Bury your nose: ‘Prayers For Sale’
July 6, 2009 by Lyn Rinehart
Filed under Book of the month
Sandra Dallas fans are in for a treat with Dallas’s most recent novel, “Prayers for Sale,” released in April.
Dallas is masterful with the historical fiction genre. “Prayers,” like many of her novels, is set in Colorado. This one, set in the fictional Middle Swan, tells the story of a mining town in the Colorado high country. Middle Swan is the home of Hennie Comfort, who came west after the Civil War to marry a miner, after her first husband was killed in the war.
She has lived in Middle Swan for 70 years when a young bride moves in to town with her husband. It is 1936 and the couple has moved to the mountains in search of work in the mines. Hennie sees a bit of herself in newcomer, Nit Spindle, and befriends the girl, teaching her the ways of mountain women.
The novel starts with the sharing of the type of secret other authors save for the climax or the great secret revealed in the final pages. This story up front will require time to regain composure; but not too long, because putting down a Sandra Dallas read is nearly impossible. This book is filled with secrets revealed as the reader learns about the lives of the characters. The secret revealed in the final pages is top notch.
It is not uncommon for Dallas to name characters from a previous novel in a newer novel. This book provides the readers with some in-depth answers regarding the life of a man slighted in “The Diary of Mattie Spenser.”
“Prayers for Sale” ends with a happy resolution, which is not always the case with Dallas novels. The ending of “The Diary of Mattie Spenser” could be considered satisfying but not happy. Reading the two of these novels together would make for a wonderful weekend.
— By Lyn Rinehart
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