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What the Thunder Said: A Novella and Stories

Etta, the dangerously impulsive favorite of her father, longs for adventure someplace far away from the bleak and near-barren plains, and she doesn't care how she gets there; watchful Mackie keeps house and obeys the letter of her father's law, while harboring her own dreams. After the massive Black Sunday dust storm brings ruin to the family, the sisters' conflict threatens further damage. Seeking escape, and wagering their futures on an Indian boarding school runaway named Audie Kipp, the two leave home to forge their own separate paths, each setting off in search of a new life, each finding a fate different than she expected.

Through shifting perspectives, voices, and characters, "What the Thunder Said" tracks their wayward progress, following the sisters, their children, and those whose stories intersect with theirs as they range across the high plains of the West in the decades after the Great Depression. Etta's hitchhiking encounter with a bookish couple in the Garden of the Gods; a prairie jackrabbit drive, during which Mackie's son, Jesse, discovers the cloth he's cut from; an old man's failing memory as he tells of spying on an Indian loner on the outskirts of a Kansas town; a middle-aged doctor's chance meeting with a mysterious wayfarer while on a quest to New Mexico in search of his lost youth; and Mackie's late reconciliation with her aged father, whose habit of silence has bred her ownall are rendered in vivid prose that captures the plains and the people who endured devastation and lived to look back on it.

Slow-gathering, powerful, with passages of haunting beauty, "What the Thunder Said" is the long-awaited third work of fiction by one of our most acclaimed storytellers. Back to Previous Page. Add to Shopping Cart. By the end of this novel's prologue, it is abundantly clear that Ms. Peery's punch lies in her instincts as a short story writer. She is swift and direct, disarming and lyric. To ask other readers questions about What the Thunder Said , please sign up.

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What the Thunder Said: A Novella and Stories by Janet Peery.

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Sep 13, Karen rated it really liked it Shelves: As a newcomer to Kansas and the Great Plains, I was enthralled with Peery's ability to tightly weave the landscape into her characters' choices, personality traits and world view. Her book is divided into two section: We watch them before, during and after the Dust Bowl, which does have an impact on their lives, but does not contain the main conflicts they have to manage. The characters work a land that is harsh and unforgiving and which forces them to deal primarily with each other--which is no simple task given their all-too-human oddities.

Peery creates such complicated inner landscapes for each of these characters, I'm amazed at her ability to make it all fit together in a plot that pulled me along with great interest. I was giddy to see place names that I'm growing to recognize now that I'm settling into this part of the US.

What the Thunder Said: A Novella and Stories

This is the 9th state I've inhabited in the US. I wouldn't mark it strictly as "regional literature," but it's functioning that way for me. May 10, Joyce rated it it was amazing. Amazing how some books come into your life at the right time. Takes place primarily during the dust bowl years, which was fascinating. Loved the characters and the connections, known and unknown throughout.

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Beautifully written and inspiring. Aug 15, Bill Glose rated it really liked it. The central character is Maxine Spoon, a woman who was born on an Oklahoma farm just before the dustbowl days of the Depression.

Regardless of the narrator, each story shows how the Depression left a life-long mark on those it touched. Peery shows the impact of rough times, each of her stories ringing with hardship and courage. Aug 02, Lisa rated it it was amazing Shelves: The works are loosely connected by members of the Spoon family, though each stands alone. Peery imparts a strong sense of place to her work. She describes the Dust Bowl scenes with such vividness that readers can almost taste the dust.

Jan 30, Kelley Ross rated it did not like it Shelves: Although I did learn a little about the time period this book is set in, I found the story incredibly boring. The author is talented, so I'm sure the problem lies in the setting: Sometimes, I found the descriptions of hardship disturbing, although I can't decide whether that was a good or a bad thing.

I would recommend this book for historic fiction fanatics. Unless you have some fascination with the dust bowl or great depression alr Although I did learn a little about the time period this book is set in, I found the story incredibly boring. Unless you have some fascination with the dust bowl or great depression already, don't try to read this. Aug 21, Kori rated it really liked it. A compelling story told in small linked pieces, as well as a larger novella that frames the rest of the stories to come. As with Peery's other novel, it took me awhile to get into it, but the novella had me intensely emotionally involved and involved with the writing itself.

My main quibble is that the novella was so outstanding that the rest of the book was massively overshadowed by it. I don't think this is something that should have been a linked collection - the main narrative is so striking A compelling story told in small linked pieces, as well as a larger novella that frames the rest of the stories to come.

I don't think this is something that should have been a linked collection - the main narrative is so striking that it easily could hold its own as a more developed novel. Still, a good read. Nov 24, Abby Peck rated it it was amazing Shelves: I don't know why I got this book out of the library but once I started it I knew I had to buy it that is how I operate and will read it again and again.

The thing I liked best was its ability to transform me to the West in 's America and my ableness to relate to both the main characters and the great great story it told, very original! This is a good book.

A glimpse of a part of U. And personally, a fourth or fifth reference to Jesse Owens in a span of several months, after a lifetime of not knowing anything about him. Mar 26, Susan rated it really liked it. I didn't finish all the stories, but really liked the novella. Her characters are believable, and their stories of the dust bowl and its harsh realities are too real.