GodPretty in the Tobacco Field

by Kim Michele Richardson

“Beauty and sweetness weave a diaphanous fabric against the stark backdrop of poverty and cruelty.” --Sara Gruen, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Water for Elephants

Nameless, Kentucky, in 1969 is a hardscrabble community where jobs are few and poverty is a simple fact—just like the hot Appalachian breeze or the pests that can wipe out a tobacco field in days. RubyLyn Bishop is luckier than some. Her God-fearing uncle, Gunnar, has a short fuse and high expectations, but he’s given her a good home ever since she was orphaned at the age of five. Yet now, a month shy of her sixteenth birthday, RubyLyn itches for more.

Maybe it’s something to do with the paper fortunetellers RubyLyn has been making for townsfolk, each covered with beautifully wrought, prophetic drawings. Or perhaps it’s because of Rainey Ford, an African-American neighbor who works alongside her in the tobacco field, and with whom she has a kinship, despite her uncle’s worrisome shadow and the town’s disapproval. RubyLyn’s predictions are just wishful thinking, not magic at all, but through them she’s imagining life as it could be, away from the prejudice and hardship that ripple through Nameless.

Atmospheric, poignant, and searingly honest, GodPretty in the Tobacco Field follows RubyLyn through the course of one blazing summer, as heartbreaking revelations and life-changing decisions propel her toward a future her fortunetellers never predicted.

GODPRETTY IN THE TOBACCO FIELD

“A voice rich and authentic, steeped in the somber beauty that defines life in the South. Richardson knows this place well, and GodPretty sings of that honesty.”--David Joy, author of Where All Light Tends to Go

“Richardson’s brilliant writing made me feel as though I were transported back in time to poor parched Nameless, Kentucky, and actually there witnessing this poignant heartfelt story. To be able to do that to a reader is a sign of a truly gifted novelist.”--Charles Belfoure, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Architect

"When a tale of days gone by, in a place you've never been, feels as vivid as your own memory, you know you're in the hands of a great writer. Lyrical, wrenching, and riveting, GodPretty in the Tobacco Field is a triumph." --Jamie Mason

"A reader always recognizes when the author has poured her soul into a body of work. GodPretty in the Tobacco Field is a tender, beautifully written second novel." --Ann Hite

Liar's Bench

"This story has southern small-town charm and may appeal to those who like Rebecca Wells or Jennifer Chiaverini." --Booklist

"You'll hear echoes of To Kill A Mockingbird in this haunting coming-of-age story, in which old and more recent tragedies collide. Beautifully written, atmospheric and intricately plotted, Kim Michele Richardson's debut novel will stay with you long after the last page is turned." --Susan Wiggs, # 1 New York Times bestselling author

"An intricately crafted plot with vivid characters make up Richardson's debut novel. A wonderful story that will leave its mark on readers' hearts." --RT Book Reviews

"Readers of Southern fiction won't be able to turn the pages fast enough as they follow this colorful tale.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Coming Of Age, Southern, Historical, Romance

304 pages, ebook

First published April 26, 2016

About the author

The NEW YORK TIMES, LOS ANGELES TIMES and USA TODAY bestselling author, Kim Michele Richardson is a multiple-award winning author and has written five works of historical fiction, and a bestselling memoir.

Her critically acclaimed novel, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is a DOLLY PARTON RECOMMENDED READ, a Goodreads Choice award nominee, and has earned the 2020 PBS Readers Choice, 2019 LibraryReads Best Book, Indie Next, SIBA, Forbes Best Historical Novel, Book-A-Million Best Fiction, and is an Oprah's Buzziest Books pick and a Women’s National Book Association Great Group Reads selection. It was inspired by the remarkable "blue people" of Kentucky, and the fierce, brave Packhorse Librarians who used the power of literacy to overcome bigotry, hate and fear during the Great Depression. The novel is taught widely in high schools and college classrooms.

Her fifth novel, The Book Woman’s Daughter, an instant NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY and INDIE NATIONAL bestseller, is both a stand-alone and sequel to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek.

Kentucky-born native, Kim Michele Richardson, lives with her family in the Bluegrass State and is the founder of Shy Rabbit, a writer's residency scholarship.

