a place to stand

by Samuel Hall

In this sequel to "Daughter of the Cimarron," ruin, tragedy, or calamity will afflict nearly every family at some point. All three tribulations descend on Claire's family in the memoir "A Place to Stand." Cancer takes her husband, leaving her and her three sons alone on a marginal farm struggling out of the Dust Bowl. No one expects her to stay. How could a widow survive with three little boys, much less run a farm? Claire stands at the crux of this memoir ... As their lives seem about to unravel, will Claire be able to show everyone they can trust the God of the impossible?

319 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

About the author

Disambiguation record

Reviews

[Michelle Ule · Rating 3 out of 5]

Engrossing family story of a hard life in 1950s Texas panhandle. Hall uses an interesting technique to tell his mother's story--giving her strong voice as a backdrop to a dramatic tale.

I had trouble setting aside the story when I wasn't reading.

As genealogist, I can appreciate a full family history.

[John Avery · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Daughter of the Cimarron, of which this is the sequel. Hall writes a lot of dialogue in a very believable style that fits the historical and geographical setting of Dust Bowl Oklahoma. That style includes a lot of fragments rather than true sentences. Sometimes it is hard to figure out who is speaking or what the subject is, but generally it is well done. For anyone wanting a true-life story of a family struggling through those times, this is a recommended read, and the reason I give it the stars. Hall does a good job drawing the reader into the family with the realistic dialogue and descriptions of life in rural Oklahoma. There is emotion when loved ones die. In particular, I enjoyed the scenes of the blizzard that forced the boys to sleep at school for a night, catching the hog for slaughter, and the dust storm that engulfed them all. The book could be improved by including a family tree and list of other characters, perhaps a timeline. It would also benefit from being better formatted.