5.0 out of 5 stars a beautiful young woman with a delicate smile

ByCalifornia Dreamin'on June 6, 2017

Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase

With Alabama Snow, author James-Randall Chumbley has written a very powerful book, one that tells the story of Mary Ellen Rushing, a beautiful young woman with a delicate smile, growing up poor on a cotton farm in rural Alabama. She holds fast to childhood’s innocent dream of promises yet to come, of someday escaping her life of rural poverty, of attending college and perhaps becoming a singer. Instead, an early marriage to a handsome Army soldier leads to a life of suffering, tormented by extreme physical abuse, alcoholism and a heart-wrenching, lifelong struggle with mental illness. That beautiful young woman with a delicate smile, Mary Ellen Rushing, is the author’s mother.

Alabama Snow is a riveting and honestly brutal testament of dreams, hope, strength, courage and personal pain. James-Randall Chumbley’s writing style is realistic and clear when the trauma of life-changing events occurs and when buried family secrets are revealed, including those tragic events in Mary Ellen’s life that led to her being institutionalized and enduring electroshock treatment and drug therapy. There are strong, vividly clear scenes in the book where emotions will catch in your throat because of the impending premonition of what is about to happen, or where words on the pages become blurry because of welled-up tears.

Alabama Snow illustrates how the pain of emotional and physical trauma can impact not only an individual but also the extended family, as in James-Randall’s own emotional journey in retelling his past. James-Randall Chumbley is a man with an amazing heart; Alabama Snow is his gift of hope to his readers of the book as well as to those individuals and families who have been affected by mental illness. I highly recommend it.