Stork Bite by L.K. Simonds ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

"When David Walker was seventeen years old, he killed a man.

A white man." (loc 87)

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

November 2020; Indie; 978-1736203002
ebook, print (379 pages); southern fiction

L. K Simonds is a new author for me and a book that I don't think I'd have picked up on my own.  When I saw that it was Southern fiction, I decided to take a chance -- and I am so happy that I did.  This novel was a beautifully written look at three main characters and their lives and their families' lives from 1913 - 2012.  I connected with all of these characters early in the novel (one more than the others) and felt like I knew them to the point that I cried at tragedies in their lives.

David was my favorite character in this book.  In 1913, in Louisiana, seventeen-year-old David was walking to a lake to fish, and was stopped by a man who planned to harm him - David is black and the man he killed was a member of the KKK.  David knew that if he was caught, he would be killed and if he went home, his family would be in danger...so he decides to 'disappear'.  After he camps for several months, he walks away and finds a small farm in the middle of nowhere.  He stays to help on the farm and becomes part of the family.

In 1927 in Shreveport, we meet two women who are totally different.  Their only connection is that Cargie works at a dry cleaning store and Mae is the niece of the owner and lives with her aunt and uncle while she goes to college.  In some ways they are the same - they both wanted to grow beyond what was expected of them growing up but they both took totally different paths.  In this part of the book, we get a look at both women's lives -- Cargie as she works and then is unsure of her life plans when she gets pregnant.  She has a very supportive husband who helps make her dream of continuing her job come true.  Mae has left her fiancé in a small town and arrived in Shreveport to attend college.  After a year, she gets involved with another person who is very different and her life plans totally change.   The longer the reader travels in the lives of these characters, the more familiar they become and the more invested we are in their lives.

This is a book about family and redemption, racism and justice...  But most of all it's a story about love.  If you enjoy historical fiction mixed with an emotional view of family in transition, you don't want to miss Stork Bite.

”The past is never as far from the present as it seems."

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Susan Roberts lives in North Carolina with her husband of over 50 years.  She grew up in Michigan but now calls North Carolina home. Since her travel plans had to be canceled for this year, she is starting to make plans for travel in 2021. She reads almost anything (and the piles of books in her house prove that) but her favorite genres are Southern fiction, women's fiction, and historical fiction. Susan is a top 1% Goodreads Reviewer. You can connect with Susan on Facebook, Goodreads, or Twitter.

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