Frankie Chasing Bear and her ten-year-old son, Harold, have left their Lakota home in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. It is 1951 and they are relocating to Los Angeles following the death of her husband, but make it as far as Phoenix in her old truck. Frankie begins a Lakota Star quilt to teach her son the Lakota ways by the story in the quilt. Wanting to finish up her high school diploma, Frankie and Harold attend the Phoenix Indian School together. That is until some trouble comes along and they are both asked to leave. Harold wants to go back to Pine Ridge.
Nick Parker is a Federal Agent for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and has just transferred from Nebraska to Arizona. Nick is half-Lakota and half-white. He is sent to talk to the Navajo people to thin their sheep herds to preserve the government forests. He and Frankie meet as she and her son are at the gas station getting water for her overheated truck.
In needing a source of income, Frankie is directed to two quilters and she joins them at their shop. The Navajo Reservation with its tribal headquarters in Window Rock, Arizona, holds a Fair every year. Frankie and her two friends take quilts there to sell. While at the weekend Navajo Fair, Harold makes friends with Blackfeet boys his age from Montana who include him in their ball games ~ as quarterback! Excited to have friends, Harold stays close to them.A Sky without Stars tells the story of a crash of cultures. I admire Frankie as she comes up against obstacles and continues on striving for betterment and living each day to the fullest. She loves her son and struggles with letting go. He is convinced she is trying to baby him, and Frankie wants to keep him close and away from harm. A growing time for each of them, Frankie looks to the wisdom of her grandmother in seeking her next step. She could not understand how her grandmother could be Lakota and a Christian. As Nick and Frankie become friends, he continues to want to help her in any way he can. As a single mother in a new environment, she tries to do it on her own. Assurance comes as both of them find God has been with them in their struggles. A growing story of hope, forgiveness, and acceptance of grace and mercy extended. Finding the love of the Lakota Star, star of Bethlehem.
Author Linda S. Clare ~ a bed without a quilt is like a sky without stars ~
***Thank you to Litfuse Publicity Group for inviting me to be part of the blog tour for this Quilts of Love story ~ A Sky Without Stars by Linda S. Clare. This review was written in my own words. No other compensation was received.***
Quilts of Love | A SKY WITHOUT STARS by Linda S. Clare – Kindle HDX Giveaway & “Spring Fling” Facebook Party!
Don't miss this month's Quilts of Love book, A Star Without Stars, by Linda S. Clare. Linda is celebrating the release with a Kindle HDX giveaway and joining her fellow Quilts of Love authors, Barbara Cameron and Joyce Magnin, for a Facebook "Spring Fling" party on April 1st.
One winner will receive:
- A Kindle Fire HDX
- Scraps of Evidence by Barbara Cameron
- A Sky Without Stars by Linda S. Clare
- Maybelle in Stitches by Joyce Magnin
So grab your copies of Scraps of Evidence, A Sky Without Stars, and Maybelle in Stitches and join Barbara, Linda, and Joyce on the evening of April 1st for a chance to connect and make some new friends. (If you haven't read the books, don't let that stop you from coming!)
I discovered your review when I posted my own review of this Quilts of Love title on Litfuse. I am a retired school librarian who loves to tell everyone that I am reading my way through retirement. Besides quilting, gardening, and baking, I love to spend time at our Northern Wisconsin cabin. We have 6 grandchildren and they keeps us busy. My blog is Thoughts From Mill Street http://www/thoughtsfrommillstreet.blogspot.com It would be great if you would stop by for a look. I plan to keep following your blog.
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