Reviews

[Debbie W. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I liked this particular story, Kim Michele Richardson's The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek was more preferable to me.

Points that I considered about this story include:
1. I found that the main character, 15-year old RubyLyn Bishop, although likeable in a strong-willed way, sometimes made rash decisions without any regard for how they might affect herself and others, leaving me to shake my head in disappointment (I get it - she's only 15, but I hoped she was smarter than that!);
2. two characters, Gunnar and Carter, were confusing to me at times - was I supposed to like them or not? and,
3. this audiobook, like TBWOTC, was also narrated by Katie Schorr, who does a fine job; however, I would get annoyed at the change of tone during obvious editing sessions (through no fault of Ms. Schorr!) Because of this, reading the book may have been a little better for me than listening to it.

I did like:
1. the setting of 1969 Kentucky and overall plot - I could visualize it easily;
2. the character of Rose - I think a story about her could be very interesting;
3. the parts about RubyLyn's paper fortunetellers, although I wish there were more descriptions about her artwork; and,
4. the ending was satisfactory in a believable way.

Overall, a good read!

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is 1969, but in No name, Kentucky you could never tell. Home of tobacco farms, poverty and crime. They even have a day form the negroes to shop, the only day they are allowed in the town stores to shop. Racial tensions are still tense. RubyLyn, our 15 ur, old narrator lives with her Uncle Gunnar, he took her in after the death of her parents, deaths she can't quite remember. Her Uncle is a god fearing man, a strict though not abusive disciplinarian. He is determined to keep her on the straight and narrow, to make sure her godpretty says inside. RubyLyn wants only to escape this town, and find a better life.

Our young narrator is a hard working woman with many dreams. We meet characters from many different walks of life, Rose, a lady who brings things to the farms, things she sells, things she makes, she sneaks Rubylyn books, so no wonder she is a favorite of mine. But things will come to a head, decisions will need to be made and eventually a resolution. There is family, friendship, love, and many secrets along the way.

This is a very good coming of age story, listening to Rubylyn and how she sees her life. Sad people fighting poverty, heavy drinkers whom are the worst and many characters that will tug on your heart. How things change for Ruby and what she goes through along the way is the kind of thing that makes a very good story.

ARC from Netgalley and Kensington.

[Cheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kim Michelle Richardson’s second novel is set in rural Kentucky, a fictional rural Appalachian town, Nameless, Kentucky, where tobacco and coal mining provide meager means for a day-to-day existence. Despite this being set during the era of “Free Love” other parts of the country, you’ll feel like you’ve stepped back in time.

RubyLyn is a small child when her parents are gone, first her father’s death when she was only four, followed by her mother’s slow wasting away and joining her father only six months later. Her mother’s brother, Gunnar comes to claim her as her only living kin and take to his home in Nameless. The live she’d lived before with her parents is gone, none of the loving touches or the laughter. Life on Gunnar’s tobacco farm is daily, sun up to sun down work. If Ruby’s not working in the fields, she’s on her hands and knees scrubbing the kitchen floor. Gunnar’s abuse, mental, physical, and the endless correcting her to prevent her from following in her father’s wicked ways wear her memories of the love she felt from her parents thin.

RubyLyn’s heart is much softer than Gunnar, despite his rough ways with her, and tries to find ways to unravel his hardness, which only gets harder the more she seems to reason with him. At fifteen, RubyLyn is beginning to have ideas of her own, none of which Gunnar would approve. RubyLyn is a young artist, as Rose would say, a folk artist, decorating her fortune-tellers, small squares of paper folded and opened to disclose their owner’s fortune. Even Lady Bird Johnson has one in the White House, given to her by RubyLyn when President Johnson and the First Lady came to Inez, Kentucky. Gunnar does everything in his power to destroy this part of RubyLyn – he controls her time, takes her paper away, ridicules her attempts at her art. The wedge that Gunnar attempts to put between RubyLyn and her art becomes a wedge between the two of them. The secrets she need to keep to continue her art begin to weave a web around her heart, leading her further away from caring about Gunnar, his opinions, his restrictions.

