Comparing this "first book" to "To Kill a Mockingbird", or the writer to Harper Lee was a strong recommendation. I had my doubts, but Carolyn Wall did not disappoint. I can't wait for more from her. Sweeping Up Glass is a compelling story of family and racism in the South with endearing characters, a story to tell and a lesson to teach. I listened to the audio version and Lorna Raver did a superb job of bringing the characters to life. Highly recommended. ( )

I highly recommend Sweeping Up Glass to anyone who enjoys Southern literature, rich characters, and excellent storytelling. There were several times that I found a lump beginning to form in my throat as I was reading this novel and I genuinely cared about the characters. Even though the book did, as others said, change its tone halfway through, I actually didn’t find that too jarring. That being said, I preferred the beginning plot, which was more character-driven, than the ending. I agree with the previous reviewer in that then ending tied itself up a little too neatly and was unbelievable. Still, I have found a new author to enjoy, and I love Ms. Wall’s writing. ( )

Before I get too far down some random road, I feel I need to say I liked this book/ books. The reason I mention book(s) is best described below in the review by msbaba, who describes the first portion of the book as a wonderfully written character study and the last few chapters as a suspense thriller. I liked them both because at any given time I can appreciate both genres, however, I found the change somewhat jarring in this book to the the point where I almost flipped to the front page and started reading again, for fear I had missed something really big (and obvious). Long story short, liked the book, would recommend it to others, and would read another by the same author. In this case, the flaws don't negate the overall quality of the writing and the experience of 1930's Kentucky. ( )

This is a lovely book that I couldn't put down. A mystery (who is killing the wolves on Olivia Harker's property?), a love story, a history lesson on race relations in 1930's Kentucky and, most of all, a story of family. The first half of the story is narrated with childlike innocence by the young Olivia, then returns to the present day and the dangerous goings-on in the small town in the hills of Kentucky. A wonderful debut. ( )

quite good novel of Olivia who wants to save the wolves but someone is kiling them and cutting off their ears. Her mother Ida is nuts and they are poor store owners. The town has a rage that is only discovered at the end. Hangings, killings, corrupt police.....well written. ( )

The blurbs used to describe Carolyn Wall’s debut, Sweeping Up Glass, compare Wall to Harper Lee, William Faulkner, Eudora Welty and Flannery O’Connor. I mean WOW, how does a novel live up to those kinds of expectations? And yet, even from the beginning, it just does. The striking similarities to To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the most beloved books ever written, are unavoidable. The innocent narrator, and explored themes particularly evoke Mockingbird, and that is a statement I’d never make lightly. Wall’s narrative voice with its colloquial speech is so entrenched in classic southern tradition that it becomes hard to believe that I wasn’t reading a much older novel.

This tale offers more than nostalgia. It is basically the life story of hard working and very poor general store owner, Olivia Harker. Olivia lives life in no uncertain terms. She idolizes her father, adores her grandson, loves her lifetime friends, is wary of her daughter, protective of the wolves that roam her property, and hates her mom. Her story is set in a very small town in Kentucky. And her town has some dark secrets yet to be unveiled. Unknown truths waiting in Olivia’s past threaten her life and everything she knows. It is hard to go into much more detail as the book is masterfully structured--even Olivia doesn’t know the tale she is telling. Just know that the plot offers mysterious surprises.

I have almost no criticisms of this book, but if I really reach, I could say that this book doesn’t feel modern. It tells of a bygone time period and past issues. Which some readers might find to be to the books credit especially after reading it. I will say this book is an old fashioned good read, and its historical feel was most likely calculated move on Wall’s part.

The strengths of the novel abound. Foremost, Olivia’s voice is forcibly engaging, and stayed with me long after the book conclusion. Every character is fully drawn and compelling. The plot is constructed with doses of mystery, literary tension, and layers of characterization. It is easily the best book I’ve read all month, and sure to be one of my favorites this year. Wall’s tale is sure to be cherished by anyone who reads it. It is deserving of all the gushing praise it has and will receive. ( )

Carolyn Wall's debut novel Sweeping Up Glass starts with such a strong literary impact that I had to remind myself to keep breathing. There was so much heartbreaking humanity and reality in the prose that it felt as if the book I held in my hand was a lovely, small, wounded animal rather than a simple work of fiction. In the beginning, almost everything about the book had me entranced—I was under a spell…and, for the most part, that feeling of awe continued straight through to the end.

