that? More stories, of course. She's a junkie. She couldn't quit if she wanted to.","brand":"Kregel Publications","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50726499451154,"sku":"9780825443886","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_264f1c71-7cce-468d-8c7d-fd025855a256.jpg?v=1734872160","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/a-cup-of-dust-a-novel-of-the-dust-bowl-9780825443886","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}