The Flower Sisters

ISBN: 149674828X

Author: Anderson, Michelle Collins

Condition: New

Drawing on the little-known true story of one tragic night at an Ozarks dance hall in the authors Missouri hometown, this beautifully written, endearingly nostalgic novel picks up 50 years later for afolksy, character-driven portrayal of small-town life, split second decisions, and the ways family secrets reverberate through generations.From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention for readers of Kristy Harvey Woodson, Donna Everhart, Sue Monk Kidd, Jeannette Walls, and Rita Mae BrownA vivid blend of sensorial writing, historical detail, and memorable characters await in this compelling, surprising, insightful story of the weight of long-held secrets and the resulting hunger for truth. - Susan Meissner, USA Today bestselling author of Only the BeautifulDaisy Flowers is fifteen in 1978 when her free-spirited mother dumps her in Possum Flats, Missouri. Its a town that sounds like roadkill and, in Daisys eyes, is every bit as dead. Sentenced to spend the summer living with her grandmother, the wry and irreverent town mortician, Daisy draws the line at working for the family business, Flowers Funeral Home. Instead, she maneuvers her way into an internship at the local newspaper where, sorting through the basement archives, she learns of a mysterious tragedy from fifty years earlierOn a sweltering, terrible night in 1928, an explosion at the local dance hall left dozens of young people dead, shocking and scarring a town that still doesnt know how or why it happened. Listed among the victims is a name thats surprisingly familiar to Daisy, revealing an irresistible family connection to this long-ago accident.Obsessed with investigating the horrors and heroes of that night, Daisy soon discovers Possum Flats holds a multitude of secrets for a small town. And hardly anyone who remembers the tragedy is happy to have some teenaged hippie asking questions about it - not the fire-and-brimstone preacher who found his calling that tragic night; not the fed-up police chief; not the mayors widow or his mistress; not even Daisys own grandmother, a woman whos never been afraid to raise eyebrows in the past, whether its for something shes worn, sworn, or done for a living.Some secrets are guarded by the living, while others are kept by the dead, but as buried truths gradually come into the light, theyll force a reckoning at last.Inspired by the true story of the Bond Dance Hall explosion, a tragedy that took place in the authors hometown of West Plains, Missouri on April 13, 1928.The cause of the blast has never been determined.