The book is a truly remarkable debut and Carolyn Wall is an impressive new novelist. Through her simple lyrical prose and authentic dialogue, the impoverished people of rural Appalachia come alive. There is exquisite magic in her straightforward, honest storytelling.

Other reviews on this site outline the book's plot and themes, so I will not go over that material again here. Instead, I want to explain why, after such an enthusiastic opening, I choose to give this book only a three-star and not a five-star rating.

The problem for me was the abrupt change-of-pace in the last few chapters. For most of the book, I had the feeling that I was reading a magnificent character study—a study of a woman, her family, and her town. I would have been totally satisfied if the book had been nothing more than that. It was such a beautiful experience to be in the author's capable hands, taking an intimate look at a marvelous, odd cast of real-life characters.

But shortly before the end, the book abruptly morphs into a fast-paced thriller. The book was like a chimera—ninety percent slow-paced literary character study and ten percent potboiler. I'm sure than many, if not most readers, will not have any problem with this sudden switch-of-pace and style, but for me…well, it totally lifted the veil of reality and I was found myself staring at all the pulley-and-lever mechanics of storytelling stagecraft. The ending broke the long spell of entrancement…and I was sorely disappointed.

I have no problem with the mixing of genres. It is possible to mix a thriller in together with a literary character study—indeed, I has been done many times before. Carolyn Wall got this mix wrong.

Despite this disappointment, I am still enthusiastic and excited by the promise of this new author. Carolyn Wall seems to be a stunning new literary talent and I look forward to her next book. Hopefully, with the next book, she will manage to keep me under her spell straight through to the end. ( )

I was not in the mood for Sweeping Up Glass when I began reading it. I had made a commitment though to read and review it. I am sure it sounded good to me when I checked the box at the BookBrowse website to be entered for a chance to review it, but once it arrived in the mail, I wondered what in the world I had been thinking. My extra-fabulous reading streak would surely be ruined now. Maybe that would be a good thing though, I told myself. People are beginning to think I not only like, but actually love just about everything I read.

Sweeping Up Glass is Carolyn Wall’s first novel. And let me just say now that it definitely did not ruin my love ‘em all reading streak. I loved it. Can I say that again, please? I loved it. So much for not being in the mood for it. Well, there you have it. End of review.

Okay, so not really. Despite my initial doubts, it was clear from the very first page that I was going to like this novel. Olivia Harker Cross has lived a lifetime in her nearly 42 years of life. It was not all bad at first. Although they were poor, which was true of most of the folk living in their Kentucky town, Olivia and her father ran the grocery store, living in the back. Olivia adored her father. He ran a little side business, mending and caring for injured animals. He did what he could for Olivia, making sure she did not do without. Olivia’s mother, Ida, during those early years was locked away in an asylum, having never been quite the same after giving birth to her daughter.

Olivia spent her days going to school and helping her father with the store, sometimes even helping him with the animals. Her best friend, Love Alice, a black girl just a few years older than herself, was married to Junk Hanley, a strong and decent man who often did work around the store for Olivia and her father. Junk’s family had taken Olivia in more than once, Junk’s mother being the mother Olivia never really had. This was during a time when the line between black and white was well drawn. Segregation was the norm: they shopped at the grocery store on different days from one another, attended different schools and churches, and the blacks had to enter through the back door rather than the front at the local restaurant. Color made no difference to Olivia, however. She knew who her friends were, and she loved them dearly.

When word came from the asylum that her mother was ready to come home, Olivia was devastated. Her mother had never taken kindly to her and Olivia knew it would not turn out well. She was right. Her mother treated her poorly, cruelly even. When Olivia got word of her father’s death, she blamed herself and her mother would not let her forget the part she played in it.

As time went on, Olivia found love and lost it, became a mother early on and struggled with raising a daughter. She did not hesitate to take in her grandson Will’m, when her daughter, Pauline left him on her doorstep. It was to that end that Olivia finds herself caring for her elderly mother, who has grown no nicer with age, and her young grandson, the only real joy in her life.

Will’m is so much like his great-grandfather, big heart and all. When the wolves on the family’s mountain are suddenly targeted by cold-blooded hunters, he begs his grandmother to try and save a litter of young pups. Olivia is angered that someone is trespassing on her land and killing off the wolves. She is determined to get to the bottom of it. What she finds is a town full of dark secrets, cover-ups and lies. And the closer she comes to the truth, the more danger she and Will’m are in.

Olivia Harker Cross’s life has made her tough and somewhat bitter. She has a softer side, which is most evident when she is around her grandson, Will’m. She is such a strong woman, so resilient, and yet still so full of doubt. Even though I may not have agreed with every choice she made, I never lost respect for her. She believes in standing up for what is right and is not afraid to speak her mind.

