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The Color of Thunder
Faith Linsey comes from a highly regarded family in Jackson, Mississippi. As the oldest daughter of a well liked pastor and his dutiful wife, her life is good and comfortable and she has no reason to question the things that take place around her. When she witnesses something that shakes her to her very core, she realizes that the world she's always known may not be as picture perfect as she'd always imagined...and that her father may not be the respectable hero everyone believes him to be.
Faith's story begins in 1946, soon after the end of World War II, and moves straight into the heat of the Civil Rights Movement. She is forced to deal with the questions she has, not only about her father, but about the unshakable convictions that he and many of his fellow southerners share about racial equality and about the very religion she's been taught to believe in.
Events that take place, not only in her personal life but in the world at large, and a very unsuspected and special friendship she becomes involved in will make Faith decide what it is she truly believes in, what things are important enough to fight for and what things are not.
Faith's story begins in 1946, soon after the end of World War II, and moves straight into the heat of the Civil Rights Movement. She is forced to deal with the questions she has, not only about her father, but about the unshakable convictions that he and many of his fellow southerners share about racial equality and about the very religion she's been taught to believe in.
Events that take place, not only in her personal life but in the world at large, and a very unsuspected and special friendship she becomes involved in will make Faith decide what it is she truly believes in, what things are important enough to fight for and what things are not.
372 pages, Paperback
First published December 18, 2012
About the author
J.C. Wing
33 books223 followersJ.C. Wing is a bestselling, multi-genre indie author. She likes to pen family dramas, romantic comedies, thrillers, YA and the occasional limerick. She has written more than twenty novels, including The Color of Thunder, The Gannon Family Series ("The Skye Books"), the Goddess of Tornado Alley Series and the Whisper Creek Mysteries Series. She is the author of Acquainted with Butterflies, a collection of short stories, personal essays and poetry, and she is a contributing author of the Grey’s Harbor Series.
J.C. publishes under Black Cat Press, her own imprint. Her writing companions are Tara, the golden retriever of absolute happiness and Calvin and Cayenne, the cats of chaos.
J.C. publishes under Black Cat Press, her own imprint. Her writing companions are Tara, the golden retriever of absolute happiness and Calvin and Cayenne, the cats of chaos.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
June 23, 2013
Lovingly and thoughtfully written.
The title is beautiful and holds a promise of a beautifully written story. Chapter One opens with a description of setting so charmingly presented, I was immediately drawn in. The story follows a family’s life in Mississippi from 1946 to 1965 as told in first person by Faith Linsey.
Her daddy is a Baptist minister with a huge following. His devotees see him as almost God. But Faith discovers a terrible secret that lowers him in her esteem, and she dares tell no one.
Wing builds character so well that she shows the reader what kind of man Faith’s father is. The community and radio audience see him as perfect, but we see him as the distant old-fashioned head of the family where sons are cherished and women are expected to serve. The minister cannot stand his daughter Grace, who is sickly, or Hope, who is rebellious. Faith, as the elder daughter, works alongside Mama without a thought of childhood pleasures.
We watch a family evolve in a world where black neighborhoods hang on the periphery and are hardly worth a nod of acknowledgement. Description creates atmosphere that can strike us with keen nostalgia. Wing’s detailing of a dinner of home-fried chicken with gravy-smothered mashed potatoes had me yearning for that meal of my childhood.
Detail is so rich that sometimes it’s overdone, causing a slow-paced novel to drag when the ordinary is minutely displayed. At times I wondered what it added to the story. In fact before Chapter 4, I was wondering where the story was going.
Early on, I was nearly overwhelmed with character names. Later, I realized these individuals, whom we never hear from again, are used to give a sense of community in which the family lives. Or they influence the development of our family characters. Therefore, the names to remember are only those of family or those outsiders involved in major events that affect Faith. Wing helps us remember.
The mundane detail of most of this novel creates a contrast with the tragedies that strike, thus accentuating them. We pick our favorite characters and see how the times affect them. And those incidents that stick with Faith also stick with us.