Best friends with neighbor Henny Stump, as close as sisters in some ways, but Henny’s family is both larger and poorer. Henny leans on RubyLyn for strength to carry out her plans to get away from her abusive father and marry a guy less abusive.

Rainey has known her since the day she set foot on her uncle’s property to live, he was eight years old, and she was five. Rainey and his mother are also their close neighbors. Rainey works the tobacco crop with RubyLyn and despite the difference in their skin color, in this town where blacks are only allowed in the one town store on “Negro Tuesday”, they become closer than anyone would approve of, especially Gunnar or Rainey’s mother

Surrounded by the ugliness of the fields, the ugliness of the townspeople, RubyLyn is still GodPretty inside. Gunnar would like to claim responsibility, but she maintains her inner innocence and her tender heart despite his influence, even sacrificing her own desires in order to make life a little better for those she loves.

Many thanks to Kensington Publishing, NetGalley and the author Kim Michele Richardson for providing me with an advanced copy.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think it is official after listening to The Sisters of Glass Ferry and this one, I don't think this author and I are meant to be. It took me almost 2 months to make it through this one and I am getting to understand that coming of age stories just aren't my thing. I know that a lot of reviewers loved this one but I guess I won't be on that train. 🤷‍♀️






Goodreads review published 23/08/22

[Kathleen Sara Shattuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm halfway through Kim Michele Richardson's "GodPretty in the Tobacco Field". I haven't been reading it at a fast pace. It's not a story to shoot through, it's a story to savor and feel and contemplate.

The story takes place in the Appalachian mountains of Kentucky in 1969, and the life, there, is not like any I've personally experienced. It’s a hard life and seemingly an unforgiving life. The author’s writing is fluid; these people of “Nameless” take the reader on a journey, pulling you along through their trials and tribulations, lived both fearlessly and in fear, and tugging at all those unwanted emotions - eliciting my hate and my anger, which I tried to avoid but couldn't.

Compassion is another emotion, one that draws my heartstrings into a knot and plucks them at will. I wanted to reach out to these people; I wanted to defend and give back to them what sense I could make out of the futility they made of their lives.

My reading is most always an emotional journey, and not always an easy journey, but one to remember and learn from. A story is just a story, that is, until a truly gifted writer like Kim takes hold of it and sets it to print. I’m glad I came upon this novelist.

Once I reached the halfway pages of this story, it was hard to put down...I turned my light out, trying to sleep but couldn't---three times, on went the light, and open went the book. My mind just couldn't let go of these people, and it was then that the truth to the words, "bitter sweet", came alive.

This story speaks to the hardships of rural communities, the hills of Kentucky, the people who carry the grudges and the prejudices, and the hate filled memories throughout their lives...it’s learned and taught, and ingrained in the newborn, and then the hate is passed on with ignorance from one generation to the next.

Although, love is not lost in this story, it’s the mainstay that holds onto hope; like glue, holding these people together. Family. Where would any of us be without hope? I wanted to fight alongside these people. I wanted to raise my fist to them, showing their injustice, but realized only new generations, and time and truth, could change the futures of these who are lost in their past.

As I just now finished reading Kim's novel, I remembered this sentence from the first page.. “...there is GodPretty in the child who toils in the tobacco field, her fingers whispering of arthritic days to come.” An omen, a metaphor of sorts. The lump in my throat settles, and the tears stop threatening, but never forgetting the ever presence of what was then, is still prevalent in our United States today. But with hope, faith, love and perseverance, only time will tell.

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an authentic Southern coming-of-age that takes place during the summer of 1969.

RubyLyn, fifteen years old, lives in Nameless, Kentucky, with her strict Uncle Gunnar Royal who physically and emotionally abuses her. Every day she works long hours in the tobacco fields having been taught that "there is GodPretty in the child who toils in the tobacco field." However RubyLyn wonders why "all kinds of GodUgly keeps happening" around her. She only finds enjoyment in her art which she uses to draw on her fortune telling triangles. And then there is Rainey Ford; just a smile from him brightens her day. Rainey is Gunnar's field worker and he and RubyLyn have been playing together since he was 8 and she was 5. However as much as RubyLyn and Rainey want to marry, the more the town and Gunnar are against it. Not only is Rainey on a lower social level, but he is black. Black men should not touch white girls in Nameless, Kentucky. (Ruby Lyn is white.)
This summer RubyLyn is entering her tobacco in the Kentucky State Fair. She wants to win the money so she can move to the big city and marry Rainey.