Olivia’s mother, Ida, is such an interesting character. She too has had a difficult life. She is much kinder to the men in her life (other than her husband) than she is to the women. She’s long been plagued with mental illness, but it is never clear what exactly that may be. One of the heart-wrenching moments in the book is when Olivia visits the state hospital her mother had spent much of Olivia's early childhood in. Even though Ida was terrible to Olivia, it was hard not to feel for her, having had to live in a place like that. For all intents and purposes, Ida seems to be a woman unhappy with her lot in life and so she takes it out on those closest to her. The relationship between Olivia and Ida is a complicated one.

Olivia has long harbored a hate in her heart for a mother she does not understand. All her life, even now, Olivia has wanted her mother to show some sign that she loves her. Her mother never has. The scars her mother has left on her run deep. They impact her relationship with her own daughter, who could not wait to escape. Olivia’s heart has been broken too many times, and love does not come easily for her. She guards her heart as those who love her know all too well.

Carolyn Wall’s novel begins in the future and quickly steps back into the past where the reader learns about Olivia’s childhood, setting the stage for the events to come. What begins as a quiet novel picks up intensity in the second half, particularly in the final 100 pages or so, as everything comes to a head (several soft expletives escaped me mouth, causing my husband to wonder if I was crazy). It almost seemed like two different novels in a way: the first half being more of a life story and the second being the suspense-filled mystery. And while I could fault another novel for this, I actually thought it worked quite well. The transition happened gradually and the story threads were interwoven from beginning to end.

The novel is set in the late 1930’s, at least in terms of the “current” story thread. The time period plays an especially important role in the novel. Life was hard all over the United States at that time and in the decades preceding it, people struggling to make ends meet. In Pope County Kentucky, where the novel is set, it was no different. Carolyn Wall captured the desperation of the times as well as the adaptability of the people. People bartered with food and services when they could not pay. Segregation was commonplace and racism ran rampant.

There is so much I want to say about this book and I haven't even come close to capturing all that I loved about it, but I’ve already said more than I probably should. This is one of those books that you have to read for yourself. Told in the voice of Olivia, the narrative is uncomplicated, her wry humor coming out now and then. The pages are filled with characters well worth getting to know, and Olivia’s story is one that will surely touch the reader’s heart. The secrets uncovered are chilling and the resolution is satisfying. The novel is as complex as Olivia Harker. Sweeping Up Glass is a love story, a mystery, and historical novel that touches on social issues that still reverberate today.

To think I had doubts about reading this book. That will show me, won’t it? ( )

Olivia Harker Cross lives in the mountains of Kentucky during the time of the great depression with her elderly and insane mother and her young grandson, abandoned by a mother with dreams of “making it” in California. Olivia has not had an easy life. She lost her beloved Pap at an early age and has been left with her mother Ida who is crazy and abusive. Furthermore her life has been marred by extreme poverty especially since the impoverished residents of her community have not been able to pay for items from the store she runs nor for the “doctoring services” provided by her Pap to local animals. Olivia also has dangerous enemies who are making life treacherous for her and now her enemies are killing her beloved wolves.

Carolyn Wall writes Olivia's story in a fast paced and engaging way which is tinged with mystery. Her style is reminiscent of other Southern writers such as Harper Lee and Dorothy Allison. This book was an engaging read and I would highly recommend it. ( )

Let me start by saying this was a surprisingly good read. Unless you are familiar with the southern dialect it may be a somewhat slow start. Once you get up to speed on the jargon it becomes a book that you can't wait to pick up. The story is very well crafted. I found that the more you read, the better this book gets. It has an ending I never would have predicted, and the last few chapters become a roller coaster of excitement. This is a pleasant little summer read. I look forward to Carolyn's next book. ( )

Sweeping Up Glass by Carolyn Wall is a richly told tale. We meet the narrator/main character, Olivia, when she's a woman in her forties. She's a woman who has lived and is living a hard life. She backtracks and tells the reader how she got where she is and then the story continues in present tense.

For the most part, all of Walls characters are three dimensional. Olivia is a very likable character. It's easy to sympathize with her even though, at times, I felt that she was doing the wrong thing or being too stubborn. We see all the characters through Olivia's eyes. The depth of what we learn about them is proportional to her acquaintance and association with them. Because of this, the antagonists at times seemed to do things for no reason. We learn with Olivia, however.