The title is beautiful and holds a promise of a beautifully written story. Chapter One opens with a description of setting so charmingly presented, I was immediately drawn in. The story follows a family’s life in Mississippi from 1946 to 1965 as told in first person by Faith Linsey.
Her daddy is a Baptist minister with a huge following. His devotees see him as almost God. But Faith discovers a terrible secret that lowers him in her esteem, and she dares tell no one.
Wing builds character so well that she shows the reader what kind of man Faith’s father is. The community and radio audience see him as perfect, but we see him as the distant old-fashioned head of the family where sons are cherished and women are expected to serve. The minister cannot stand his daughter Grace, who is sickly, or Hope, who is rebellious. Faith, as the elder daughter, works alongside Mama without a thought of childhood pleasures.
We watch a family evolve in a world where black neighborhoods hang on the periphery and are hardly worth a nod of acknowledgement. Description creates atmosphere that can strike us with keen nostalgia. Wing’s detailing of a dinner of home-fried chicken with gravy-smothered mashed potatoes had me yearning for that meal of my childhood.
Detail is so rich that sometimes it’s overdone, causing a slow-paced novel to drag when the ordinary is minutely displayed. At times I wondered what it added to the story. In fact before Chapter 4, I was wondering where the story was going.
Early on, I was nearly overwhelmed with character names. Later, I realized these individuals, whom we never hear from again, are used to give a sense of community in which the family lives. Or they influence the development of our family characters. Therefore, the names to remember are only those of family or those outsiders involved in major events that affect Faith. Wing helps us remember.
The mundane detail of most of this novel creates a contrast with the tragedies that strike, thus accentuating them. We pick our favorite characters and see how the times affect them. And those incidents that stick with Faith also stick with us.
October 18, 2013
This is not what I usually read, but I was interested to try new genre. “Color of Thunder” tells us about life of pastor family in America’s Deep South in 1950s. After eldest daughter uncovers her father’s secret story slowly unfolds throughout the years.
This book got me interested in two ways – I don’t know much about that part of America and that period of history. J.C. Wing obviously took a lot of effort to recreate the setting and it shows – small Southern communities are described in painstaking detail, strained racial relationships are obvious and a lot of attention is given to the description of the living. From the making of lemonade to a preaching in local churches. You are fully immersed in the period, but this comes with a price – book is oh so slow, sometimes I felt like I have been mercilessly bogged down with the avalanche of details. Some of these details were essential, but some could have been skipped. However this slowness echoes the slowness of living in 1950s Mississipi. You can felt the beating heat of the sun, hear the clinking of ice-cold lemonade glass and you can understand why this has to be slow.
Story is nicely written, characters are lively and vivid with major changes affecting their lives. The book is definitely worth your time and essential read if you are fan of the genre and depicted era.
This book got me interested in two ways – I don’t know much about that part of America and that period of history. J.C. Wing obviously took a lot of effort to recreate the setting and it shows – small Southern communities are described in painstaking detail, strained racial relationships are obvious and a lot of attention is given to the description of the living. From the making of lemonade to a preaching in local churches. You are fully immersed in the period, but this comes with a price – book is oh so slow, sometimes I felt like I have been mercilessly bogged down with the avalanche of details. Some of these details were essential, but some could have been skipped. However this slowness echoes the slowness of living in 1950s Mississipi. You can felt the beating heat of the sun, hear the clinking of ice-cold lemonade glass and you can understand why this has to be slow.
Story is nicely written, characters are lively and vivid with major changes affecting their lives. The book is definitely worth your time and essential read if you are fan of the genre and depicted era.
September 12, 2016
If I could give this book 10 stars I would. Talk about an rollercoaster ride of emotions. I went through anger, laughter, love, and many tears. It is set in a time when it is ok for the father to be the master of the house and no one to question it. When women are to be submissive and you didn't dare question it. Children were to be seen (when convenient) and not heard. This story follows the trials of one such family but they all don't seem to want to follow those rules. Find out how they manage to live and survive each other through these trying times that span important times in our history! This is an amazing book!! Thank you so very much!!!
