The Sleeping Night: Amazon.co.uk: Barbara Samuel: Books

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Book Description

Publication Date: 21 Jun 2012

An unforgettable romance in an unforgiving time.

They'll need love and courage to see the dawn.

He's a hometown native, returning from the war, determined to change the world he'd fought to protect. She's the girl who's been his secret friend since childhood, now a beautiful woman. Her war-time letters kept him alive. But he's black, and she's white.

In 1946 in Gideon, Texas, their undeniable love might get them both killed.

Barbara Samuel is a multiple award-winning author with more than 38 books to her credit in a variety of genres. Her work has captured a plethora of awards, including six RITAs; the Colorado Center for the Book Award (twice); Favorite Book of the Year from Romance Writers of America, and the Library Journal's list of Best Genre Fiction of the year, among many others.

Visit her at www.barbarasamuel.com.

#outer_postBodyPS { display: none; } #psGradient { display: none; } #psPlaceHolder { display: none; } #psExpand { display: none; } An unforgettable romance in an unforgiving time.

They'll need love and courage to see the dawn.

He's a hometown native, returning from the war, determined to change the world he'd fought to protect. She's the girl who's been his secret friend since childhood, now a beautiful woman. Her war-time letters kept him alive. But he's black, and she's white.

In 1946 in Gideon, Texas, their undeniable love might get them both killed.

Barbara Samuel is a multiple award-winning author with more than 38 books to her credit in a variety of genres. Her work has captured a plethora of awards, including six RITAs; the Colorado Center for the Book Award (twice); Favorite Book of the Year from Romance Writers of America, and the Library Journal's list of Best Genre Fiction of the year, among many others.

Visit her at www.barbarasamuel.com.

Product details

Paperback: 268 pages
Publisher: BelleBooks (21 Jun 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 161194127X
ISBN-13: 978-1611941272
Product Dimensions: 15.2 x 1.5 x 22.9 cm

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,825,170 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 stars The Sleeping Night 2 Nov 2012

By Clare O'Beara

Format:Paperback

Night falls in East Texas and a young man home from World War Two smells warm rotting foliage, having learned the scents of heather, lavender and death. This marvellously evocative book skips through time periods to shed light on the issues faced by denizens of America's South in a changing world.

SLEEPING NIGHT tells of Parker Corey and his daughter Angel who run a small country store. Parker and the father of Angel's friend Isaiah High both served in France during WWI and this has cemented their friendship, no matter that the Coreys are white and the Highs coloured. Parker came home deciding to treat everyone as equal and this attitude has not made him or his little girl popular among the townsfolk. Angel and Isaiah both love reading and play in a tree house.

When Isaiah joins up, he and Angel correspond, but he sees a new side of life in Britain and decides that he can no longer live in Texas. He only returns there to bring a Polish Jewish girl back to her family. Angel is now orphaned and a war widow, and cascades of water pour through her patched roof when it rains, so Isaiah recklessly offers to fix it for her. Angel can't afford to pay and does not want to accept the aid of a predatory local bachelor, so she agrees. The townsfolk however disapprove of Angel's living alone and running a store by herself. All would be well if she remarried, but her independence sees her dumped as Sunday school teacher and coldly isolated. Only the coloured women who shop with her, and the local Jewish people, are treating her well. Loneliness drives her to spend time with handsome Isaiah and the pair face breaking the greatest taboo of all - heedless of danger.

This novel squarely presents discrimination of many kinds. The horror of Hitler is countered with the thoughtless, blatant disregard of the rights of coloured people, or poor white trash, or of women, especially single women. Barbara Samuel's rich prose brings to life the countryside, the people, the food and the weather, so we feel steeped in the atmosphere and the times. This excellent romance with an edge of suspense deserves a wide audience.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful, passionate, thought-provoking story 28 Sep 2012

By Hannah Fielding

Format:Kindle Edition

A beautiful, passionate, thought-provoking story about forbidden love; this book will be going on my `favourite romances' shelf.

From the outset, I was drawn into the story by the compelling characters - courageous Angel, a lone white woman fighting to keep her independence after her father's death, and Isaisah, her childhood friend who has seen too much in Europe during the war and can no longer tolerate the racism of the South. I found myself increasingly anxious as I read, seeing their love unfold in such a hostile environment - hoping so much they could find their way to each other but, knowing the reality of the setting and the historical era in which the book is set, fearing the only possible outcome could be tragedy.