The author places you right in the hills of the South with her descriptive, smooth writing. You can tell she has done this before. I have read many Southern books where the dialect is so strange that it interrupts my reading, but the reader is in professional hands and can speed smoothly through this book.

This book touches on that time in a girl's life when everything is in transition; am I a little girl or do I act like an adult? Do I sit with the adults or run outside and play? RubyLyn reminds the reader of playing the "Who will I kiss first?" game? Where will I live when I grow up and what will I do? Who will I marry? We see how much faster people had to grow up just a few decades ago. It required courage both then and now to live the life of one's choosing.

NetGalley and the Publisher provided me this galley in exchange for an honest review.

[Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://elleisforliterature.blogspot....

Rubylynn is growing up on her Uncle's tobacco property in the late 1960s. Her uncle is very strict. Rubylynn does paper fortunes which have a lot of the townfolk thinking she has more knowledge of the future than she does. There is so much captured in this book – poverty, racial divides, fair grounds

Just like Richardson's other books this captures so much of the backwoods life and it's people. Her familiarity with the South brings it to life with her beautiful writing. Will definitely be reading more by her.

[Chrissie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am on the fence with this one. On the one hand, the writing is good, which I appreciate, however, I found the book rather depressing unfortunately! The narrator brought the characters to life, but the background is poverty and violence.

[Judy Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kim Michele Richardson returns following her Southern debut of Liar’s Bench (2015) with GODPRETTY IN THE TOBACCO FIELD, another Southern charmer. A coming-of-age tale of one girl’s strong determination beyond the small town of Nameless, filled with dark secrets poverty, tobacco, injustice, and hardship—replaced with hope, family, and dreams for a better life if you believe.

Richardson visited the backwoods and rural areas of Western Kentucky in Liar’s Bench. In GodPretty she explores Appalachia-- its darkly coal-rich mountains and the hardscrabble people of Eastern Kentucky.

From the ugly tobacco fields Gunnar controls RubyLyn, with punishment. Anything to do with Gunnar and God would mean punishment. However, RubyLyn is innocent, tender, and has a heart of gold. From ugly to beautiful. A story of poverty, oppression of Appalachian women in the sixties—the consequences, fears, and their limited futures.

Beautifully written, a Southern backdrop, infused with art, history, and music--from racial strife and the limitations of the South—especially for women--a look through the innocent eyes of a beautiful young girl.

At fifteen, RubyLyn lives with her uncle Gunnar Royal, almost sixty years old, in 1969 in the South in Nameless, Kentucky. She works the tobacco field every day and continues to receive abuse, both emotional and physical by her uncle. He took her to ten years ago, and he had made it his mission and sole purpose to chase out her parents’ devils.

Her daddy, the sin chaser and snake-handling pastor of Nameless, Kentucky’s Mountain Tent Tabernacle, died when she was four, and six months later her Mama passed as well. RubyLyn wonders why there is so much ugly. She misses her mama.

Henny Stump, her best friend, is so poor that her family resorts to selling their new baby. Her other neighbors, Beau Crockett and his three boys, are trouble.

At age, forty-four Rose is her salvation. Rose drives a truck and brings back items from Woolworths, to sell to the locals. She takes special care of RubyLyn as she knows she has no other female influences. From books, sketch pads, to frilly feminine treasures. She encourages her and her talents. She creates art out of ordinary tobacco paper.

RubyLyn liked the word—"folk artists". Rose says artists need good paper, and new places to visit to be inspired. She loves to draw and create beautiful things on her fortune telling triangles. Making her feel alive and closer to her Mama. Her ticket out of this town and life.

Rainey Ford is a black field worker, and he always looks out for her. Over the past ten years, she saw he had turned into a fine young man but a softness that made her heart sing. Gunnar did not care for Rainey’s lip, any more than RubyLyn’s sass--things he called sins. Will her uncle's heart ever soften?