There are some mysteries in the story. We want to know who is shooting the wolves and why. Olivia's pap is buried by the outhouse and we want to understand why and how that happened. There are other mysteries, all woven deftly through the story. The end has an unexpected twist, and yet, it is logical and not out of place in the story. I thought the romance was a bit too contrived at the end, but just a little. It was not totally out of the realm of possibility.

It could have been depressing, Olivia's life has been quite difficult, but Wall makes the tale real, neither overwhelming us with the negative turns life can take, nor making it a fairy tale that ends with an unrealistic 'happily ever after.'

Over all, this was a wonderful book. I was totally absorbed as I read. I would recommend this to anyone. ( )

I finally got back home from vacation and started "Sweeping Up Glass"...have only read a few chapters so I don't have much of a review yet...however, what I've read so far grabbed my interest and I am looking forward to the rest of the book...I will write a proper review when I'm done...finished the book finally, it was slow reading for me but not because of the book, just time restraint...

"Sweeping Up Glass" is a very good book with Olivia as the main character and her fight to save the wolves on her mountain and unravel the mystery of her father's "death" and why the Phelps' are so angry at her...I wish Olivia's relationship with her daughter had been a little more developed and maybe the fate of the wolves a bit better established but overall it was a marvelous book... ( )

If the measure of a good story is the desire to turn each next page, then Sweeping Up Glass is a good story. Told in the first person by Olivia Harker, an authentic and relatable voice, and set in Southern Kentucky, in a time when segregation was a fact and civil rights had yet to be spoken of, Sweeping Up Glass is a genre straddling southern, historical, mystery that considers the wounds of hatred, the intricacies of family, and the complexity of pride, loss and redemption.

Olivia’s story begins in the present as someone has injured a wolf on her rural property. As she and her grandson Will’m contemplate the wolf’s care, the story quickly turns to past tense as Olivia recounts her life growing up with her kindhearted pap and her institutionalized mother. Olivia’s strong will propels the story through first love, unwed motherhood and depression era farm life.

The best part of Sweeping Up Glass is undeniably the voice of Olivia Harker, youthful and strong, proud and misguided. The excellently drawn setting of depression era Aurora, Kentucky adds depth to Olivia’s tale, with a mixture of sweeping rural grandeur and a provincial way of life.

Though associated to several great southern writers in early reviews, two small bumps keep Sweeping Up Glass from landing securely in the Faulkner or Flannery O’Connor arena. The present-past-present switching proves a bit ungainly, and though only briefly slowing the momentum of the telling, it keeps the story from having a fully realized tautness. Further, the ending builds to a mountainous crescendo and then flies by too quickly with a few characters in need of a fuller resolution, a few bows too neatly tied.

So small are these bumps as Sweeping Up Glass does most of what makes a southern mystery so endearing: keeps the pages moving at breakneck speed that mystery lovers need, includes a whiz-bang with a twist ending and paints a time when a small community was the whole of the world.

Recommended for lovers of the southern tale or those seeking a rural-defined mystery.

Review first published on Many A Quaint & Curious Volume
© Tasses 2007-2009 ( )

There are so many different conflicts in this book that it's hard to write a review and give it justice without giving anything away.

Olivia is a women who is in fierce love with her land and the Alaskan silver wolves that inhabit it. Set in rural Kentucky around the 1930's she speaks as a child growing up with a "nervous" and unloving mother, a father who is devoted to her and to the healing of all animals domestic and wild. She speaks about the hidden racial bigotry that her community has allowed to propagate for fear of retribution.All of these struggles come together when the wolves on her land become deadly targets of a very real group of enemies.

Wall shows Olivia as a proud, honest and loving women when she must fight for the rights of the people she loves and the animals she has become dedicated to.

I really liked this book and the frankness that Wall gave Olivia. The ending came together a little to easily for me otherwise I would have given it 5 stars.

Highly recommended and will read her second book The Coffin Maker. ( )

If there's one book you read this summer, this should be the one.
I came so close to not reading it because it sounds like the most depressing book ever written. If, by reading the description, you feel the same way, please don't let it stop you from reading it. If you do you'll miss out on a beautiful story, beautifully written. It's hard to believe this is Carolyn Wall's debut novel.

I thought the blurb on the back would be too much for any book to live up to, but this book did not disappoint. I was sucked in immediately, and did not want to put this one down. I just loved the character of Olivia. She epitomizes the feistiness at the core of every woman. Olivia is a woman of the earth, in so many ways.