I was given this book as a gift and had to review it!
I was given this book as a gift and had to review it!
June 2, 2013
This book was suggested in a group for the June group read. But it got the least polls and was out. Honestly i picked up this book only because it was downloadable in goodreads (i have a fetish for free kindle books..lol)
I thought i will give a try...
The story of a family (i wont say a girl), all the characters, who were given the equal importance, was just so good. I was just thinking of them till i finished reading , even when i am cooking, travelling... sometimes when i was watching TV.
I will strongly recommend that i reader who like serious fiction has to read this...
I thought i will give a try...
The story of a family (i wont say a girl), all the characters, who were given the equal importance, was just so good. I was just thinking of them till i finished reading , even when i am cooking, travelling... sometimes when i was watching TV.
I will strongly recommend that i reader who like serious fiction has to read this...
June 28, 2013
When I've lived somewhere and left, I always like to find books that remind me of that place, that evoke the smells, sounds, ambiance of that place. J.C. Wing's book "The Color of Thunder" does that exceptionally well. She really made me feel as though I were there.
July 7, 2013
Beautiful and satisfying, though sometimes bogged down in the details.
The Color of Thunder follows young Faith Linsey as she grows up in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s. As the daughter of a prominent and respected pastor, her role in the family and the community is one of service. To her father, she is an extra female useful for helping her mother with the household and for keeping her unruly sister, Hope, out of trouble.
Faith embraces her responsibilities and accepts the world at face value until one fateful night when she witnesses her father sneaking out into the night to send a fiery message to a family who committed the unspeakable crime of showing kindness and giving a ride to their young black housekeeper. Rocked by the revelation that her father isn't the righteous man she'd always believed him to be, Faith begins to take note of the things happening in her family, her town and the world.
Set in the South during the rise of the Civil Rights Movement, racial tension and gender bias color an otherwise normal, though at times tragic, upbringing. Incidents like a young boy tragically murdered after talking to a white shopkeeper's wife on a dare reveal much about the times and are shocking, in part because of the reactions of the various characters such as women overheard in a shop chatting about the gall of the young boy and saying he deserved it versus the newspaper article Faith finds that portrays in gruesome detail his injuries and his mother's refusal to hold a closed casket funeral.
The members of her family and are wrought with realistic personalities: prideful and prejudiced, loving and dutiful, haughty and irreverent, and, of course, innocent and sweet. Most of all, I enjoyed watching Faith and her siblings grow up, their values and beliefs developing in response to love, strife, and loss. I was pleased that her brother Luke, though he follows his father into the ministry, does not follow him in his world views. Hope, rascally as she is, is one of my favorite characters. Her fierce yet tender loyalty and devotion to little Grace is truly heartwarming.
Overall, I found this book satisfying and thought provoking, though the level of detail sometimes gets carried away. I do not need to know that a person is using their back molars to chew something, nor do I need to be reminded exactly how and to what body parts sweat drenched clothing is sticking. In particular, these details are distracting when placed right in the middle of dialog and expounded upon at length.
In my opinion, this is not a book you should read when tired; it is too easy to lose track of what's going on. And, perhaps as a side effect of the overzealous descriptions, the book is quite lengthy. I rarely skim or speed read, but there were times I found myself doing that to try to find the next significant detail in the story. That being said, some of the images brought nearly tangible memories of my own childhood to mind, yielding mixed feelings about the level of detail. In some ways, it's too much; but in others, it's just right.
I would definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy coming of age stories, historical fiction, and a realistic telling of life during a difficult time in our country's history. This is a story that deserves to be read in a cheerful, bright location, perhaps a garden or cozy breakfast nook within view of nature and the sun, perfect complements to the vivid prose. While the story is lengthy, I think readers will be able to quickly and accurately determine whether this story is to their taste as the opening chapters are representative of the whole.
The Color of Thunder follows young Faith Linsey as she grows up in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s. As the daughter of a prominent and respected pastor, her role in the family and the community is one of service. To her father, she is an extra female useful for helping her mother with the household and for keeping her unruly sister, Hope, out of trouble.