The time is approaching for the date of the 1969 Kentucky State Fair the following month. She has to win the prize money in order to get her a new life in Louisville. She would be sixteen in September and she knew if Rose made it there at thirteen…. she had a shot.

She kept her small hinged box. Her daddy’s stuff was long gone, replaced with memories; a tiny next of rescued threads from Mama’s clothes, along with the dried tobacco leaves and looms that Rainey had given her with his promise. They first met when he was eight and she was five—growing up together. Back then he had asked her to marry him sealed with a kiss.

Rainey is going off to Vietnam but they are in love and want to run away together, but of course, this would not be allowed. Of course, they know all too well, they will never be able to be together in this town. Black guys did not mix with white women. She knows if they can get away they could have a life together. She has read about places where they would be acceptable. They both know by staying in this town was as good as being dead.

Then there was Baby Jane she had to protect. RubyLyn knew when she left, she was never returning to the tobacco field, and unfairness of life and her mean Uncle. She has to believe in more than magic.

Kim Richardson has a warm genuine way of drawing you into the Southern world, with vivid settings and insights of a young girl. Her passion for her Kentucky roots is reflected in her writing and research of the areas.

Beyond the poverty and the hot dry tobacco field, and unfairness of life there is beauty. From dark secrets of the past, forbidden love, and of dreams. Readers will fall in love with RubyLyn!

I enjoyed the author’s notes and the phrase she created: "GodPretty, to show starkness in the brutal and beautiful land and its people and mysteries. To Gunnar, the term applied to females, pushing his strict moral codes on RubyLyn. He wanted his niece to be pretty in the eyes of God so he could protect her when he was not around—her soul would shine. Ideal choice for book clubs and further discussions.

Rich in history, character, magic, and especially land, which is an important theme of the book. Filled with music, and the sweet memories and excitement of youth and summers at the State Fair.

How poverty affects learning, habits, choices, and self-worth. As with the soil and land, our souls need nourishment and cultivating. The agricultural community is strong in the Bluegrass State–Kentucky and still leads the nation in burley tobacco production, with more miles of running water than any other state except Alaska.

For Southern fans of Julie Kibler’s- Calling Me Home, Diane Chamberlain's- Necessary Lies, Mary Marcus'-Lavina, and Laura Lane McNeal's-Dollbaby. If you have not read Richardson’s “Liar’s Bench”, highly recommend.

Be sure and pre-order The Sisters of Glass Ferry, coming Nov 28, 2017. 5 Stars! (Kentucky's finest storyteller).

A special thank you to Kensington and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Beautiful covers (both book and audio)

JDCMustReadBooks

[Tonya · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Beauty and sweetness weave a diaphanous fabric against the stark backdrop of poverty and cruelty.” --Sara Gruen, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Water for Elephants

Nameless, Kentucky, in 1969 is a hardscrabble community where jobs are few and poverty is a simple fact—just like the hot Appalachian breeze or the pests that can wipe out a tobacco field in days. RubyLyn Bishop is luckier than some. Her God-fearing uncle, Gunnar, has a short fuse and high expectations, but he’s given her a good home ever since she was orphaned at the age of five. Yet now, a month shy of her sixteenth birthday, RubyLyn itches for more.

Maybe it’s something to do with the paper fortunetellers RubyLyn has been making for townsfolk, each covered with beautifully wrought, prophetic drawings. Or perhaps it’s because of Rainey Ford, an African-American neighbor who works alongside her in the tobacco field, and with whom she has a kinship, despite her uncle’s worrisome shadow and the town’s disapproval. RubyLyn’s predictions are just wishful thinking, not magic at all, but through them she’s imagining life as it could be, away from the prejudice and hardship that ripple through Nameless.

Atmospheric, poignant, and searingly honest, GodPretty in the Tobacco Field follows RubyLyn through the course of one blazing summer, as heartbreaking revelations and life-changing decisions propel her toward a future her fortunetellers never predicted.

