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sarahpreno's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. I have never really read a book about this time period before and I didn't know too much about the Great Depression era and the dust bowl in the Midwest besides the very basics learned in U.S. history. After reading this novel I feel like I now have a very in depth and personalized account (though fictional) of both of these things.
I Will Send The Rain is about one town's struggle and specifically one family's struggle to survive the droughts and dust storms of dust bowl Oklahoma. The writing is fantastic and each character is so well built. It was so interesting to see how each member of the family dealt with these years of constant struggle differently and how they each turned to different people and places to support themselves for mental survival even more than physical.
The only reason I didn't give this book more stars is because at times the every day little details were a little boring and I wasn't as desperate to see how the book would end as I am with most books that I love. But, at the same time, these were also the details that connected me to the time and the characters.
I Will Send The Rain is about one town's struggle and specifically one family's struggle to survive the droughts and dust storms of dust bowl Oklahoma. The writing is fantastic and each character is so well built. It was so interesting to see how each member of the family dealt with these years of constant struggle differently and how they each turned to different people and places to support themselves for mental survival even more than physical.
The only reason I didn't give this book more stars is because at times the every day little details were a little boring and I wasn't as desperate to see how the book would end as I am with most books that I love. But, at the same time, these were also the details that connected me to the time and the characters.
colleengeedrumm's review against another edition
4.0
Good book - emotional and dusty. I wish there had been an epilogue!
Maybe God posted signs visible only to those with eyes to see.
People are always going to talk. If it's about us or not is neither here nor there.
Do not think about what you are leaving, she tells herself, or you will get nowhere. There will be time for that later. There will always be more time for that.
The what-ifs can go on forever if you let them. "What if" will get you nowhere and she has many miles to go.
How do you remember everything? What will be lost?
Maybe God posted signs visible only to those with eyes to see.
People are always going to talk. If it's about us or not is neither here nor there.
Do not think about what you are leaving, she tells herself, or you will get nowhere. There will be time for that later. There will always be more time for that.
The what-ifs can go on forever if you let them. "What if" will get you nowhere and she has many miles to go.
How do you remember everything? What will be lost?
leeleemarg's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
beastreader's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book in one afternoon. Although, to be honest it was more like I savored the book. It was way better then I could have imagined it to be. I love when this happens. The only person that I was not sure about in the beginning was Annie; Birdie's mother. Yet, as I got to know her story I actually came to feel sorry for her. The rest of the Bell family are fighters: Samuel, Birdie, and her brother, Fred. Even while dealing with pneumonia, Fred never gave up. He was very smart and when he "spoke" he carried wisdom with him. I thought Samuel was naïve when it came to his family but he is a simple man who loves his family with all his heart. He was not naïve, he just chose what was worth fighting for. Then there is Birdie. It was not until the end that I realized that in a way she reminded me of Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird. She may not have always known how to make sense of things but she was way older beyond her years. In addition, she already had worldly knowledge. I loved the Bell family and the lessons, heartache, and the love of family that I got from reading this book. I Will Send Rain is a must read and keeper of a book! If you check out one new author to read this year, then you have to pick up a copy of this book.
linesuponapage's review against another edition
4.0
I Will Send The Rain
written by Rae Meadows
While reading this book I was drawn in remembrance to reading The Grapes of Wrath about the dust bowl. Unlike the Joads exodus in The Grapes Of Wrath to California, the Bells stay in Oklahoma and try to scrap up a semblance of life. Through the drudgery of life that the Bells live through mother Annie finds that she is struggling with her identity and the desire to live the life she is having to live. She finds solace in the arms of the Mayor of Mulehead a man that represents the travel, and excitement in the big cities, that she wanted to embark on as a young woman. In the middle of this affair she is dealing with her pregnant daughter “Birdie” and her little boy Fred, who has asthma which is exacerbated by the dust storms. To escape from the worries of his farm, father Samuel builds a boat that he feels he was called to build. He becomes the laughing stock of the town. Birdie and Annie have a hard time understanding the necessity of said boat until the rains come and flood the ground for half a day.
This book to me is sad on so many levels. Samuel feels that he is doing what is right and the only support he gets is from the town minister and his little 9 year old boy Fred. He feels the resentment from Annie and Birdie but does not let that stop him. The sadness I feel for him is that he is clueless to anything else that is going on in his little families world.
