When Stars Rain Down
Grade : A-

When Stars Rain Down is a lyrical tale of family, friendship and romance. Taking place during the Jim Crow Era South, it celebrates how love can bloom even under the most difficult of circumstances.

Due to the setting, there are depictions of violence - both verbal and physical - perpetrated against Blacks by racists.

Opal Pruitt has followed in her grandmother’s footsteps and become housekeeper/cook for Miss Peggy. Over the decades the two older ladies developed a strong friendship and the same can be said for Miss Peggy’s grandson, Jimmy Earl and Opal. They grew up together, playing and laughing as they ran around the gardens of Ms. Peggy’s estate. When Opal learns Jimmy Earl is coming home from college, she gives up a coveted chance to go to Atlanta and stays to help the two older ladies cook all his favorite dishes.

When she goes home to Colored Town that evening, Opal finds herself feeling unusually somber. On occasion, she gets a premonition that her life is about to change and something about Jimmy Earl’s return home has her feeling that way now. When she takes a walk to work through her emotions she meets up with Cedric (nicknamed Stank) Perkins, who gives her her first kiss and asks to start calling on her. Opal’s Granny has kept her from dating but since Opal will be turning eighteen soon, she figures Cedric’s courtship will be welcomed - or at least tolerated. Opal gives him permission and wonders if this is the event that had her feeling like something momentous was in the air.

When she heads back to work the next day, Opal falls into the familiar routine of laughing and teasing with Jimmy Earl but there is something unfamiliar going on between them. They seem to be far more cognizant of the fact that they are a grown man and woman, something which has never factored into their relationship in the past. When Opal sees Granny and Jimmy Earl whispering together, she can’t help but wonder if it has something to do with her.

It does, but only in a general sense. Jimmy Earl was informing her grandmother that the Klu Klux Klan plan to attack Colored Town that evening. Granny warns the whole community, and they are all able to stay safe although it is a close call. Granny’s chicken coop is burned down with the chickens still in it and Jimmy Earl’s cousin Skeeter, who seems obsessed with Opal, bangs on her door threatening to break in and hurt her and her grandmother, until Jimmy Earl shows up to drag him away. When Jimmy Earl returns to make sure Opal and her Granny are all right, Opal gives him a hug. Her uncles and several other men of the community see it and are not pleased with the casual friendliness and intimacy between the two. Stank especially seems upset by it.  It turns out both the attack and subsequent hug are a portent of things to come, emblematic of what the long hot summer holds for the people of Parsons, GA and Opal in particular.

The author does an absolutely fabulous job of capturing the complexities of racial relationships in the South. We see the closeness between people who grow up together, like Jimmy Earl and Opal, and of people who work together for decades, like Granny and Miss Peggy but we also see the tension caused by the inequality in those relationships. While Jimmy Earl and Miss Peggy are forward-thinking and progressive in their relationships with their Black friends and neighbors, their attitude still contains more than a touch of paternalism and a sense not of egalitarianism but charity. This attitude is especially obvious in Civil Rights Activist/reporter Lori Beth Parsons who publishes an article revolving around Opal, meant to highlight all that white and Black women have in common but which backfires horribly.

I loved the complex depiction of family in the story. The Pruits are close-knit and loving, helping each other to achieve their dreams. While Opal’s Uncle Myron pushes her to pursue more education, something she doesn’t want to do, he does so from a position of care and respect. This is contrasted with Jimmy Earl’s family, whom he loves deeply, but in which only Miss Peggy shows a comparable love and respect back to him. While Skeeter, Jimmy Earl’s deadbeat father and other members of that side of his family have a connection  with him, it is clear it is one that is filled with trouble and that involves them wanting something in exchange for their ‘love’.

The romance in the tale captures beautifully the times in which it is set. Both suitors are strong, kind, caring men who value Opal for who she is. Cedric likes that being with Opal makes him want to be as responsible and mature as he can be; he thinks constantly of the future and what he wants for them going forward. I liked the give and take between him and Opal and could see the two of them growing old together happily - and being happy through all of the times in between.

Jimmy Earl appreciates that everything about Opal reminds him of a happier, more carefree past.  As he notices how fragile his grandmother is and becomes aware of how much responsibility will be his in the near future, Jimmy Earl appreciates how he can relax and be his fun-loving, lackadaisical former self with Opal. He also recongizes how Opal keeps his life running. Miss Peggy and Opal’s Granny like to think they are handling things but in truth it is Opal, working quietly behind the scenes, who takes care of the house and both women. Where Cedric is focused on building a life with Opal, Jimmy Earl’s focus is on the beauty of the relationship they have always had.  While both men love her, only one offers a truly viable future and it is interesting to watch Opal and Jimmy Earl work through their feelings, the reality of life in that time and place and what precisely that means for them as people going forward.

Opal is a wonderful heroine - smart, resourceful, kind and a genuinely good person.

This is an inspirational novel, and faith in God, as well as struggling with that faith during hard times, is a theme woven throughout the book. The author does an excellent job of utilizing this aspect of the story to show character growth as well as depicting the role religion plays in the Black community.

The only quibble I had with the novel was the inclusion of the “hoodoo” woman, Lovenia. I think she was included in the book to depict African medicinal practices and how some people within the Black community combine African faith elements with Christian worship, but the character felt out of place in the narrative  and had no significant place in the plot. I found her a distracting and discordant element in an otherwise beautiful story.

When Stars Rain Down is an absolutely wonderful tale and one that I recommend to any reader of American historicals.

Buy it at: Amazon, Audible, or your local independent retailer

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Reviewed by Maggie Boyd
Grade : A-

Sensuality: Kisses

Review Date : June 16, 2021

Publication Date: 04/2021

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Maggie Boyd

I've been an avid reader since 2nd grade and discovered romance when my cousin lent me Lord of La Pampa by Kay Thorpe in 7th grade. I currently read approximately 150 books a year, comprised of a mix of Young Adult, romance, mystery, women's fiction, and science fiction/fantasy.
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