--My thoughts. RubyLyn has an amazing voice. This book is full of southern charm. Kim always writes with such beauty and grace, I just can't get enough. She really outdid herself this time. I didn't know what to expect, just when I thought I knew what was going to happen with Ruby and Rainey, it all changed! RubyLyn and Rainey have been in love for forever. Rainey is going off to Vietnam but they are in love and want to run away together, but Gunnar won't let them.

When RubyLyn goes with Rose to the fair, here is her moment to shine. I could smell the smells of the fair and enjoy every moment... what Kim does for the reader is like none other. This could be her chance to get the prize money and get out of Nameless, marry Rainey and start a new life.

This book took twists and turns this reader didn't see coming! Bravo Kim... I look forward to each book more and more!!! Here are a few teasers from the book that really stood out for myself --

Gunnar jerked his head toward me, "You would do wise to keep a GodPreety soul when your weak mind is tempted to meddle in others' affairs."

"If a field daisy could hold the strongest testament, surely my prayers for Baby Jane could be penned to paper."

"Deep down I knew this land claimed its sinners and held tight its secrets."

This book is a must read.. I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Lulu · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderful coming of age story! Very descriptive and engaging. I felt like I was in the mountains of Nameless, Kentucky. A bit predictable, but still a good read.

[Dawnny · Rating 5 out of 5]

☕☕☕☕☕
@KimMicheleRichardson

Set in Kentucky during the 1960's. RubyLyn is raised by her uncle, a harsh and God fearing man. RubyLyn longs to escape the poverty and racial tension. Her paper fortune tellers give her hope of something much more brighter ahead. Her best friend is a black man named Rainey, who works along with her in the tobacco field. He longs for something more too. A coming of age love story set among poverty and tragedy in the south. Richardson is a gifted story teller. I've read several of her books and they stay with you long after. This made me weep. The words flow so vividly and capture a time, a people, a place so deep it will crack your heart. A remarkable story.

Dawnny Ruby
Novels N Latte Review
Hudson Valley NY

[Lolly K Dandeneau · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a thing for southern fiction, maybe it's all the sweet tea floating through my veins. Appalachian fiction really has blossomed, I just finished Dimestore, a memoir by Lee Smith and I have to agree, there is something so moving about such fiction.
This novel is about many things, and in any coming of age- the main character wants more than what her life has to offer. Naturally, there are others who want to keep her down for whatever their prejudices, etc. What is more southern than forbidden love, between the races? Gunnar, RubyLyn's uncle does a lot of barking in this story, left orphaned and in his care- certainly he is a hard man. The moment RubyLyn is treating The Great Gatsby as some sort of contraband to be hidden from her uncle speaks volumes about the sort restricted life she is trapped in. It really is a hardscrabble, dirt scratching sort of life- full of longing and penance. "He was one of those people who don't splinter - who grow stronger from others' fractures." I always read in a southern accent in my head, and this novel wasn't any different. What makes this story a little more special is RubyLyn's fortune-tellers. It's just a spit of mystery and magic the story needs, even though she swears it's not 'woo woo magic'. Does she have the knowing? Well, these may be the funniest lines I have read in a while. " I don't care what that old granny witch says! I am not going to be a hill charmer tethered to herbs and rock, staring at women's cooters, waiting for a baby to fall out.."
This is a story about secrets, wrong doings, forbidden love (and it seems forbidden happiness at times). A real southern delight, while nothing outright shocked me, I really enjoyed every moment reading.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

RubyLyn Bishop is a 16 girl living in Appalachian Kentucky in 1969.She struggles against her strict uncle and social norms in a town called Nameless.
Oh how wonderful is this book. It is so hard to find good Southern fiction and even harder to find good Appalachian fiction. This book was both for me. I have never read an Appalachian novel that seemed so genuine before. I grew-up with grandparents that were from an area not far from where the story is set. I could tell instantly the author knew what the heart of Appalachia is like. From the poverty, to the hard work, and even the dialect. I thought the novel was predictable but in the end was so wonderfully not. It did drag a bit in the middle but other then that I found it to be perfect. I give it four and 1/2 well deserved stars.
I was given a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
See this review on my blog:The Book Return Blog

[Katherine Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some books are meant to be cozied up with and absorbed without much thought. Others are written to do just the opposite: to provoke thought…perhaps even action. To challenge, illuminate, unsettle.