Annie knows that she is doing wrong by being with Mayor Jack Lily but she can’t stop herself. I find that I can relate to her as she is struggling with her inner self: who is she, where does she stand in her husband’s world. Her daughter is almost 16 and she doesn’t need her anymore. She can’t help Fred to breath better than she already does using a tonic containing Petrol. How is she to deal with all her feelings and build up her children and husband during these trying times? She is falling apart. Birdie wants to escape she, like her mother at her same age, sees a world she wants to live in far away from their little tiny farming town but can’t see a way to escape except through her boyfriend, Cy. He moves with his family without telling her, this is tragic in so many ways as she was about to tell him that they were going to have a baby. Then she realizes she is stuck to the world she doesn’t want to stay in. I enjoy the way Ms. Meadows tells this story. I always wondered what the Joads went through before they left for California and this story fills in blanks based on what other’s experiences were. Ms. Meadows has a casual style that I like while I am reading. She shows the world the Bell’s are living in. I could feel the dust going up my noise, the stifling way they couldn't breath especially Fred and the lack of any inhaler which wasn’t around back then. Ms. Meadow’s characters are real to me and this is what draws me into the world she has created. Thank you for that Ms. Meadows!
written by Rae Meadows
While reading this book I was drawn in remembrance to reading The Grapes of Wrath about the dust bowl. Unlike the Joads exodus in The Grapes Of Wrath to California, the Bells stay in Oklahoma and try to scrap up a semblance of life. Through the drudgery of life that the Bells live through mother Annie finds that she is struggling with her identity and the desire to live the life she is having to live. She finds solace in the arms of the Mayor of Mulehead a man that represents the travel, and excitement in the big cities, that she wanted to embark on as a young woman. In the middle of this affair she is dealing with her pregnant daughter “Birdie” and her little boy Fred, who has asthma which is exacerbated by the dust storms. To escape from the worries of his farm, father Samuel builds a boat that he feels he was called to build. He becomes the laughing stock of the town. Birdie and Annie have a hard time understanding the necessity of said boat until the rains come and flood the ground for half a day.
This book to me is sad on so many levels. Samuel feels that he is doing what is right and the only support he gets is from the town minister and his little 9 year old boy Fred. He feels the resentment from Annie and Birdie but does not let that stop him. The sadness I feel for him is that he is clueless to anything else that is going on in his little families world.
Annie knows that she is doing wrong by being with Mayor Jack Lily but she can’t stop herself. I find that I can relate to her as she is struggling with her inner self: who is she, where does she stand in her husband’s world. Her daughter is almost 16 and she doesn’t need her anymore. She can’t help Fred to breath better than she already does using a tonic containing Petrol. How is she to deal with all her feelings and build up her children and husband during these trying times? She is falling apart. Birdie wants to escape she, like her mother at her same age, sees a world she wants to live in far away from their little tiny farming town but can’t see a way to escape except through her boyfriend, Cy. He moves with his family without telling her, this is tragic in so many ways as she was about to tell him that they were going to have a baby. Then she realizes she is stuck to the world she doesn’t want to stay in. I enjoy the way Ms. Meadows tells this story. I always wondered what the Joads went through before they left for California and this story fills in blanks based on what other’s experiences were. Ms. Meadows has a casual style that I like while I am reading. She shows the world the Bell’s are living in. I could feel the dust going up my noise, the stifling way they couldn't breath especially Fred and the lack of any inhaler which wasn’t around back then. Ms. Meadow’s characters are real to me and this is what draws me into the world she has created. Thank you for that Ms. Meadows!
lizaroo71's review against another edition
4.0
This story, set during the Great Depression, follows the lives of the Bell family for a year.
The father, Samuel, is hopeful that the rains will come. He is so hopeful he builds a boat in anticipation of the deluge. His wife, Annie, is tired of the dust and in her boredom begins to question her happiness and her marriage. The kids are Birdie, young and in love (a potentially dangerous combination) and Fred (curious and kind and mute).
The story unfolds with a tension I found perfect for what transpires in the plot. I found many of the passages so poetic (unfortunately, I turned in my book to the library complete with all of my tabs without writing any notes!).
I am thankful to Jenny for bringing this one to my attention.
The father, Samuel, is hopeful that the rains will come. He is so hopeful he builds a boat in anticipation of the deluge. His wife, Annie, is tired of the dust and in her boredom begins to question her happiness and her marriage. The kids are Birdie, young and in love (a potentially dangerous combination) and Fred (curious and kind and mute).
The story unfolds with a tension I found perfect for what transpires in the plot. I found many of the passages so poetic (unfortunately, I turned in my book to the library complete with all of my tabs without writing any notes!).
I am thankful to Jenny for bringing this one to my attention.
sarah_reading_party's review against another edition
4.0
This book is terribly sad, but also terribly lovely and almost hopeful. It's a fast read (or in my case, listen) but the writing is so lovely and the characters so rich that you just want to savor them! My only disappointment is that I was expecting more of a book about the Dust Bowl/that time period, and instead it was more of a family drama. But no mind, it was wonderful. You'll be happy, sad, and so much more on every page of this marvelous book! I'm still pondering the ending but it's about what I expected. Check it out!
quercus707's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book - sort of a cross between The Grapes of Wrath and Anna Karenina, very modern. About a family of farmers in OK during the dustbowl, who stay on their farm even as it blows away underneath them. Spare yet beautiful descriptions. Focused on the really real. The characters were well drawn and relatable. All about loving, and losing, and leaving, and finding what matters. Each family member had a crisis, yet the space to work through that crisis. How rare is it to actually allow each other that kind of space?