Sweeping Up Glass
Non-series
Carolyn D.
Wall
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-512-7 (1590585127)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-512-2 (9781590585122)
Publication Date: August 2008
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): 1938: Olivia and the boy, Will’m, run
Harker’s Grocery and live in the cold-water kitchen behind
the store. Money is scarce; business is bad. Out back, Pap is buried
near the outhouse, and Olivia’s crazy mother Ida is living in
a tarpaper shack.
For 30 years, Olivia has loved Wing Harris, who plays a mean trumpet
and owns the Kentuckian Hotel. For decades, they’ve shared
only howdies at Ruse’s Cafe.
This may be the coldest winter on record in Kentucky, but that
doesn’t keep the elusive Hunt Club from tracking silver-faced
wolves on Olivia’s strip of mountain. It falls to her and
Will’m to figure out why as the hunters turn their sights on
them, too.
Then, one frozen night, Will’m’s mother comes back
for him. The some terrible secrets explode among the Rowe Street
community. Now there’s blood on Olivia’s hands, and
nothing is as she thought it was.
Olivia is responsible for the very people who betrayed her. While she
searches for answers that might save them all, then the day comes when
Olivia must shatter the shackles that bind her and her
community.
Review:
Olivia Harker tells the story of her life and in particular the
mysterious circumstances of one bitterly cold winter in Sweeping Up Glass,
the powerful debut novel by Carolyn D. Wall.
Olivia Harker is a child unwanted and unloved by her mentally ill
mother. Her father, however, adores her. He manages, while his wife Ida
is in a sanitarium, to take care of Olivia, handle his grocery store,
and learn through books to be a veterinarian. When Ida returns home,
Olivia is already in school. Ida begins immediately to express her
disapproval of Olivia by intimidating her, threatening her and at times
beating her with a switch. The only friends Olivia has are the people
of color from down the road. The young ones like her and the older ones
teach her things she doesn’t learn in school, i.e. sewing and
quilting. Not being taught the nature of life by her folks, she has a
daughter, Pauline, out of wedlock, not even knowing who the father is.
She ultimately marries and has a fairly happy life for twelve years
before her husband dies. Her daughter follows in her mother’s
footsteps and has a son, William, out of wedlock. When William is still
a baby, Pauline leaves home to become a star in Hollywood. Through the
years, however, Ida continues her nerve-wracking ways. But little
Will'm is a source of joy to Olivia and she will do everything in her
power to protect him and keep him out of harm’s way.
In 1938, Olivia recounts when folks had very little money so traded
whatever provisions they had for groceries at the Harker grocery store.
It was a time of blatant segregation and it was a time of bootleg
whiskey. There were hunters who normally only hunted for food, but for
reasons unknown to Olivia they began hunting for sport on her land
where the only silver-faced wolves existed in Kentucky. Her grandfather
had brought home a male and female years before from Alaska. Why did
the hunters start shooting the wolves, then slicing the right ear off
and leaving the remains for the vultures? Were these the same men that
had secret meetings every Saturday night? And why were some of
the colored boys getting sick and dying, or suddenly leaving
home? When Olivia confronts the men about hunting on her land, she is
warned that they will be coming after her and her grandson next. They
give her no reason why. Now a widow, how can she protect herself and
keep her teenage grandson safe from harm?
Sweeping Up Glass
is a formidable tale of seemingly insurmountable difficulties and
terrorizing issues for a family during a difficult period for many in
America. Yet Olivia Harker finds love and honor among the shattered
glass of her life. This is a remarkable story, rich in character and
emotion, which should be read and reread; it is highly recommended.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Sweeping Up Glass and to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Omnimystery keywords for Sweeping Up Glass
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Location(s) referenced: Kentucky.
