Rainwater. The title refers to a Mr. Rainwater. Mr. David Rainwater, to be exact. He enters the scene in the middle of the 1934 Dust Bowl in Texas like a breath of fresh air. No wait! Like a tall, cool drink of water on a hot, dry day. He comes to refresh the community which is pa
rched by drought, poverty and racism. He also comes to refresh one Ella Barron who is living a grueling daily grind of running a boarding house and caring for an autistic child who is a total mystery in the 1930s world in which they live.
**Spoiler alert!**
One big problem, though, is that Mr. R. is terminally ill. Now that doesn’t prevent him from working on fixing all the ills of the community or from thawing out Ella’s hardened heart, or from infiltrating her son’s locked-up mind.
It’s a good story. The gritty descriptions of the government culling farmers’ herds of starving cattle was heart-rendingly portrayed. Unfortunately, the simmering sexual tension between Ella and Mr. R. was melodramatic at times. During a thunderstorm in the middle of the night they are both running around shutting windows and become acutely “aware” of each other:
Their eyes stayed locked. Ella’s heart felt on the verge of bursting. She said hoarsely, ‘The storm finally broke.’ He held her stare for several moments longer, slowly shaking his head, ‘No. It didn’t.’
My my. I think we see where this is going. I’ve not read any other books by Ms. Brown, but I understand that this one is pretty tame in the romance department compared to her other novels.
Mr. Rainwater takes on the town bully, defends the downtrodden farmers and shanty-town residents, seeks justice for a lynched black pastor, finds a way to reach an autistic child, and breaks through Ella’s staunch reserve to love her and be loved in return. In short, he is a self-sacrificing champion of the underdog. There are a couple of surprises at the end and the epilogue is needed to tie up loose ends.
Do I recommend the book? Well, yes. It’s a good read. The characters are engaging. It’s not great literature by any means, but it is a fun read and my book club enjoyed discussing it.
Savored Phrases 