This is a tough review to write because I really do not want to give away too many details, as the pace at which the characters, the setting and back-story are revealed are a very large part of the enjoyment of this book. The prose is crisp and wonderfully descriptive, and the characters very human.

I have just have to say this... I think I smell a bestseller. ( )

It made me crazy to have had interruptions while reading this novel! It is mesmerizing and I can tell you where exactly where I became hooked. The last sentence of the second chapter, that was it for me. I don't want to give a synopsis of the story, others can do that far better than I. I think it's much more enjoyable to just read it for what it's worth - and this book is worth a lot. It's worth your time, it's worth your attention and your dollar. You will not be disappointed. Great story, great characters with excellent development, wonderful mystery, revenge, retribution - it's got the works. Oh, and did I mention it's VERY well written? Olivia's voice is unique. Totally loved it. Go buy it now, you will be glad you did.
Thank you LibraryThing.com for yet another wonderful read. Being able to be an Early Reviewer for LT is such a pleasure - especially when I receive such a wonderful book as this. Kudos to the author (Carolyn Wall) - great job! Looking forward to reading more from her. I lent my copy to my Mother and she devoured it with great enjoyment. It is now off being read by a friend who I am sure will love it as well. ( )

This book is a treat for the soul and mind. Olivia is a fresh, believable heroine - always doing her lovingiest in the most difficult of circumstances, but not in a way that is easily recognized as kind - she has self-doubt (refreshing in this egotistic world), humor and deep vulnerabilty. You just want to hug her and wish you could be her friend. The story is of a time early in the 20th century in rural Kentucky mountain country - and has the elements of economic hardship, racial bigotry, family heartbreak - yest without being sentimental and predictable. I read it quickly and savored every page. There are pages I've marked and want to go back to and capture a particular phrase. This kind of story and writing doesnt' come along - great debut! ( )

You want be able to put it down. Its been a long time since I have read such great southern fiction. Olivia Harper tugs at your heart string as a young child and then again as a determined woman fighting the odds. The characters are all brillant and real! Love Alice is genius! Thank you Carolyn Wall for a truly wonderful read!! ( )

In the backwoods of Kentucky, Olivia Harker Cross struggles to raise her grandson while living with her cantankerous mother and maintaining the family grocery business. Everything’s fine in this unconventional family until poachers start killing the Alaskan silver wolves brought to Kentucky by Olivia’s grandfather. As Olivia investigates the poachers, she uncovers decades-old secrets and must protect her family from the resulting dangers.

The story unfolds from the first-person point of view as Olivia narrates current events and mixes in memories from her childhood. Olivia’s unique voice is the center of gravity for this novel; it’s a constant and compelling force:

"All in all, I have a crazy ma'am who owns a hundred dusty Bibles, a leggy boy with a too-soft heart, and no man to bed down with. And an Alaskan silver dying on my kitchen floor."

As engaging as it is, Olivia’s voice cannot compensate for this novel’s awkward plotting. The action in the final third of the book feels contrived, loaded with convenient coincidences and overly dramatic scenes. This final section, which reads like a thriller, is out of character with the pacing and style of the first two-thirds of the book. As I mentioned in a prior post, Sweeping Up Glass has the best first chapter I’ve read recently. Although the rest of the book didn’t live up to the initial promise of the first chapter, Sweeping Up Glass is an enjoyable and worthwhile read, particularly for those who like reading mysteries.

This review also appears on my literary blog Literary License. ( )

Sweeping Up Glass starts out a bit slower than expected, and may give some readers fits because of the heavy dialect used for the main character, Olivia. I found, however, that the flashback section of the book, harkening back to her childhood, was incredibly interesting. If you think the book drags at the beginning, the middle section will blow you away. You come to care so much about Olivia and the secondary characters, and to hate her mother as much as you possibly can.

This connection helps the last part of the book, which takes you forward again to Olivia's adulthood, pick up is pace a bit. I just found such a disconnect between the adult Olivia and her younger counterpart, and at times it was almost distracting because I couldn't quite figure her out. I do have to say that the dialect becomes much easier to read through the farther into the book you get, and there are some plot twists toward the end that are hidden so well in the rest of the text that I was practically delighted at how surprised I was.

