Missing Isaac by Valerie Fraser Luesse

Missing Isaac

by Valerie Fraser Luesse

About:

There was another South in the 1960s, one far removed from the marches and bombings and turmoil in the streets that were broadcast on tshe evening news. It was a place of inner turmoil, where ordinary people struggled to right themselves on a social landscape that was dramatically shifting beneath their feet. This is the world of Valerie Fraser Luesse's stunning debut, Missing Isaac.

It is 1965 when black field hand Isaac Reynolds goes missing from the tiny, unassuming town of Glory, Alabama. The townspeople's reactions range from concern to indifference, but one boy will stop at nothing to find out what happened to his unlikely friend. White, wealthy, and fatherless, young Pete McLean has nothing to gain and everything to lose in his relentless search for Isaac. In the process, he will discover much more than he bargained for. Before it's all over, Pete--and the people he loves most--will have to blur the hard lines of race, class, and religion. And what they discover about themselves may change some of them forever

My Thoughts:

Stunning. Missing Isaac is absolutely stunning.  Debut author Valerie Fraser Luesse is a master story teller who has the ability to capture history and a knack for colorful details. Not leaving a thing out, the reader goes on a journey with Isaac and Pete. When Pete loses the very person he looks up too, Isaac becomes a person and friendship that becomes special between two boys. This book is just wonderful! This story captures history in the 1960's in the South and addresses issues of that time period. Poverty, loss, racial tension and the power of friendship, this book is sure to grab your heart. The characters are charming, the story is beautiful, yet moving and I this is will not be the last read by this author. 

Anyone who enjoys fiction and southern fiction, will enjoy this book. It is definitely one to keep on the shelf and read again.  I give this 5/5 stars! 

Make sure to order you copy of this book! You won't be disappointed! 

About the Author:

Valerie Fraser Luesse is an award-winning magazine writer best known for her feature stories and essays in Southern Living, where she is currently a senior travel editor. Her work has been anthologized in the audio collection Southern Voices and in A Glimpse of Heaven, an essay collection featuring works by C. S. Lewis, Randy Alcorn, John Wesley, and others. As a freelance writer and editor, she was the lead writer for Southern Living 50 Years: A Celebration of People, Places, and Culture. Specializing in stories about unique pockets of Southern culture, Luesse has published major pieces on the Gulf Coast, the Mississippi Delta, Louisiana's Acadian Prairie, and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Her editorial section on Hurricane Katrina recovery in Mississippi and Louisiana won the 2009 Writer of the Year award from the Southeast Tourism Society. Luesse earned her bachelor's degree in English at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, and her master's degree in English at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. She grew up in Harpersville, Alabama, a rural community in Shelby County, and now lives in Birmingham.