Foreword - 4 Stars "Strong bonds carry a family through their contrasting dramas in the historical novel Porch Music."

"Kathy Maresca's Porch Music sings with old-timey standards, hymns, customs, and family secrets. The progeny of Seminole matriarch Ma-Ki have struggles and secrets but perhaps none so grave as Ma-ki's herself. Maresca braids the stories of Ma-ki's daughters and son, as well as their own sons and daughters into a tapestry of sibling rivalries and revelations, despair and salvation. These fierce characters belong to a family remarkable in its fortitude."-Grace Marcus, author Visible Signs

"God, Hisakitamisi, Mr. Jesus. We meet them all through the eyes of Janie and Rose and the other beautifully drawn characters in Kathy Gilbert Maresca's debut novel, Porch Music. Set in rural central Florida in the early 1950s and to the soundtracks of country music and traditional church hymns, Porch Music tells the story of a seminal year in the life of Ma-Ki Ebbing's Seminole mixed-race family. Through the strong and vulnerable Ebbing women, Maresca makes real the past outrages against native Americans by God-spouting Christians in the devastating crimes against the Ebbing family and the shame that engulfs the crimes' victims. But from this shame, Porch Music sings a path of hope in the true love of the Divine - God, Hisakitamisi, Mr. Jesus."-RLynn Johnson, author of Cry of the Heart

"Porch Music offers a startling glimpse into the shattered hearts of a family victimized by racism. The various ways they cope weave a story of forgiveness, God's kindness, and the healing power of music." -Jeanette Levellie, author of Hello Beautiful! Finally Love Yourself Just as You Are

"Porch Music is a tale as old as time but told in a fresh way. It's a story of struggles and hope. The author immerses the reader in north Florida, in the time period, and in the struggles of the characters. Have tissues close by." -Melissa Koslin, author of Dangerous Beauty

"Kathy Gilbert Maresca's Porch Music is a beautifully written, sweeping tale of family, history, culture, spirituality, and finding your place in this world. It's a superb work of southern fiction that sweeps the reader to another place and time." -Rob Samborn, author of The Prisoner of Paradise and Painter of the Damned

"An ode to music, outcasts, heritage, family, and faith, Porch Music is an absorbing, evocative novel that you won't be able to put down until the last exquisitely written note." -Shanessa Gluhm, author of Enemies of Doves and A River of Crows

"Strong bonds carry a family through their contrasting dramas in the historical novel Porch Music."-Foreword, 4 Stars

". . . Maresca expertly weaves description, dialogue, music, and the small moments that build families to create a strong and beautiful story. An ode to music, outcasts, heritage, family, and faith, Porch Music is an absorbing, evocative novel that you won't be able to put down until the last exquisitely written note.-Shanessa Gluhm, author A River of Crows and Enemies of Doves

". . . a beautifully written, sweeping tale of family, history, culture, spirituality, and finding your place in this world. It's a superb work of southern fiction that sweeps the reader to another place and time."-Rob Samborn, author of The Prisoner of Paradise

"Porch Music offers a startling glimpse into the shattered hearts of a family victimized by racism. The various ways they cope weave a story of forgiveness, God's kindness, and the healing power of music."-Jeanette Levellie, author of Hello Beautiful! Finally Love Yourself Just as You Are

"An unforgettable cast of characters with distinct southern voices drive this multigenerational tale that seeps into your soul like the lyrics of a song you can't get out of your head . . . the beguiling power and pull of first-person narrators tease you along, tugging at you, reeling you in one character at a time."-Kathleen M. Rodgers, author of The Flying Cutterbucks, a 2121 WILLA Literary Award Finalist in Contemporary Fiction

". . . sings with old-timey standards, hymns, customs, and family secrets. The progeny of Seminole matriarch Ma-Ki have struggles and secrets but perhaps none so grave as Ma-ki's herself. Maresca braids the stories of Ma-ki's daughters and son, as well as their own sons and daughters into a tapestry of sibling rivalries and revelations, despair and salvation. These fierce characters belong to a family remarkable in its fortitude."-Grace Marcus, author Visible Signs

". . . Porch Music sings a path of hope in the true love of the Divine-God, Hisakitamisi, Mr. Jesus."-RLynn Johnson, author of Cry of the Heart

Publisher: Touchpoint Faith

Pub date: 2022-10-04

Length: 312 pages