My book club chose The Wind Blows in Sleeping Grass by Katie Powner for our April discussion. This was a novel we all loved. Windy Ray’s wisdom, Pete’s care for others, and Pearl the potbellied pig’s big personality made this character driven novel a favorite. Find out more below.
For the first time in his life, Pete has everything to lose.
After years of drifting, fifty-year-old Pete Ryman has settled down with his potbellied pig, Pearl, in the small Montana town of Sleeping Grass–a place he never expected to see again. It’s not the life he dreamed of, but there aren’t many prospects for a high-school dropout like him.
Elderly widow Wilma Jacobsen carries a burden of guilt over her part in events that led to Pete leaving Sleeping Grass decades ago. Now that he’s back, she’s been praying for the chance to make things right, but she never expected God’s answer to leave her flat on her face–literally–and up to her ears in meddling.
When the younger sister Pete was separated from as a child shows up in Sleeping Grass with her eleven-year-old son, Pete is forced to face a past he buried long ago, and Wilma discovers her long-awaited chance at redemption may come at a higher cost than she’s willing to pay.
Katie Powner is an award-winning author who lives in Montana, where cows still outnumber people. She writes contemporary fiction about redemption, relationships, and finding the dirt road home. Katie is a mom to the third power (biological, adoptive, and foster) who believes every child deserves a loving family. Visit http://www.katiepowner.com.
My Impressions:
The Wind Blows in Sleeping Grass is another excellent novel by Katie Powner. Set in a small Montana town, the story revolves around Pete, the local garbageman. Pete has come back home to Sleeping Grass after years and years of hardship and heartache. Abandoned by his mother as a child, Pete has struggled with all the issues you can imagine and then some. His anger got him kicked out of foster homes and landed him in jail. Determined to change his ways, he is lives a simple and humble life. With just two friends, Windy Ray and Pearl, his pet potbellied pig, Pete feels he can’t expect much more in his undeserving life. But then Pete’s world is upended with the friendship of elderly widow, Wilma, and the appearance of his estranged sister Dani and her son Braeden. Pete begins to walk a tightrope trying not to mess up again.
This novel is character-driven. While it is mostly Pete’s story, all the others have just as important stories to tell. Truths about God are shared by Windy Ray, Dani and Pete give grace, Wilma receives forgiveness, and Pearl captures the reader’s heart. There’s much to contemplate — the value of people, the burden of guilt, the importance of community and shared faith. A very diverse group of people come together and offer their love to each other. It’s a quiet, yet beautiful book. There are some things left unanswered, but I chose to give all the characters long-lived happy endings. I think that’s what Windy Ray would want 😉 .
Great for Book Clubs.
Highly Recommended.
Audience: Adults.
(I purchased the audiobook from Audible. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
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