Like this one.

Dazzling in its unrelenting grittiness, GodPretty in the Tobacco Field takes an unflinching look at poverty’s cruelty to women and children, and yet it is not without its moments of lovely. Its naked lyricism holds your eyes to the page even past the point that you want to look away. And while set in a bygone era, its story has never been more relevant.

GodPretty in the Tobacco Field is a tale of secrets, memories, guilt. But it’s also a tale of redemption, which unfolds in a most unexpected way and reminds its readers to hold on to hope for as long as life remains.

Thanks to the author and Kensington Books for providing me a free copy to review. All opinions are mine.

[Juanita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just realized this same author wrote 'The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek' which I loved. This book is beautifully written but at the same time I didn't love the underlying story. Lots of stuff happens but I found myself wishing they'd wrap things up. Ruby Lynn, an orphan, living with her hard uncle and working his tobacco fields is both intelligent and resilient and kind of ridiculous (maybe because her character is 16.) She made poor decisions repeatedly that made me want to toss the book across the room and she's obsessed with doodling and one day buying a honey girl slip... The whole ending where the pace finally picks up just left me in disbelief.

That being said its probably a good book club book. People will either love it or hate. Lots to discuss.

[Susan Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book transported me - to the past, to a little forgotten crease of a place, and it held me there until I finished the story. RubyLyn is a great character, and through her we experience the yearning and dreams, the disappointments and hard slaps of reality. Through her eyes, we see the despair and ultimately the anger and the danger that can result from desperate poverty, from the hopelessness of being trapped in a life of deprivation, where babies must be sold to feed a family, and where people cling for hope to the drawings of a young girl. This book has a little bit of everything - love, loss, shock, life, death, and redemption, and every word is beautiful.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The audio book reader was the same as Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. I like her. I didn’t like this book as much as I liked that book though. It was a lot of different families hating each other. It was set in 1969 Kentucky with tons of racism. The revelations in the book I was surprised about and I like when I don’t have it figured out. Too many depressing things happen. RubyLyn called out hypocrisy in others and loved several characters other people didn’t. I loved Rose and how she looked after RubyLyn.

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

[Lubna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful novel, narrated so eloquently and bringing all the characters to life. I loved the soft Southern drawl of the accent as narrated by Katie Schorr. This is what life on a tobacco plantation must've really been like in those days. The description of Nameless, Kentucky was sometimes bleak as seen through RubyLyn's eyes as she wanted to get far away from it as possible. Then other times it came across as beautiful and rural landscapes. The story played like a film in my head. I could see it and feel it. The harshness, poverty, backbreaking physical field and farm work, the bigotry and blatant racism and then the endearing innocence of RubyLyn and her heart aching for someone to love her, her passion for Art and her softness of character. I really loved her character. I was totally lost on this story and it's made me want to read more by this Author.

[Helen Ahern · Rating 4 out of 5]

GodPretty in the tobacco fields is the tale of Rubylynn and her uncle Gunnar and all the people who live in nameless. It’s 1969 but the poverty is extreme so it feels much earlier in the century. Ruby was orphaned at 5 and put in the orphanage until Gunnar steps in and takes her home. I think he just wanted a servant slave as her life is nothing but work. She has to work in the tobacco field and do all the housework as well as enduring Gunnars punishments for her supposed sassiness. It’s such a sad tale, it would be hard to imagine her life could be much worse. But she has dreams and her art and she has plans for the future. My heart was with her all the way and I felt her disappointments as intensely as she did. I listened on audible and the narrator was excellent. 4.5 stars

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written novel of Appalachia when women had no rights and racial interactions were taboo. I felt like I was living this story as I read. Sad, beautiful, full of music, art, the land and abject poverty I could not put it down.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The President shook hands and patted backs in front of the small home and when he said he was declaring his War on Poverty, Kentucky lit up from a million camera flashes. No one had told us we were poor, and I looked around at the hillfolk trying to see something I may have missed before but nothing had changed, and the people looked the same as me.