Faith embraces her responsibilities and accepts the world at face value until one fateful night when she witnesses her father sneaking out into the night to send a fiery message to a family who committed the unspeakable crime of showing kindness and giving a ride to their young black housekeeper. Rocked by the revelation that her father isn't the righteous man she'd always believed him to be, Faith begins to take note of the things happening in her family, her town and the world.
Set in the South during the rise of the Civil Rights Movement, racial tension and gender bias color an otherwise normal, though at times tragic, upbringing. Incidents like a young boy tragically murdered after talking to a white shopkeeper's wife on a dare reveal much about the times and are shocking, in part because of the reactions of the various characters such as women overheard in a shop chatting about the gall of the young boy and saying he deserved it versus the newspaper article Faith finds that portrays in gruesome detail his injuries and his mother's refusal to hold a closed casket funeral.
The members of her family and are wrought with realistic personalities: prideful and prejudiced, loving and dutiful, haughty and irreverent, and, of course, innocent and sweet. Most of all, I enjoyed watching Faith and her siblings grow up, their values and beliefs developing in response to love, strife, and loss. I was pleased that her brother Luke, though he follows his father into the ministry, does not follow him in his world views. Hope, rascally as she is, is one of my favorite characters. Her fierce yet tender loyalty and devotion to little Grace is truly heartwarming.
Overall, I found this book satisfying and thought provoking, though the level of detail sometimes gets carried away. I do not need to know that a person is using their back molars to chew something, nor do I need to be reminded exactly how and to what body parts sweat drenched clothing is sticking. In particular, these details are distracting when placed right in the middle of dialog and expounded upon at length.
In my opinion, this is not a book you should read when tired; it is too easy to lose track of what's going on. And, perhaps as a side effect of the overzealous descriptions, the book is quite lengthy. I rarely skim or speed read, but there were times I found myself doing that to try to find the next significant detail in the story. That being said, some of the images brought nearly tangible memories of my own childhood to mind, yielding mixed feelings about the level of detail. In some ways, it's too much; but in others, it's just right.
I would definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy coming of age stories, historical fiction, and a realistic telling of life during a difficult time in our country's history. This is a story that deserves to be read in a cheerful, bright location, perhaps a garden or cozy breakfast nook within view of nature and the sun, perfect complements to the vivid prose. While the story is lengthy, I think readers will be able to quickly and accurately determine whether this story is to their taste as the opening chapters are representative of the whole.
May 1, 2013
Move over Jane Smiley. J.C. Wing has arrived!
The Color of Thunder is a beautifully written coming-of-age story told from the viewpoint of Faith, one of three sisters in the Lindsay family. The story begins in 1946 in Jackson, in the South. These folks are model citizens: fine, upstanding, and pillars of the community and none is more self-righteous than the Lindsay family patriarch. Or at least this is what Pastor Lindsay would like his family to believe but one night Faith witnesses her father's dirty little secret first-hand, which forces her to confront Pastor Lindsay's warped religious belief system.
By day he likes to preach God's word, spouting homilies such as 'love thy neighbour.' But by night, he and his fellow citizens have no qualms in carrying out vigilante acts of unspeakable violence towards their fellow man. And all the while the womenfolk either don't know or worse still, pretend not to know and turn the other cheek.
As a fellow reviewer has noted, there are parallels here with Louisa May Alcott's Little Women and this is what raises this story above its peers. To re-imagine the family saga and update it for the 20th century, replacing the Civil War with the Civil Rights movement is astute and brave. In the hands of a lesser writer this might have been difficult to pull off but J.C. Wing does a magnificent job and does so with such accomplished writing that I can't imagine why no agent or publisher has yet seen the commercial potential in her work. More fool them.
