Today, I
would like to introduce you to another book: The Gospel According to Prissy
by Barbara
Casey. Read on to see if it’s for you. And don’t forget to follow the tour and comment
for a chance to win a gift card. Barbara Casey will be awarding a $25 Amazon or
BN.com gift card to one randomly chosen commenter. The more you comment, the higher your chances of winning. You will
find the tour dates HERE.
BLURB:
Three Army veteran misfits, a college dropout, an unmotivated
high school graduate accused of murder, a controversial warden of a women's
prison, and a little girl with the gift of prophesy – these are the people
31-year-old Lara Kruger invites into her life after suffering a miscarriage, a
divorce from an abusive husband, and unemployment.
EXCERPT
The young child
skipped through the tall trees and underbrush, unaware of the puddles created
by recent rains or the low-lying tree branches and vines that swiped at her
coveralls and scratched her bare arms.
Hugging a doll that showed the wear of a favorite toy and a faint smudge
of chocolate ice cream, the child pushed forward with determination. She knew where she wanted to go, and her face
showed the intensity and resolve of a person much older than her five years. The black woman wearing the uniform of a
prison guard struggled to keep up with her young charge. The thick green tangle of natural forest
growth and uneven turf was more of a challenge to a woman her size and stature.
The child stopped
when she reached a clearing, that place in the woods that wasn’t quite so overgrown
and where the wild vegetation had been pressed from previous visits. In front of her was a tree, magnificent in
size, ancient in age. She had reached
her destination. She called it, quite
simply, “the place.” Quietly,
reverently, she approached the tree, reaching out and touching the familiar
rough surface and its many irregular crevices.
She squatted where some roots had pushed upward and were now gnarled and
covered in bark before extending downward again deep into the soil. It was between two of
these large root formations that the child placed the doll – a throne. Her hand explored the curvature of one
darkened root, first touching the soft green moss, and then the small indented
place that held water whenever it rained.
It was moist. Satisfied, she
knelt. Then, lowering her head and
folding her dimpled hands together, she started to pray.
AUTHOR
INFORMATION:
Barbara Casey is president of the Barbara Casey Agency,
representing adult fiction and nonfiction for authors throughout the United
States, Great Britain, and Japan. She is
also the author of numerous articles, poems, and short stories. Her award-winning novels have received
national recognition, including the Independent Publishers Book Award, the Dana
Award for Best Novel, and the Publisher’s Best Seller Award. Her novel, The House of Kane, released in 2008, was considered for a Pulitzer
nomination, and her novel Just Like
Family received special recognition by the 7-Eleven Corporation. Her latest young adult novel, The Cadence of Gypsies, was reviewed by
the Smithsonian for its list of 2011 Best Books. The Gospel According to Prissy, a contemporary adult novel, was
released in the spring of 2013.
In addition to being
a frequent guest lecturer at universities and writers’ conferences, Ms. Casey
served as judge for the Pathfinder Literary Awards in Palm Beach and Martin
Counties, Florida, and was the Florida Regional Advisor for the Society of
Children's Book Writers and Illustrators from 1991 through 2003.
LINKS:
