A Sky Without Stars-Linda S. Clare

A Sky Without Stars Linda S. Clare Abingdon, Feb 18 2014, $14.99 ISBN: 9781426752797 In 1951 Pine Ridge, South Dakota, Frankie Chasing Bear wants her beloved Harold to honor his Lakota heritage as she vowed to her late grandmother when she promised to complete the Lakota Star quilt for her child. However, she also sadly accepts the realism that her child needs to live in a white world though she loathes Christians after what missionaries of that faith did to her parents. When Harold’s father Hank dies in a barroom brawl, Frankie decides to relocate. She registers with the Federal Relocation Program and accompanied by ten years old Harold move to Arizona. Once settled, Frankie works on the Lakota Star though the relocation is not smooth with car trouble and Harold being bullied. When Bureau of Indian Affairs agent Nick Vandergriff meets Frankie, he knows he has found his love. However, though the BIA operative is half-Lakota, he has his work cut out convincing Frankie they belong together raising her son as his Christian beliefs are a non-starter. The latest Quilts of Love inspirational romance (see Tempest's Course by Lynette Sowell and Scraps Of Evidence by Barbara Cameron) is a strong historical due to the fully developed lead triangle. The storyline contains a profound look at the impact on the daughter of the victims of injustice perpetrated by caring people believing in their white man’s burden to bring Christianity to the Indians anyway they can. The lead trio has issues of belonging while the Lakota Star quilt connects the cultures that divide them. Harriet Klausner