Saturday, August 22, 2020

About the Book

Book: The Sinner in Mississippi

Author: D.L. Lane

Genre: Historical Fiction, Inspirational Romance

Release Date: May 1, 2020

Not expecting me to live, the midwife cleaned me up, wrapped me in an old tea towel, and placed me in a knitting basket beside the wood-burning stove. According to Mama, the storm raged until morning, but I never made one sound. So, hours later, when they peeked in at me, they were surprised to see me sucking my thumb, staring up at them with eyes the color of bluebells.

Mama told me, that’s when she cried.

See, she hadn’t shed a single tear during the harsh pain of giving birth or out of fear of the horrible storm taking the house and her with it, but she sobbed when she saw me. To her, it would have been better for all of us if I’d passed on in the night, carried off on the wings of angels, never to suffer the evils of this world. And sometimes, I wondered if she hadn’t been right.

–Mississippi Singleton

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MY REVIEW

This book is now in my list as one of my favorites for the year. The emotional journey the author takes us on is one I will not forget. A little baby born into a family that didn’t want her was where we start our ride. Mississippi was raised in a home where violence and abuse was her everyday life. Her father didn’t want her and made her life horrible everyday. I could feel the pain as Mississippi thought she was no better than trash in a garbage can. I loved her unwavering faith and hope that someday her life would be better.

Thayer was the person who Mississippi needed to rescue her from a life that was filled with pain and sorrow. His kindness was overwhelming and I loved how he stood up for her when people said ugly things about her. The relationship that develops between them is slow as Mississippi learns to trust. Her past has made some people call her names that hurt but Thayer saw a woman who had value. The author delivers a story that is deep with raw emotions as we experience the unthinkable violence Mississippi endures. It was hard to read but it shows how Thayer never gave up on Mississippi. His unconditional love for her overflows as he protects her and gives her a place to stay.

I liked how the author took us from the beginning of Mississippi’s life and gives us a glimpse of God’s plan for her life. The relationship she had with her father was hard but at some point she knows she has to forgive him. I think the part in the story where Mississippi goes to her mon’s grave and cries out to God is one of my favorite scenes in the book. Her need to forgive and find peace was something she desired in order to be free. The other scene I found very emotional is when Mississippi goes to her father after many years apart. The moment she walks into her old home and sees her daddy made me cry.

The story had moments where it was hard to read but the author does a great job of allowing us to see that what the enemy meant for bad, God used for good. God was there when Mississippi felt abandoned, abused and hopeless. He gave her strength to hold her head up and follow her destiny. The story spans over many years as we see the path that Mississippi takes to help others.

“When we do something from the heart and follow God’s plan , He makes our tasks less of a challenge.”

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.

About the Author

D.L. Lane is a wife, musician, a graduate of Liberty University, and a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. In 2010 she walked away from the day job and started a writing career using a pen name. As far as the world was concerned, she was very successful writing romances, however, success aside, she knew she wasn’t on the right path but stubbornly kept on going for nine years. Although a Christian and raised in a religious home, D.L went her own way, leaving God out of her choices until He said, “Enough.”

Weary and seeking guidance, she finally listened and left the course she was on as an established novelist to take a new path—putting God first in her life where He always should have been.

More from D.L.

I love writing, and I love to challenge myself as an author, and so I thought, why not write a fictional historical piece. This was a test for me since there are many things to research when writing during a different era, especially when I wasn’t around at that time. But I prayed about it, grabbed my laptop, and started writing about a poor, uneducated girl who grew up in Louisiana during the Great Depression in a motherless home with a group of reprobate males.

Not unlike the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis, a boy despised by his brothers who plotted against him, later rose from the depths to become one of the most powerful men in Egypt, facing the very men who had been responsible for the atrocities he’d suffered. Joseph had a choice. Let them die or help the ones who never helped him? This story weaves some of that same treachery with truth, teaching not only the heroine but the hero the ultimate meaning of love.

I wanted to give readers a book demonstrating the fact God will never leave us, even if we have left him for a time. That a personal relationship with Christ is our ultimate source of strength, and with His help, we can be pulled out of the depths of great sorrow, rising to heights we never imagined possible.