Rainwater

Sandra Brown

Nov 2009 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

A romantic historical novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Seeing Red about an independent woman who runs a boarding house in Dust Bowl Texas.

Ella Baron runs her Texas boarding house with the efficiency of a ship’s captain and the grace of a gentlewoman. She cooks, cleans, launders, and cares for her ten-year-old son, Solly, a sweet but challenging child whose busy behavior and failure to speak elicits undesired advice from others in town. Ella’s plate is full from sunup to sundown. When a room in her boarding house opens up, the respected town doctor brings Ella a new boarder―the handsome and gallant Mr. David Rainwater—but Ella is immediately resistant to opening up her home to this mysterious stranger.

Even with assurances that Mr. Rainwater is a man of impeccable character, a former cotton broker and a victim of the Great Depression, Ella stiffens at the thought of taking him in. Dr. Kincaid tells Ella in confidence that Mr. Rainwater won’t require the room for long: he is dying. Begrudgingly, Ella accepts Mr. Rainwater’s application to board, but she knows that something is happening; she is being swept along by an unusual series of events. Soon, this strong-minded, independent woman will realize that the living that she has eked out for herself in the small bubble of her town is about to change, whether she likes it or not...

Racial tensions, the financial strain of livelihoods in cotton drying up into dust, and the threat of political instability swirl together into a tornado on the horizon. One thing is certain: the winds of change are blowing all over Texas—and through the cracks in the life that Ella Barron has painstakingly built. This is the story of a woman who takes her life’s circumstances in both hands, but who will be forced to reckon with the chaos of her historical circumstances..

Ratings and reviews

I edited this review after a night. I found it is haunting me. Any book that stays with me like that is well written and a great story. I too fell in love with David Rainwater. My comments that follow are still true. A bit too slow and drawn out getting to the climax, else excellent read. Accurate account of incidents that took place in the Dust Bowl during the drought. This is the third novel I've read of Ms. Brown's, and a departure from her usual genre. I liked this one the best by far.

Blew my mind. Very different from her other books but it is fantastic. The fact that the love story is subtle and not the focus point is one reason why this book is so good.

I really enjoyed this book. Her other books are too graphic in the sexual scene writing. This book had a good message about humam relationships during tough times. I hope she writes more of the same kind of books.

About the author

Sandra Brown is the author of seventy-three New York Times bestsellers. She has published over eighty novels and has upwards of eighty million copies of her books in print worldwide. Her work has been translated into thirty-five languages. Four books have been adapted for film. She lives in Texas.