I would give this book 5 stars for the characterisations alone. Faith and her sister Hope are living, breathing, three-dimensional characters. Faith is as patient as Hope is feisty and for much of their childhood Faith despairs that her sister will ever grow up. But the bonds of sisterhood are too strong to allow the temporary setbacks to dent their solid friendship, although Hope at times seems to be a very hard person to love. As Faith says,' I love my sister unconditionally and no matter how mean and rotten she'd been to me or how many names she called me, I was there for her and she always knew where to find me.'
The other achievements in this richly evocative tale were the finely observed details that invoke all the senses. You can almost taste the food made by Faith's downtrodden mother – from the peach cobbler to the fried chicken and creamy mashed potatoes. And as I finished the book I imagined I could smell the unmistakeable fragrance of magnolia as it was just beginning to fade…
But the lingering memory I will have of The Color of Thunder is the advice that Faith's friend Ruby gave her as a lasting legacy - 'grab all the sweet you can in this life.'
Move over Jane Smiley, J.C. Wing has arrived!
The Color of Thunder is a beautifully written coming-of-age story told from the viewpoint of Faith, one of three sisters in the Lindsay family. The story begins in 1946 in Jackson, in the South. These folks are model citizens: fine, upstanding, and pillars of the community and none is more self-righteous than the Lindsay family patriarch. Or at least this is what Pastor Lindsay would like his family to believe but one night Faith witnesses her father's dirty little secret first-hand, which forces her to confront Pastor Lindsay's warped religious belief system.
By day he likes to preach God's word, spouting homilies such as 'love thy neighbour.' But by night, he and his fellow citizens have no qualms in carrying out vigilante acts of unspeakable violence towards their fellow man. And all the while the womenfolk either don't know or worse still, pretend not to know and turn the other cheek.
As a fellow reviewer has noted, there are parallels here with Louisa May Alcott's Little Women and this is what raises this story above its peers. To re-imagine the family saga and update it for the 20th century, replacing the Civil War with the Civil Rights movement is astute and brave. In the hands of a lesser writer this might have been difficult to pull off but J.C. Wing does a magnificent job and does so with such accomplished writing that I can't imagine why no agent or publisher has yet seen the commercial potential in her work. More fool them.
I would give this book 5 stars for the characterisations alone. Faith and her sister Hope are living, breathing, three-dimensional characters. Faith is as patient as Hope is feisty and for much of their childhood Faith despairs that her sister will ever grow up. But the bonds of sisterhood are too strong to allow the temporary setbacks to dent their solid friendship, although Hope at times seems to be a very hard person to love. As Faith says,' I love my sister unconditionally and no matter how mean and rotten she'd been to me or how many names she called me, I was there for her and she always knew where to find me.'
The other achievements in this richly evocative tale were the finely observed details that invoke all the senses. You can almost taste the food made by Faith's downtrodden mother – from the peach cobbler to the fried chicken and creamy mashed potatoes. And as I finished the book I imagined I could smell the unmistakeable fragrance of magnolia as it was just beginning to fade…
But the lingering memory I will have of The Color of Thunder is the advice that Faith's friend Ruby gave her as a lasting legacy - 'grab all the sweet you can in this life.'
Move over Jane Smiley, J.C. Wing has arrived!
December 5, 2013
The Color of Thunder is about the life of a pastor family in the Deep South of the USA in the 1950s, seen through the eyes of Faith, the eldest daughter. The author is at pains to describe the various settings and the small community is shown in assiduous detail, from unstable racial relationships to the almost claustrophobic family home around Faith. There are many occasions in the book when the reader feels that things are so slow and dragging, but this is an essential part of the story and its setting. This sluggishness reflects the Summer heat and stiflingly slow pace of life surrounding the main protagonist in Jackson, Mississipi at that time.
We are led through many of the events through Faith’s coming of age, from about age eleven when she witnesses a KKK incident that affects her for the rest of her life. No further detail here – it would be a spoiler. The story is full of emotion throughout, with family illnesses, arguments, tantrums and death. Faith and her siblings, particularly sickly Grace and temperamental, but passionate, Hope constantly tug at the reader’s heartstrings. You find yourself smiling and laughing, and shedding the occasional tear regularly as the story weaves its way towards Faith’s maturity. To a modern reader there are times when the dutiful Faith seems content to be just a “doormat” to everyone, but her inner strength and conviction come through and you root for her particularly after her encounter with Ruby, a black girl. There are frequent references to real events as a background to the story, such as the rise of the Civil Rights Movement, and when Rosa Parks boarded a bus to sit in the “white seats” to add shocking context to the story.
