When Stars Rain Down

Written by Angela Jackson-Brown

Narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt

Opal is an eighteen-year-old Black woman working as a housekeeper in a small Southern town in the 1930s—and then the Klan descends. A moving story that confronts America’s tragic past, When Stars Rain Down is both heartwarming and heart-wrenching.

The summer of 1936 in Parsons, Georgia, is unseasonably hot, and Opal Pruitt senses a nameless storm brewing. She hopes this foreboding feeling won’t overshadow her upcoming 18th birthday or the annual Founder’s Day celebration in just a few weeks. She and her Grandma Birdie work as housekeepers for the white widow Miss Peggy, and Opal desperately wants some time to be young and carefree with her cousins and friends.

But when the Ku Klux Klan descends on Opal’s neighborhood, the tight-knit community is shaken in every way possible. Parsons’s residents—both Black and white—are forced to acknowledge the unspoken codes of conduct in their post-Reconstruction era town. To complicate matters, Opal finds herself torn between two unexpected romantic interests—the son of her pastor, Cedric Perkins, and the white grandson of the woman she works for, Jimmy Earl Ketchums.

Faced with love, loss, and a harsh awakening to an ugly world, Opal holds tight to her family and faith—and the hope for change.

“When Stars Rain Down is so powerful, timely, and compelling . . . an important and beautifully written must-read of a novel.” —Silas House, author of Southernmost

• 2021 Langum Prize in American Historical Fiction – Finalist
• Stand-alone novel

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: Apr 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9780785240464

Angela Jackson-Brown

Angela Jackson-Brown is an award-winning writer, poet, and playwright who is an Associate Professor in Creative Writing at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN and a member of the graduate faculty of the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University in Louisville, KY. Angela is a graduate of Troy University, Auburn University, and the Spalding low-residency MFA program in creative writing. She has published her short fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry in journals like the Louisville Courier Journal and Appalachian Review. She is the author of Drinking from a Bitter Cup, House Repairs, When Stars Rain Down, and The Light Always Breaks.

Reviews for When Stars Rain Down

[debs4jc · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Opal gets one of her feelings that something bad may be looming on the horizon just as the summer of her 18th year is fixing to start. The year is 1936, the place is Parsons, Georgia and the trouble most certainly could be related to the tenuous relationship between the white folks and black folks in Opal's community. Opal would like nothing more than to enjoy outings with her cousins and friends, evenings with her grandmother, and days working for Miss Peggy. But the arrival of the Klan will test everything that Opal knows about life and keep her from living her life unnoticed. She and the other members of the community must discover how they will respond to evil and cling to faith in adversity.This was a powerful story. I loved the descriptions of Opal's tight knit community and the pleasures that they enjoyed. The scenes were well written and painted many vivid pictures in my mind. It's a pity that some of them were sad and disturbing, but it's important to confront the evils of history and seek ways to keep it from repeating itself. Opal learned how to live through hard times with her head held high and her faith intact, and I'm glad this author is giving us stories like these to add to the Christian fiction genre.