Opal on Dry Ground

by Sandra Scofield

"RICH, COMPLEX, AND COMPELLING (Ms. Scofield explores the twists and turns all the daughters must survive as they struggle toward independence."
--Dallas Morning News
Opal has done the best she knew how in raising her two daughters, Clancy and Joy. But that doesn't stop her from worrying about them even when they are finally under her roof again. Clancy has just been left by her second husband and is so depressed she can barely stay awake. Joy, brittle in her loneliness and desperate about her teenage daughter, can't decide where her loyalty lies--with her mother, her daughter, or herself. And Opal is still mourning the sudden death of her aged mother, killed in a flood.
Opal has always bailed out the women in her family when despair rains down. But as troubled waters recede, she must learn to let go and live....
"A novel whose plot, like a vast open sky, is enlivened with a fireworks display of colorful, twisting, brilliantly rendered emotions."
--The New York Times Book Review
"Sandra Scofield writes with authority, and her characters are warmhearted, well-intentioned, likable, more sinned against than sinning--ordinary, hard-working folks trying to make it through the day."
--New York Newsday


From the Paperback edition.

Genres: Fiction

279 pages, Hardcover

First published June 7, 1994

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up after a very very long hiatus…. Wondered if i set it aside as i was not that intrigued? But the “3” rating perhaps could be a “4” - i was really close to the end when i discovered it in the pile!
The thought that comes to mind is a conversation with my mother when i was really young and naive, thinking that as my older brothers moved on in their lives, she could stop worrying. HA! She told me no, you never stop that worry… (of course!)
So this is a story of Opal, trying to find her own way in her later years, but having to more directly mother her daughters and granddaughter… she watches as they eventually move out again, being more ‘together’, but you sense perhaps both her relief and some wistfulness to have them out of her daily life.
Certainly a decent read!

[Ronda Six Garnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

intersesting book....and characters...and shows how sad and lonesome you can still be in a house full of family

[Nancy Brady · Rating 2 out of 5]

A literary novel about a woman taking care of her children and their children. Truly a tale of the sandwich generation that finds Opal, grieving for her mother, while she also is trying to get her adult daughters (Joy and Clancy) back on track (read: productive and responsible). Added to the mix is her rebellious teenaged granddaughter, Heather, and her current husband Russell as well as the ex-husbands and new love interests of her daughters. An okay read, in my opinion, but then it was a literary novel.

[Kyra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably because we have our own mother-daughter misunderstandings going on in full spate in our family, but also because this is a well written beautifully nuanced book, I really enjoyed Opal on Dry Ground. The whole foreign territory of Texas aside, this is a book every mother and every daughter will appreciate. And I wrote this review on Mother's Day ! How congruent.

[Dianne]

Just started this one, liking it so far.