The book is well written and I found many of the descriptions wonderful, some even breathtaking, with vividly drawn characters that you feel you have met. This from one who is normally impatient with too much exposition! I was reminded of authors like L M Alcott, Harper Lee and L M Montgomery in various parts of the book. I would definitely recommend this book if you enjoy coming of age stories, with a little recent history during a time of civil strife and unrest in the USA. There are some editing issues present which prevent me rating it with 5 stars, so it wound up with 4. I hope that the writer picks up her pen/wordprocessor again soon. She will have many admirers waiting.
We are led through many of the events through Faith’s coming of age, from about age eleven when she witnesses a KKK incident that affects her for the rest of her life. No further detail here – it would be a spoiler. The story is full of emotion throughout, with family illnesses, arguments, tantrums and death. Faith and her siblings, particularly sickly Grace and temperamental, but passionate, Hope constantly tug at the reader’s heartstrings. You find yourself smiling and laughing, and shedding the occasional tear regularly as the story weaves its way towards Faith’s maturity. To a modern reader there are times when the dutiful Faith seems content to be just a “doormat” to everyone, but her inner strength and conviction come through and you root for her particularly after her encounter with Ruby, a black girl. There are frequent references to real events as a background to the story, such as the rise of the Civil Rights Movement, and when Rosa Parks boarded a bus to sit in the “white seats” to add shocking context to the story.
The book is well written and I found many of the descriptions wonderful, some even breathtaking, with vividly drawn characters that you feel you have met. This from one who is normally impatient with too much exposition! I was reminded of authors like L M Alcott, Harper Lee and L M Montgomery in various parts of the book. I would definitely recommend this book if you enjoy coming of age stories, with a little recent history during a time of civil strife and unrest in the USA. There are some editing issues present which prevent me rating it with 5 stars, so it wound up with 4. I hope that the writer picks up her pen/wordprocessor again soon. She will have many admirers waiting.
July 18, 2013
The Color of Thunder is a lovely narrative detailing the experiences of Faith in the South, and transcending its beginnings in 1946 to the 1950s. The author formulates some wonderfully detailed characters, and the reader gets a real sense of the gossipy neighbors and family dynamics. I was very much engrossed by the religious subject matter, as it is a theme I've tackled myself, while the dark undertones gripped me. Jackson is a land of hypocrisy and darksome corners.
My only negative points are intertwined with a huge positive, and that is the author's idiosyncratic style. J.C. Wing is evidently very well read, and the abundance of varying descriptive passages make it stand out as a work of a publishable standard. However, I believe a publisher would give the work a good trim. There is a certain prolixity of adjectives present, particularly in the opening chapters, which need to grip the reader, and the long sentence structure sometimes becomes exhausting and would benefit with some stoppages, hyphens linking words that are typically combined in such a manner, or, dare I say it, the dying breed of semicolons to help break up the text. Nevertheless, the story is wonderfully portrayed, the writing hits you with a sense of aesthetic perpetuity, and the characters are incredibly well fleshed out. A great read.
My only negative points are intertwined with a huge positive, and that is the author's idiosyncratic style. J.C. Wing is evidently very well read, and the abundance of varying descriptive passages make it stand out as a work of a publishable standard. However, I believe a publisher would give the work a good trim. There is a certain prolixity of adjectives present, particularly in the opening chapters, which need to grip the reader, and the long sentence structure sometimes becomes exhausting and would benefit with some stoppages, hyphens linking words that are typically combined in such a manner, or, dare I say it, the dying breed of semicolons to help break up the text. Nevertheless, the story is wonderfully portrayed, the writing hits you with a sense of aesthetic perpetuity, and the characters are incredibly well fleshed out. A great read.