The narrator’s voice on this audiobook is deceptive; she conveys so well the young, kind, spirited RubyLyn (“Rue”) from the backhills of Kentucky that one is tricked into thinking her quiet, naive, and simple. But RubyLyn’s story is actually full of wisdom and beauty in the telling; lyrical word pictures of the smells, sounds and sights of the hills of Nameless and subtle details of the complex hopes and desires of the inhabitants. RubyLyn herself is believably sage and while the tale and the characters often seem like something out of a hyperbolic soap-opera, it too is a true-seeming picture of one of the poorest and downtrodden corners of the country during a time of great strife and change in the nation.
RubyLyn is a 15-year-old orphaned girl in Nameless, living with (and working for) her strict God-fearing uncle Gunner and tending to those who are worse off than her in their little town. She soothes hurts, predicts better lives (with her fortune teller art) and prays for her escape. She believes in signs and God and she fights for what she thinks is right. Nameless is a 1960’s town of moonshine and child pregnancies, where the poorest look for someone lower to look down upon and hurt which means women, children and non-whites. Despite this, RubyLyn has hope and faith and she makes the tale lovely. Her voice is going to stay with me for a while. (Kudo's to narrator Katie Schorr)

[Adrienne Hugo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes I read one book by an author and decide I must read all of her/his other books. GodPretty in the Tobacco Field is the third book I've read by author Kim Michele Richardson. But honestly, after reading the opening scene, I wasn't sure if I would be able to read this book. However, I'm really glad that I persisted. Gunnar, the main character's uncle and guardian, is a much more complex figure than he seemed at the beginning of the story. I was noticing subtle signs of this as I read the book but the ending was still surprising to me. As always, I like historical fiction, Southern fiction, and books with strong female characters. Young RubyLyn was growing up in Appalachian Kentucky at the same time I grew up in suburban Minneapolis. What different lives we led! Yet, I could relate to her passions and her desires. I really liked this book and recommend it along with The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek and Liar's Bench, all by the same excellent author.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a no for me but I loved her prior book Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek. Like most books set in Appalachia the characters are troublesome: extreme poverty, vigilante mindset and prejudice are surely at the forefront. Only 2 characters seemed sympathetic to me and one of those, the heroine wasn’t sympathetic enough for me to fully like. It’s a hard book about hard people where things just get worse and worse until the epilogue where everything magically is fine?!?

[Nina Braden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much of this book really spoke to me, and I congratulate the author for a good recreation of rural Kentucky, 1969.

2016, 3.5

[Mary Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gritty & grim but captivating & lyrical at the same time.

[Pam White · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I was happy to read a book by a Kentucky author, my home state, I don’t think it is very well written and could have been a YA novel. It’s an interesting story with some twists in the plot. It is an easy quick read. It does address issues of race in rural Ky in the 60s, including mixed race couples and violence against people of color, unfortunately they still exist today. While reading the book I felt it was set earlier than 1960s, even though I understand that rural mountain areas are behind the times, it seemed they were unbelievably backward. The main character goes to the Ky State Fair and sees a Ferris Wheel and while I can understand she has never had the opportunity to ride one, the Ferris Wheel debuted at the 1893 World’s Fair so even in rural Ky she would have known it existed by the 1960’s.

[Barbara Williford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t even know where to begin with this book! It was a well written book, loved the story line and the unexpected twist at the end. I guess my frustration comes from the harsh male characters. RubyLyn is orphaned and left to the care of her elderly uncle, working in the tobacco fields, left to take care of him and the house in the hill country of Kentucky. She is feels unloved and deserted except for the forsaken love of the black field hand. Her world is turned upside down when she attempts to escape the dead end life in Nameless, KY.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

RubyLyn walks many roads throughout this attention grabber. Growing up without her parents and instead with a no-nonsense uncle, she's no stranger to pain. I loved her hopeful, genuine nature and her ability to stand firm in her convictions and her words.
I saw a few reviews that called this a "predictable" book, but I'd call it anything else. I never saw the ending coming, and if I'm being truthful, I didn't like it! I mean, it's well written, but it wasn't what I was hoping for.
A solid 4.5 stars from me. Go read it!