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Summary
Summary
It's 1932 and Sullivan Harris is on the run. He promised the people of Kline, West Virginia, that he would find them water, but now he's failed and disappeared with their cash. Although he's determined to stay a step ahead of pursuers--like Jeremiah Weber--his resources are running low.
Gainey Floyd is suspicious of Sulley's claim to be a dowser when he appears in town but reconsiders after he finds water. Rather, it's Sulley who grows uneasy when his success makes folks wonder if he can find more than water--like forgotten items or missing people. He lights out to escape such expectations and runs smack into something worse.
Hundreds of men have found jobs digging the Hawks Nest Tunnel--but what they thought was a blessing is killing them. And no one seems to care. Here, Sulley finds something new--a desire to help. As Jeremiah--and now Gainey--pursue him, Sulley becomes the unexpected catalyst for finding what even he has forgotten. Hope.
Author Notes
Sarah Loudin Thomas is the author of numerous acclaimed novels including The Finder of Forgotten Things, The Right Kind of Fool , winner of the 2021 Selah Book of the Year, and Miracle in a Dry Season , winner of the 2015 INSPY Award. She worked in public relations for Biltmore Estate for over six years, and is now the Director of Jan Karon's Mitford Museum. She and her husband live outside Asheville, North Carolina. Learn more at sarahloudinthomas.com.
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Loudin Thomas (The Right Kind of Fool) introduces a multifaceted cast desperately trying to survive the Great Depression in 1930s West Virginia, in this strong historical. Gainey Floyd acts as postmistress at the general store in Mount Lookout. When Sullivan "Sulley" Harris comes to town full of slick talk of his "unique abilities" to douse for water, Gainey has her doubts, but makes him a deal: find a well for a poor family in need, and only then will she refer him to folks who can shell out for his services. When Sulley sources water, even he's surprised. Hot on Sulley's heels is Jeremiah Weber, sent from the last town Sulley bilked out of their savings. But with Sully's recent success, the townsfolk begin to wonder if he might be able to find other things, such as lost family members. The small-town plot's set against the real-life Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster, and the folksy ensemble soon become entrenched in the ramifications of workers' exposure to silica dust and the horrendous toll it took on the men digging the tunnel, giving Loudin Thomas impetus to underline the impact of acts of caring in a community. This one's for readers who like a clear moral with their story. Agent: Wendy Lawton, Books & Such Literary Agency (Dec.)
Library Journal Review
Times are desperate in Mount Lookout, WV, in 1932. Desperate enough that jobs digging the Hawks Nest Tunnel through the mountains seem like a blessing from God. The well-paying jobs come at a cost, though. The earnings can be spent only at the overpriced company store, and the dust is so thick that the only way to discern Black workers from white is the segregated camps in which they sleep. When postmistress Eugenia Floyd, who is white, checks on her neighbor's son, she discovers that once strapping young men have been reduced to wraiths by long hours digging in air full of silica dust with no protective equipment. She brings food and medicine but soon learns that many things are "not right this side of heaven," especially when it comes to the abuse of the Black workers. VERDICT In a hardscrabble 1930s setting, complex characters wrestle with justice, mercy, inequality, honesty, and the fact that they are all prodigals still searching for the way home. Loudin Thomas (The Right Kind of Fool) delivers a stunning tale of one of the worst industrial disasters in U.S. history, underlined with a moral imperative to love one's neighbor that still hits home today.--Christine Barth, Scott Cty. Lib. Syst., IA