Barbara is such a talented writer, conjuring up vivid mental pictures through her imagery that transported me to 1940s Texas and plunged me into the scenes. Here's an example: `Isaiah sank down next to her. Bony knees stuck out from below his cut-off pants. His ankles were streaked, his shoes muddy, and he smelled like sunshine and dust and river water.' I love that so much of the book has an authentic Southern feel in terms of tone and phrasing; and I really enjoyed the interweaving of letters sent during the war, which blend in a feel for war-time England and the two protagonists' differing experiences of war.

In her dedication at the start of the book, Barbara mentions that this novel was `stashed away', and it only saw the light of day thanks to an encouraging friend. Well, I am so very glad that Barbara did believe in the book enough to publish the book, because it was a true pleasure reading it, and I know that the touching story of Angel and Isaisah will remain in my imagination for years to come.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com ^(beta)

Amazon.com: 4.6 out of 5 stars 51 reviews

50 of 50 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Telling of Forbidden Romance 23 Jun 2012

By Kristin Anders - Published on Amazon.com

Format:Kindle Edition

How are the sex scenes?
Meaningful. A few leading up to scenes and some implied,
but nothing that would embarrass you at the next book club meeting.

How are the story lines?
Romantic and beautiful with heart wrenching realism about southern life during the 1940s.

This story is a beautiful telling of forbidden romance.

Angel is a stubborn, resilient character, quickly gaining the reader's respect (and in my case, awe) with her strong will and work ethic. This woman is not your damsel in distress and only relies on herself and God to change her circumstance.

Isiah is a courageous and intelligent man, accepting the things he cannot win and finding ways to help Angel despite the limitations put to him by the color of his skin. Well read, world traveled and utterly devoted, he is a practical hero, one every girl might be lucky enough to bring home to momma. Even with Angel's superwoman toughness, Isiah's bravery refuses to be overshadowed. He uses it, proving his love to Angel over and over again.

The supporting characters have great personalities and back stories of their own. When their names are mentioned, you immediately recall their life, purpose and relevance to the story.

This novel is further enhanced by Angel and Isiah's letters exchanged during the war and its accurate 1940s setting, giving a realistic view of what life was like for African Americans and people who befriended them.

"The Sleeping Night" is a refined, romantic tale. I imagine if Jane Austen wrote novels today, her stories would read a lot like Barbara Samuel's.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Poignant story of forbidden love 16 Jun 2012

By Julie Kibler - Published on Amazon.com

Format:Paperback

Barbara Samuel's latest, The Sleeping Night, is a lovely sideline project, complementing her more recent foodie-themed novels written as Barbara O'Neal. It contains the right measure of Samuel's trademark references to baking, sensual detail, and bittersweet romance.

The Sleeping Night explores the story of a young white woman who sees beyond skin color to fall for her childhood playmate, and a young African-American man who returns from the battlefields of World War II, where decreased racism and letters from his childhood friend sustained him, to the unchanged battlefield of his hometown. You will laugh and cry and root for Angel and Isaiah as they face prejudice and violence in post World War II Texas. I love anything by Samuel (whether written as Samuel or O'Neal), and this was no exception.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Barbara Samuel at her best 17 Jun 2012

By Judith Arnold - Published on Amazon.com

Format:Paperback

The splendor of Barbara Samuel's writing--her lush, sensuous prose, her attention to the earthy details of life, her strong-willed, complex characters and their struggles to connect with one another--are all on radiant display in The Sleeping Night. This book adds another element to the mix: the overt racism of small-town Texas in the years before, during and after World War II. Despite that racism, Angel and Isaiah form a childhood friendship that ripens into love as Isaiah joins the allied forces in England and Angel tries, with less than stellar success, to become a proper white lady who fits into the stultifying and bigoted society in which she finds herself. Can Angel and Isaiah overcome the limitations of that society? More important, can they overcome their own deeply embedded fears? Can they allow their love to blossom, knowing that in that place, in that era, their love could cost them their property, their safety, even their lives? This book will make you weep, and it will make you cheer. It will make you believe in the fierce power of love.

The Sleeping Night [Paperback]

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