The Boston Globe claims in a blurb on the cover that Olivia reminds them of a newer version of Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird... I would not go this far. Scout is one of the most endearing characters in American literature, and I had a hard time connecting with Olivia at all. There are glimpses of greatness as a character in the flashback, but the connections that make To Kill a Mockingbird one of the supreme works of fiction are just not there in this work. I enjoyed it for what it is, and appreciated the plot quite a bit, but I can't bring myself to put it in a category with some of the better developed works of fiction that have been created in the past. ( )

I read this book in two sittings......the writing style was very compelling and the story kept my interest throughout.
I've read the other reviews and I notice that this book has been compared to Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird"........I would agree in some sense the book does. However, Wall's voice is most definately a voice of the 21st century. A story, not unlike Mockingbird but told in a unique way. I would also add that the cover of the book makes reference to Flannery O'Conner and Faulkner. YES.........especially Faulkner, this story has a darker edge than Harper Lee's tale.
The story is well conceived. I especially liked the characters, some of which were very "odd" but then, is this not the case in real life ? Wall does not gloss over the weird or the unpleasant.......I think that this added to the story.....made the book more real.
This is a great book for a discussion, family ties, racial issues and small town life are all brought to life in this novel. I will be recommending this book for my reading group. I feel that it will be one of those few "picks" that everyone will enjoy. ( )

"Sweeping up Glass" tells a story of life in rural America, immediately before and during the depression. The POV character, Olivia, clear sighted and sensible, endures a life of hardship and grief. Somehow, she overlooks outrages that are being committed in her small town against the African Americans who live there. The killing of wolves on her land sets her on a search that will reveal deadly evil at work. Wall's character's are well drawn and the story is compelling and well paced. If I have a problem with this book, it is that her POV character's obliviousness to the murders, persecution and violence against a target group in a very small community for 30 years or more tests the credibility of the reader. Even so, a very good book. ( )

This review is based on the Advance Reading Copy. Just when you think there is nothing new left to say in Southern fiction, here comes a powerful new story and protagonist to dispel that belief. Wall is a darn good writer and found in her anti-herione a unique, hypnotic voice. Olivia is a woman I think almost anyone can relate to ~ a good, real woman in very tough times. She puts her heart on her sleeve and faces what she knows as life's hard truths head on. Despite an absent and then quite evil mother, the early death of her beloved father and a lost daughter, Olivia never harbors hate, and continually tries to make the best of things. She sees the best in the people around her, all the while protecting the people (her grandson Will'm and her "colored" friends) and animals (the wolves) who are important to her. This is a very bigoted and cruel time and place and this very simple woman gains the courage to take the path less traveled. I found it impossible not to get utterly sucked into the world; and finished the book with lightening speed. We learn, as does Olivia, that people and circumstances are rarely what you think they are ~ and even well into midlife, it's worthy to reassess things and take on a new understanding. My only complaint is the ending, while certainly full of interesting and frightening twists and discoveries, was a bit too "Hollywood" for me. It was unbelievable in many ways. But I still think this is a very solid debut and I would definitely look for any subsequent novels by Wall. ( )

In Olivia Cross, Carolyn Wall walked a real tightrope, creating the heroine for her first novel, [Sweeping Up Glass], with equal parts naïveté and precocious reason. Wall first introduces us to Olivia as a beaten and tired grandmother, too early beset by the brutality of the world, fighting extinction in depression era, rural Kentucky. In a tar paper shack behind her house lives her mother, a demon of a woman, seemingly unhinged from reality. One night, in an act of mercy, Olivia kills one of the transplanted wolves living on her land, taking on the wolves’ pups to raise. As the pups cling to life, Wall retraces Olivia’s youth as an untamed, violently independent girl and follows her through the life that has led her to the brink. Olivia undertakes to learn who is preying on her wolves and the answer leads her back to her past, back to the accident which stole her father from her, back to her broken spirit at the hands of her crazy mother.

Epic in a way that evokes Steinbeck and [East of Eden], Olivia and many of the characters in this story are searching for their voices and for a path to redemption. And Wall created characters worthy of such a struggle, rich in depth and mystery and filled with rousing spirits.

This is not a perfect book but is a promising first effort. The unveiling of the secret haunting Olivia and her town culminates in a Hollywood blockbuster movie sort of way which wasn’t consistent with the languid, southern tinted story telling with which the rest of the book is concerned. Wall fleshed out interesting, eccentric characters with whom a reader would rarely grow impatient. A focus on the characters and a patient voice with the story could have carried me through hundreds of more pages, with nary a restless thought about how everything would be resolved. And good southern stories rarely turn out with such rosy endings for everyone.

4 bones!!!!

Bottom Line: A worthy read with solid, exciting characters which strays a bit at the end. Look for this author to fine tune her story-telling and produce even better books ( )