Oralee

Trouble comes to Oralee as regularly as the mail. Unlucky in love, she struggles to raise a baby she loves more than life itself, she tries not to hate her deadbeat husband more distinguished by his absence than his support, she does what she can to endure the condescending good-intentions and even outright hostility her vulnerability attracts from the people of the town. And when necessity forces her to attend to her husband’s antagonistic father - the only family she has left – she grabs for it as the only salvation open to her. Oralee’s vibrant efforts to overcome her circumstances reveal a character as charismatic as any in Skipper's remarkable novels. Her voice, her spirit, her humor, and as often her astonishment and wonder at a world so beautiful and at once so difficult give this novel a singular emotional charge. Oralee sticks with you after you put the pages down, and her pains and heartache, and her pride and her joy are ours to share.