September 23, 2013
Written from the heart, a moving book on America’s troubles of race and religion post WWII.
JC feels as she writes. Her characters are real to her and she makes them real to her readers. Believable, emotionally driven characters are the goal of fiction writers; JC manages to create them in her debut book. Written in the first person Faith, the daughter of a respected pastor is shaken by the revelation that he isn't the righteous man she'd always believed him to be. From that point on, Faith begins to take note of the things happening within her family, her town and beyond. This is where the story really takes off.
Although this a well-researched and written book and the abundance of varying descriptive passages make it stand out, I’m of the opinion the work could benefit from paring down. Particularly in the early chapters, which need to hook the reader, the use of long sentence structures at times becomes a barrier to the progress of the true story. That said, overall the story is wonderfully depicted, the writing triumphs with a sense of creative endurance, and the characters are extremely well fleshed out. A worthy read.
JC feels as she writes. Her characters are real to her and she makes them real to her readers. Believable, emotionally driven characters are the goal of fiction writers; JC manages to create them in her debut book. Written in the first person Faith, the daughter of a respected pastor is shaken by the revelation that he isn't the righteous man she'd always believed him to be. From that point on, Faith begins to take note of the things happening within her family, her town and beyond. This is where the story really takes off.
Although this a well-researched and written book and the abundance of varying descriptive passages make it stand out, I’m of the opinion the work could benefit from paring down. Particularly in the early chapters, which need to hook the reader, the use of long sentence structures at times becomes a barrier to the progress of the true story. That said, overall the story is wonderfully depicted, the writing triumphs with a sense of creative endurance, and the characters are extremely well fleshed out. A worthy read.
January 31, 2013
Starting off with a disclaimer: I know the author of this book. In fact, before I started reading it, I was worried about what kind of feedback I was going to give to her if I just didn't connect with the book.
Happily, that was far from being an issue. Faith Linsey's story pulled me in from the first page to the last. There are a great number of books out there on the Civil Rights era in the south (understatement), but what makes this one stand out is the highly evocative descriptions and the sincerity of Faith's perspective throughout the book. Her world is full of the comforts of childhood, but it is also a messy and confusing place where Faith is forced to confront her own values and upbringing as she matures and learns more about the world around her.
This would be an excellent book for a book group because there is so much to Faith's story that lends itself to discussion. A very engaging and thought-provoking read.
Happily, that was far from being an issue. Faith Linsey's story pulled me in from the first page to the last. There are a great number of books out there on the Civil Rights era in the south (understatement), but what makes this one stand out is the highly evocative descriptions and the sincerity of Faith's perspective throughout the book. Her world is full of the comforts of childhood, but it is also a messy and confusing place where Faith is forced to confront her own values and upbringing as she matures and learns more about the world around her.
This would be an excellent book for a book group because there is so much to Faith's story that lends itself to discussion. A very engaging and thought-provoking read.
October 4, 2013
I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book presents a series of lovely descriptions of life in Jackson, where the main character is growing up as the daughter of a preacher. Landscapes, buildings, scents, and the church the father has built are all rendered in careful detail. If you are interested in the South just before and during the Civil Rights Movement, and if you love to have things conjured for you in all their sensual particulars, you will love this book, particularly as a study in what life was like inside a family ruled by a somewhat perverse and narcissistic tyrant.
For me, as a reader who is very strongly motivated by plot, the descriptions often overwhelmed the nascent story arc. But I read a lot of genre fiction, and this is definitely more along the lines of literary fiction. It actually feels quite a bit like memoir.
This book presents a series of lovely descriptions of life in Jackson, where the main character is growing up as the daughter of a preacher. Landscapes, buildings, scents, and the church the father has built are all rendered in careful detail. If you are interested in the South just before and during the Civil Rights Movement, and if you love to have things conjured for you in all their sensual particulars, you will love this book, particularly as a study in what life was like inside a family ruled by a somewhat perverse and narcissistic tyrant.
