GodPretty in the Tobacco Field

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From the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, an atmospheric, tender tale of love and loss set in 1969 rural Kentucky. There, a young girl named RubyLyn is subjected to grueling labor by her God-fearing uncle, and strives to find a ray of hope in her poverty-stricken town through her own tobacco patch, a forbidden first love, and her home-made paper fortune tellers. Nameless, Kentucky in 1969 is a hardscrabble community where jobs are few and poverty is a simple fact-just like the hot Appalachian breeze or the pests that can wipe out a tobacco field in days. RubyLyn Bishop is luckier than some. Her God-fearing uncle, Gunnar, has a short fuse and high expectations, but he's given her a good home ever since she was orphaned at the age of five. But now, a month shy of her sixteenth birthday, RubyLyn itches for more. Maybe it's something to do with the paper fortune tellers she's been making for townsfolk, each covered with beautifully wrought, prophetic drawings. Or perhaps it's because of Rainey Ford, an African-American neighbor who works alongside her in the tobacco field whom she has a kinship with, despite her uncle's worrisome shadow and the town's disapproval. RubyLyn's predictions are just wishful thinking, not magic at all, but through them she's imagining life as it could be, away from the prejudice and hardship that ripple through Nameless. Atmospheric, poignant, and searingly honest, GodPretty in the Tobacco Field follows RubyLyn through the course of one blazing summer, as heartbreaking revelations and life-changing decisions propel her toward a future her fortune tellers never predicted.

Author Bio

Kim Michele Richardson is the award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Southern fiction, including The Sisters of Glass Ferry, Liar's Bench, GodPretty in the Tobacco Field and The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, which was a LibraryReads selection, an IndieNext Pick, a Books-A-Million Best Fiction selection, an Oprah's Buzziest Books pick and a Women's National Book Association Great Group Reads selection. Born in Kentucky and a part-time resident of North Carolina, she is a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity and an advocate for the prevention of child abuse and domestic violence. Please visit her online at KimMicheleRichardson.com.