Description
Description
"A powerful, wise, and intricate gift to readers. . . . This is a big-time book."-MARTIN CLARK, author of The Plinko Bounce and The Substitution Order
"This modern Southern Gothic thriller is compulsively readable and utterly unputdownable." -HEATH HARDAGE LEE, author of The League of Wives and The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon
One summer night in 1985, twelve-year-old Julia Pemberton disappears without a trace from a friend's backyard birthday party. Everyone in the sleepy town of Chatham, North Carolina, believes she was taken while hiding in the woods during a game of kick the can-but the truth is much closer to home.
In the days following Julia's disappearance, the small town's residents grapple with the new circumstances, so disparate from the slow-paced Southern tranquility they'd grown accustomed to. Dell Jenkins, Julia's lifelong best friend, has to start sixth grade without her, and as the months go by, she feels like everyone is moving on with their lives too easily. The only person that seems to feel Julia's absence as keenly is Tommy, Julia's father. But after weeks of searching, Tommy begins to lose faith that his daughter will ever come home alive, shutting himself up-and the rest of the world out-in his woodshop. Meanwhile, Betsy Glass, the hostess of the party, worries the whole town feels she is responsible for Julia's disappearance. But just as her guilt begins to dissipate, she uncovers evidence of her husband's infidelity, unknowingly setting all three characters on a path to discovering the truth.
Critical Reviews
Critical Reviews
"Between the Sun and Rain is a spectacular novel-a powerful, wise, and intricate gift to readers. Leighton Kirby Richards gets everything just right: The plotting is remarkable, the details are always spot-on, and the ending is a jaw-dropper that finds truth on so many levels. This is a big-time book. Wow. Just wow."-MARTIN CLARK, author of The Plinko Bounce and The Substitution Order
"When beautiful preteen Julia Pemberton goes missing, everyone in the small town of Chatham, North Carolina, has their own heartbreak to survive-and their own suspicions to tend. Debut novelist Richards skillfully uses multiple points of views to create an artful kaleidoscope of memories and emotions concerning the missing girl. These carefully arranged fragments deftly come together for a heart-stopping and shattering finish. The book shines with superb period details of smalltown 1980s life, contributing to the tale's immersive and authentic feel. This modern Southern Gothic thriller is compulsively readable and utterly unputdownable. Grab Between the Sun and Rain and read it before Hollywood scoops it up for a film adaptation." -HEATH HARDAGE LEE, author of The League of Wives and The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon
"A haunting and beautifully layered story of loss, loyalty, and the secrets that live just beneath the surface of small-town life. With emotional precision and quiet suspense, this novel explores the unbearable weight of a child's disappearance and the fractures it exposes in friendship, marriage, and community. Deeply human and impossible to put down." -DIANNE C. BRALEY, author of The Silence in the Sound and The Summer Before
"With the precision and pace of a seasoned storyteller, Leighton Richards entices the reader down a path of loss and mystery. Her narrative unfolds in steady and entrancing steps, carried by deeply flawed, immensely complex, and ultimately very human characters, drawn so well as to be memorable well after the last page. Richards's writing sometimes soars, sometimes dances, and always comes through clearly, and its craft cannot be ignored. Between the Sun and Rain is a remarkable debut, and it promises to be the first echo of a new literary voice." -Greg Fields, author of The Bright Freight of Memory
"Between the Sun and Rain is existentialism and nostalgia wrapped in one captivating mystery. Set in the mid-1980s, this cinematic story of friendships, personal histories, and epic suspense will drive you to keep reading until you figure out what happened to Julia Pemberton." -Leah Decker, author of Gray Area
"With her distinctive style giving voice to three characters affected differently by a child's abduction, and narrating their year-long emotional journey, Leighton Kirby Richards has skillfully crafted a captivating, engaging, and thought-provoking story." -Marie-Claude Gingras, author of No Stones Left Unturned
"A novel that intelligently explores the effects of a youngster's disappearance from interlocking perspectives." -Kirkus Reviews
Publishing Information
Publishing Information
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