Sweeping Up Glass: A Novel

"Sweeping Up Glass" is a fictional account set in Depression-era Kentucky, a place that at this time was still very racially divided; within its pages, we find a young white girl, still a child herself just beginning her transition to womanhood, trying her best to raise her young brother while helping to run her father's grocery store and managing the home, something a mother would be expected to do. The reader will find out shortly why Olivia, the girl of the story, is having to do this.Olivia is constantly bombarded by tribulations and temptations from all around, including her friendship with black women near her own age, something that is frowned upon in the Depression south; trying her best to help out her father in his store while dealing with his sometimes-strange requests; fighting off male "coyotes" who have only one thing on their little minds; and raising her younger, illegitimate brother the best and only way she knows how, in the absence of her less-than-level mother.To cope with the cruelties and seemingly unfairness of her life, Olivia, along with her younger brother, Will'm, retreats to the surrounding countryside to listen to the howling and baying of the wolves she loves so much. But here lies another of her torments -- she learns that poachers are killing her wolves for sport and to protect the local ranchers' herds of cattle. This is something that makes Will'm and herself targets of those same poachers, who care only about the bounty on the wolves' heads and who will let nothing, or no one, stand in their way.Olivia finds that she must learn all of life's lessons on her own, without a loving mother, living with a father who is more interested in his customers than in his children, and with no real guide to follow. She finds some solace in the friendship of some young black men and women, many scarcely much older than herself, wherein she finds the truth about her family, and the betrayals that led to the absence of her mother, even when she is there, and her father, who is gone when she needs him the most.The novel tends to be somewhat slow in places -- but then, does that not also describe our own lives at times? At other times, the words come at you so fast they fairly leap off of the page and run down the road on the balls of their feet, leaving the reader to catch up. You'll need a word broom to sweep the words up from the floor!A good debut novel, "Sweeping Up Glass" will make for a delightful read while trying to decipher a piece of our past we wish had never happened. Carolyn D. Wall has crafted a good first outing that deserves a well-earned 4 Stars.

This s a wonderful southern family saga, set in the 1920's, 1930's, 1940's. Carolyn Wall has done an excellent job with this novel, taking you, heart and soul, to hard scrabble hill country Kentucky before, during and after the depression. We follow Olivia Harker Cross first person from the time she is small child who adores her father and does not miss her institutionalized mother on through her life in Pope County, KY. Pope County is a small insular community, wide spread over the hills, where everyone is poor and sometimes hungry, where racial hangings are still a possibility and there hasn't been a wolf sighting or sounding in 20 years.By the time she is in her forties, Olivia is single handedly raising her grandson William, assisting her friends and neighbors through the hungry times, doing her best to care for her crazy mother living in a cabin in her backyard, and trying to protect 'her' wolves, descendants of a pair of silver wolves carried home from Alaska by her grandfather in an attempt to repopulate the wolves in Kentucky.Together she and Will'm run a small grocery store where they attempt to cover the needs of their neighbors. These are characters you will love - or hate - and a locale that becomes so familiar you can close your eyes and see the mountains, see the silver faced wolves which bond this story together, feel the heartbeat of the land right along with Olivia.It is a book I will want to read again, and savor. The people of Pope Country will stay with me. Though it has often been compared to other classic southern novels, I found this to be a classic in it's own right. Carolyn Wall is an author I will follow.

Once started, I could not put this book down. It swept me away into a part of life I’ve never known. It was so sad and real and I think I will read more books by this author. This life of poverty, bigotry and hate, I’m glad to know about it. Equally glad I never had to live it. Did I say I love happy endings?

"Sweeping Up Glass" by Carolyn Wall -- 5-stars!Wow! Yep, wow it is. This is a great novel. Yes, it's a little gritty, a bit hard on the heart and emotions to read, but it's that way because it's written with such a feeling, such emotion, that you get tied up in the story, in the characters, in the events. The depression was not a happy time.There is some violence, but mostly just talking about it, not a visual description. Ditto for the few sexual passages - minimal and done with the proper amount of respect and taste. Yes, there's a couple of rape accounts, but not overly descriptive or violent. Perfectly well done, not explicitly descriptive. If I could read it and not get upset, a baby could read/hear it! ;=)You know how people are sometimes raving about a novel, telling you that you should read it, how great it is? Well, this is one of those novels. I think the reason that it's not being touted as such for you is that it is gritty. But it was about events in the time of the early era of the USA, in the times of the Great Depression, in the hard, gritty times of the nation. It should be gritty!Yes, do yourself a big favor, take a bit of your valuable time and read this novel. You'll thank me, I promise.Patrick

Olivia faces hardship and poverty in Aurora, Kentucky, having been brought up by her loving father, with the addition of a wild, crazy, cantankerous mother just released from a mental hospital. She falls in love, then gets into a terrible accident. Things are just not the same after that. Secrets are being kept as Olivia raises her own child and a grandchild. Many in town respect her, but the secrets will come back to haunt her.

I thought this storyline was pretty well written but what a miserable tale. However the lead up to and the ending was unexpected. A nice twist. However I couldn't really get into this book due to the errors almost one on every page, 3 on one page! Obvious things like bread instead of beard and grated drive instead of gated. It really spoilt it for me, it felt as if I was marking students' papers. I have a rule; once I start a book I always finish it. Well I just managed to keep going and it improved from the penultimate chapter to the end. You need to be in a happy place when you start to read this book as it won't cheer you up. It gave a clear picture of life at the time whether accurate or not and was certainly a change from my usual (very light) regency novels.

What can I say about this book.One word magnificent. I read this book due to price and I was spellbounded by the storyline, especially the end. Wow.The book was descriptive, thought provoking, realistic, inspiring and awesome.I do not want to give too much away about this book, as I would like everyone to buy it and read it, but needless to say I have recommended this to practically everyone I know, hoping they will read this and enjoy it as much as I did.Carolyn Wall has written a book that kept me captivated from the beginning to the end and I savoured it aqll the way through.

This book was something different from anything I have ever read. Set in the south of America, Olivia, a poor white woman living among other poor whites and blacks, runs a grocery store with her father. The scene is set so well, one can visualise the countryside and almost hear the howling of the wolves. Olivia's friends, Junk and Love Alice, are touching in their loyalty to her, and help her through her difficult life. There is some violence, which is quite shocking, but the perpetrators get their come-uppance.I was intrigued by the whole story, and really enjoyed it. I would recommend this book.Elsie Ellis, author of Lives of Others.

I enjoyed this - it was a book club recommendation and not a novel I would have chosen myself. I was not gripped initially but I stuck with it and soon was swept up in this strange poverty stricken isolated world. It is a tale of two halves - the childhood,then the almost Gothic horror filled adulthood. The a story was good, unexpected, well written, and gripping.

Book looked like it was amazing up to be brilliant in the second half, but ended up getting into territory that hasn't even been hinted at. Massive ridiculous Scooby Doo ending as well. A very promising book which left me confused and pretty switched off at the end.