First Chapter ~ First Paragraph

 It's Tuesday . . . time for . . . 

. . . First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros . . . now hosted by Yvonne at Socrates' Book Reviews, where bloggers share excerpts from a book they have read, are currently reading, or are planning to read.

Today I'm featuring a recent read, Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke.  This is the first book in the Highway 59 series.  The excerpt shared is from an eBook borrowed from the library.

Beginning:  Shelby County

Texas, 2016

Geneva Sweet ran an orange extension cord past Mayva Greenwood, Beloved Wife and Mother, May She Rest with Her Heavenly Father.  Late morning sunlight pinpricked through the trees, dotting a constellation of light on the blanket of pine needles at Geneva's feet as she snaked the cord between Mayva's sister and her husband, Leland, Father and Brother in Christ.  She gave the cord a good tug, making her way up the modest hill, careful not to step on the graves themselves, only the well-worn grooves between the headstones, which were spaced at haphazard and odd angles, like the teeth of a pauper.

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?

It's a curious opening scene, yet intriguing enough to pique one's curiosity.

In Bluebird, Bluebird Attica Locke transports readers to the small town of Lark, in East Texas, with its long history of justice more often administered by its residents than by local officials.  In this tiny, rural town straddling Highway 59, family roots and inter-generational relationships run deep, and the racial overtones of the recent murders of Michael Wright, a black attorney with a practice in Chicago, and Missy Dale, a local waitress, set the town on edge.  

Texas Ranger Darren Mathews finds himself in the middle of the investigations of these murders at a time when both his personal life and professional career are on shaky ground.  As a reckoning on multiple levels unfolds, Darren confronts small-town bigotry, the complicated past of Lark's residents, and his own ethics and principles in the pursuit of justice for the victims.  

Told in passionate prose and with an insider understanding of rural Texas, Locke introduces haunting characters wrestling with individual and collective imperfections, disappointments, and failures.  These qualities, combined with the palpable tension between insiders and outsiders--and between love and  hate--make Bluebird, Bluebird both a compelling read and an unforgettable American story about race, injustice, and the ties that bind.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

This First Chapter~First Paragraph post was originally composed and/or compiled by Catherine for the Book Club Librarian blog.  It cannot be republished without attribution.