Sunshine in the Delta

by Erica M. Sandifer, Tracy Sandifer-Hunter (Illustrator)

From author Erica Sandifer comes Sunshine in the Delta, a tale of life and love and everything in between, set in the Mississippi Delta during the early 1960s. Money, Mississippi. Just beyond the Tallahatchie River, the town is a vast, flat land with fields of corn and cotton, split in half by the long and dusty Money Road. Right alongside the road in an old shack, lives Miss Neeyla Jean, along with her six younger siblings, a mean-spirited mother, and a blatantly belligerent father. Because of her parent’s tumultuous relationship, Neeyla is responsible for caring for her siblings. As a result, she leaves school at the age of fourteen to find a job. It is then that her beautiful—but mischievous—older cousin, Reena, finds her a job housecleaning at the Bakers. Neeyla begins working for Mrs. Baker and her handsome, blue-eyed son, Henry. When Neeyla loses her younger brother to a train accident, further dividing her family, her bond with Mrs. Baker allows her to cope—and the friendship they share teaches her important life-long lessons along the way. Miss Neeyla Jean becomes the very definition of the word triumph, overcoming obstacle after obstacle, and she eventually realizes an enduring fact of The sun will always shine brightly after the storm.

129 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 20, 2017

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

From page 1 I was hooked. I love the way this book is written.....narrated by the main character Marie. She's young and honest and unafraid. I laughed plenty of times while reading and couldn't put this book down. I wish it was longer......or maybe the author will write another novel that further tells this families story......one can only hope.

[Venessia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this was a good debut novel. I am from the Delta so the book felt like Home to me. This book is narrated by Neeyla Jean, a young girl, who like many in the Delta had to drop out of school to help take care of the family. Born into poverty, Neeyla comes from a family of sharecroppers, and has only known poverty and dynsfunction. An alcoholic and abusive Father, a Mother who doesn't know how to give or receive love, and a house full of kids (her Mother's kids) to raise......Neeyla didn't have much of a childhood. Determined to break the cycle, she decides to take a job "in town" as the help to make her own money. Little did she know, the white lady she would work for Ms. Baker, would become more of a friend to her than an employer and help give the young girl solace in a world of confusion. This book was easy to read and very fast paced...I just wish it was longer and more developed. I felt that something was missing from this book to take it from good to great. The cover art is AMAZING and definitely caught my eye.

[Sasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars
Sunshine in the Delta had the chance to be a great tale, had it not been so poorly put together. While I appreciated the brevity of the book, it was much too choppy, and skimmed over way too many topics. I'm sure had it not, this would have been a much longer novel, however, perhaps it would have been a much more enjoyable one at that.

[Naomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am very confused by this book. The premise sounded interesting, but the story just never came together in anyway. Things happened randomly and everything felt disjointed. I never felt immersed in the story and I didn't really feel like there were stakes either. Pretty dissapointing.

[Talya Boerner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this novella from Lorelei Books in Vicksburg, and I was very much drawn in by the cover. The story is set in the 1960s in Money, Mississippi. Neeyla Jane drops out of school to care for her younger siblings and later gets a job in town working for a white woman who becomes a friend. The story is narrated in a stream of consciousness-style, stripped down like cotton fields after a second picking. I enjoyed the voice and dialect, the no-nonsense protagonist felt familiar to me. My only criticism: I wish it had been loooooonger because I didn’t want it to end…

Favorite line: Jabo was the only black man I knew who was married to three women—all at the same time.
This book made me: think about home.

[Pat Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Need more

This book just sucked me in. Marie lived such a destitute life, but learned how to make the best of it, even at her young age. She had no adult guidance, instead she was forced to be an adult early. No one taught her how to be a young lady, she just lived; raising her siblings and working for a white lady. Things seemed so simple, yet the complexities of life loomed over her. I would love to read more about Marie and Tracy Lynn.

[Susie James · Rating 4 out of 5]

At last I made it to Greenwood and Turn Row bookstore early last week and as I had cash from a refund for a catalog order that was cancelled, I bought a copy of Erica Sandifer's novel -- novelette -- "Sunshine in the Delta". A clerk at the bookstore told me she thinks the author, who's often depicted in glamorous attire and makeup when I've come across images of her, is the daughter of a teacher and has done some modeling. Miss Sandifer also once worked for Turn Row, as she mentions in the book. I indeed was drawn into the storytelling and made some internal notations from time to time...I do pray that the narrative will be expanded in honesty, heart, and in truth.Language is I'm thinking more from the latter day ghetto gutter than from rural 1960s, but? A note as to the events at the end of this little novel from the Delta of earlier decades: the vivid images of domestic violence, prejudices, glimpses of hope for human change meld with the big blasting forces of nature reminiscent of that suffered out from Greenwood, Miss., in early 1971, when darkening skies gathered around members of my own Carroll County, Miss., family who were within the hospital waiting for either death or recovery when a terrific tornado swept near us all, cramming even the hallways of the hospital with the victims....

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow. What an amazing offensive “happy negro” stereotype this was! Poor black 14 year old lives with her 6 siblings and her drunk father who beats on her mom regularly. But that’s OK! because he loves his kids and mom is mean to me. She’s thrilled to bits to meet her white savior boss lady, who magically doesn’t ask her to work and they’re just best of friends. She gets herself knocked up at 14/15 by a lout who apparently knocks up half the county, but that don’t bother her none! She just so happy to have her baby- it’s fine that she’s 15 with no education, 6 younger siblings to care for and a drunk for a father. The entire shack she lives in with 8 other family members gets blown off the earth in a tornado? Aw shucks the sun came out after, we gonna be all right!

Advertised as a story about sharecroppers in the 60s. This was not a story about sharecroppers.

[Linda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Main character starts in abject poverty and remains in abject poverty after dropping out in eighth grade and getting pregnant at age 15. The entire first person narrative is in an illiterate dialect, which becomes exhausting. The only good thing about this book is that it's short.

[Carol L Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sounds of the south

I've spent a bit of time with family &traveled throughout the south, including Mississippi.This book breathes air as hot and humid as the Delta itself. Excellent read!

[LoveLee Kourage · Rating 5 out of 5]

OVERALL IT WAS A BOOK THAT SLOWLY PULLED YOU IN UNTIL THE VERY END.. MARIE WAS MUCH WISER THAN HER AGE AND WAS DETERMINED TO DO BETTER THAN THÉ ONES BEFORE HER.. I LOVED HER AND MRS BAKER FRIENDSHIP IT WAS VERY NEED TO HELP MOLD HER VIEWS IN LYFE.. I WOULD OF LOVED TO KNOW BIG MAMMA SECERT AND WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE FOLKS ON MONEY ROAD...

[Jounay · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written but moved too fast. I would love to see more from this author with time taken to develop the story and characters a little further.

[Annette Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poor ending

Good lead up but then it's like the author got tired of writing and just wrapped up story poorly.

Too bad

[Star Gianelloni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read

Nice story of a young woman growing up on the Mississippi Delta in the 60’s. Quick read with an overall positive message.

[Susan P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating read about a young woman growing up on the Mississippi Delta in the 60’s, but it is also so sad and so filled with stereotypes and bad decisions.

[Robert]

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[Felicia G. Trevino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Y'all I can't tell you how absolutely amazing this read was. The story flowed so well and the characters we so believable. A five star fo'SOH!

[Janee · Rating 1 out of 5]

No plot, to speak of. More of a chronical in the life of poor girl stuck in a sad life.

[Dawn Walker Nicksic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure

Parts of the story just drove. The police car turned the lights on behind her and then she’s in the kitchen?