from our rave review:Starcrossed lovers show up often enough in romance, but rarely with such convincing emotion as in The Sleeping Night. Barbara Samuel's tale of an interracial couple in postwar Texas takes readers through a rollercoaster of emotion as we see her characters dealing with love, loss, and poisonous bigotry. I felt absolutely wrung out after reading this book, and I was in awe of the author's ability to create a story that made the reader feel so deeply invested in the central couple.The book opens as the elderly Angel returns to Gideon, Texas for a book reading. Tantalizing hints about the past get dropped, but the author wisely gives little away. Instead, the scene shifts to the past, where we get brief glimpses of Angel Corey growing up in her father's store, just beyond the edges of the white population of Gideon. These glimpses, together with wartime letters, mingle with the main plot action set in 1946. It's a bit of a hodgepodge, but the author organizes it well so that we get a portrait of Angel's life in Gideon rather than simply a disjointed jumble of images.Angel's father led a somewhat unconventional life. His general store on the edge of town catered to the black population of Gideon, and we learn that after World War I, he came home with ideas that didn't exactly square with the usual rules of the Jim Crow South. He treats his black customers with respect, even befriending some of them. One special friend of Mr. Corey's would bring his son Isaiah with him to the store. Isaiah High and Angel Corey became the best of friends as small children just as their fathers were, but as they grew older, the prejudices of the time dictated that they stay far apart. Even so, when he shipped out to Europe during World War II, Isaiah started writing to Angel and she began to write back.After the war, Isaiah did not wish to return to Gideon, but since his return from Europe included delivering a local woman's orphaned niece to her, he had to stop in town briefly. His visit starts to extend when he learns Angel's father has recently died, leaving her his store. Angel had married a school friend who later died during the war, and as a widow living alone on the edge of town, she is now the subject of censure from white Gideon. While Angel has some friends, others in town show their "concern" by snubbing her, refusing to help her, or in the case of one local man, trying to force her into marriage. The author does a good job of showing how others treat Angel and the reader can feel the isolation and danger in this woman's life. Isaiah originally stays to do some work on her store, but despite his attempts to maintain a careful distance from Angel, things between them start to change........the love story here is beautiful. The romance itself develops slowly, full of very sentimental, sweet moments. Readers have to hang in there for a long time, but that first kiss and first love scene are deeply meaningful and so worth it. If you like the kinds of love stories so emotional that they leave tears in your eyes, this one definitely fits that bill. I found myself rooting for Angel and Isaiah almost from the beginning.In many romances, readers know from the get-go that the ending will be happy. However, in this book, one cannot help those feelings of doubt. Angel and Isaiah have so much working against them, and at times the story has a darkness to it that will make one wonder what tragedy lies ahead. Against the shadows of violence and hate, the goodness of some characters and the beauty of the love story show vividly in contrast. The Sleeping Night is an unforgettable book, and one that I know I'll read again.