For me, as a reader who is very strongly motivated by plot, the descriptions often overwhelmed the nascent story arc. But I read a lot of genre fiction, and this is definitely more along the lines of literary fiction. It actually feels quite a bit like memoir.
December 5, 2013
The story, somehow, reminds me of Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping, not because they have similar plots, but because of the way it made me feel reading the book. It was very descriptive; it transported you right to the place of the lives of the characters. The Color of Thunder made me feel like I was right in the mid-20th century. Faith's story as she grows up and witnesses things; how she changed and adapted to everything that has happened in her and her family's life is both powerful and life-affirming. The novel can be very detailed and I see why it's necessary--because life is in the details. It's the little things that make up the whole. This is a story of quiet fortitude, one that scintillates, rather than shocks. It is the ordinary life lived through extraordinary times and about what a person like Faith does in moments of upheavals and tragedies.
August 22, 2013
So this is J.C.'s first novel, but I was reading this author's work when I was 13, nearly 30 years ago. I was just as excited now to turn each page and thrill at the fact that there was more story as I was then. I was sad to see this lovely story of a young girl growing up, growing into her own, end. I can't wait for the next book, just like I couldn't wait for next story 30 years ago. Good work J.C.
January 24, 2013
I totally enjoyed The Color of Thunder. Because of the way J. C. Wing describes the characters and the sights and sounds of the setting - it is easy to become part of the book and know the characters. The story line kept me interested and anxious to continue reading to find out what happens next to Faith and Hope. How could you not love Gracie!
March 30, 2013
Beautifully written, descriptive words. I couldn't wait to turn the next page, the story line kept you in anticipation of what was going to happen. I would definitely recommend reading this book. I loved reading about the perspective of a little girl who knew that racism was wrong and not what God intended. Towards the end of the book, it had very powerful symbolism. Loved it!
January 6, 2013
Great descriptions! The texture of daily life is described in beautiful detail... You feel like you are there experiencing it along with Faith.
September 12, 2019
Well, have tissues handy, lol. It's somewhat, quite sad of a book. But still very good. I did have some trouble at first....the author is very descriptive and it distracted me from the story at times, especially in the beginning. Lol. But, I have to say, her descriptions are very clear and you definitely see what she wants you to see. Hope is my favorite character in this story. she is wise beyond her years and straight to the point. Definitely recommend.
August 10, 2014
Color of Thunder is about the life of a young woman from the end of World War II to the mid 1960s. Faith comes from a religious family. Her father is the minister of the church and everyone was expected to defer everything to him. This was during the time when children were seen, not heard, and the strap was used when the child was disobedient.
When Faith was young, she found out her father's secret which posed questions in her mind about him and the religion that she believed in. As she grew older, those questions were slowly answered as she makes a friend that would have been frowned upon during the beginning of the Civil Rights movement.
Faith, and her younger sister Hope, who was selfish and unruly in the beginning, learned to endure the loss of their younger sister and later, their parents. It was then that Faith tells Hope about their father's secret. He wasn't what they thought he was but they still loved him. Both grew to be happy people in the end.
This book has some history behind it--the Civil Rights Movement and time period of Rosa Parks and the bus incident. It was about how people in the southern states lived; lemonade, large get-togethers at the church and the importance of church.
It is well written and is a book I would recommend to everyone to read.
When Faith was young, she found out her father's secret which posed questions in her mind about him and the religion that she believed in. As she grew older, those questions were slowly answered as she makes a friend that would have been frowned upon during the beginning of the Civil Rights movement.
Faith, and her younger sister Hope, who was selfish and unruly in the beginning, learned to endure the loss of their younger sister and later, their parents. It was then that Faith tells Hope about their father's secret. He wasn't what they thought he was but they still loved him. Both grew to be happy people in the end.
This book has some history behind it--the Civil Rights Movement and time period of Rosa Parks and the bus incident. It was about how people in the southern states lived; lemonade, large get-togethers at the church and the importance of church.
It is well written and is a book I would recommend to everyone to read.
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