Even Sunflowers Cast Shadows

by Douglas Armstrong

Emma Starkey is a spunky little girl trying hard to be charitable and virtuous in this award-winning novel. But her calculated attempts have a way of backfiring with tumultuous consequences in this poignant story of small-town life in 1920s Kansas. As Emma's cranky grandmother observes, "Even sunflowers cast shadows."
Weaving through four years of Emma's engaging disasters is her chaotic friendship with a transplanted Yankee whiz kid, Margaret Drummond, whose family arrives one summer burdened with a heavy secret and a flair for the dramatic. Emma's and Margaret's brothers and sisters become friends, too, but their screwball pursuits and youthful infatuations spawn rivalries that threaten to split them apart.
Perilous-even tragic-turns await, along with powerful and unexpected lessons about friendship, jealousy, compassion, and the curious world of grown-ups.
Cornucopia, Kansas, is filled with colorful crackpots, bullies, and quiet heroes. In their stories, and most especially Emma's, Even Sunflowers Cast Shadows recaptures a faded moment when innocence could still be lost grudgingly.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

316 pages, Paperback

First published October 25, 2010

About the author

Douglas Armstrong is the prize-winning author of four novels, including the new historical thriller, "Sun Dog Memory." Kirkus Reviews says, “This fast-paced narrative effectively mixes intense family drama with rapid-fire action.” Armstrong made his long fiction debut in 2010 with the novel, "Even Sunflowers Cast Shadows," also set in rural Kansas. The book was named best novel in 2010 by The Council for Wisconsin Writers. Armstrong’s other books form a trilogy that explores newspaper life in the 1960s. They include "Life on The Sun," "Color of The Sun," and (coming in 2024) "Eclipse of The Sun." His short fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery magazines as well as Boys’ Life. He is a member of the Mystery Writers of America and a past board member of the Council for Wisconsin Writers. He is married and the father of four living in Shorewood, Wisconsin.

Reviews

[Anne (Booklady) Molinarolo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read many reviews stating that this novel reminds them of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn or To Kill a Mockingbird. True, Even Sunflowers Cast Shadows is a coming of age novel set during the 1920s when abdominal men wore white sheets and hoods. Kansas and other states weren't immune. And how could I not have cried for the Grubbs, especially little Roberta? In my mind this novel resembled a Carson McCullers novel. A little girl's heartache, struggling to understand the people in her small world. Was the climatic event in the book caused by the Drummonds moving next door to Emma Starky? Or would someone else do it. The 80 year old Emma isn't sure, and nether are we readers.

The writing is simple, but beautiful. Douglas Armstrong really understands little girls and women. He got Emma's voice spot on. We know it is the older Emma telling the story of those few years in Cornucopia, Kansas. But then it reads as if Emma was telling her story in real time. All of the characters seem real, like the real people we know in small towns. And the story itself? It is best summed up by the book blurb:

As Emma's cranky grandmother observes, "Even sunflowers cast shadows."

Weaving through four years of Emma's engaging disasters is her chaotic friendship with a transplanted Yankee whiz kid, Margaret Drummond, whose family arrives one summer burdened with a heavy secret and a flair for the dramatic. Emma's and Margaret's brothers and sisters become friends, too, but their screwball pursuits and youthful infatuations spawn rivalries that threaten to split them apart.

Perilous-even tragic-turns await, along with powerful and unexpected lessons about friendship, jealousy, compassion, and the curious world of grown-ups.
Cornucopia, Kansas, is filled with colorful crackpots, bullies, and quiet heroes. In their stories, and most especially Emma's, Even Sunflowers Cast Shadows recaptures a faded moment when innocence could still be lost grudgingly.

[Dolly · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know a book is good when you're sad because you've finished it. This book reminded me a lot of "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn" as it's told from the eyes of a young girl and follows the Starkey family (as well as neighboring families) through 1920's Kansas.

It was hard to put this book down (even at 1 a.m) and I found myself hoping there would be a sequel book someday.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Douglas Armstrong's "Even Sunflowers Cast Shadows" was the kind of book you stay up too late at night reading because you can't put it down. I finished the book in a week's worth of stolen moments in the busy holiday season. Watching the plot unfold through young Emma's eyes and feeling her struggles to make sense of right and wrong in the gray areas between the late 1920's small town black and white world made this novel really ring true to me. While the story is hers alone, her coming of age is written in a humorous and sensitive way that I believe both men and women readers will relate to.

[Glenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great story! I couldn't put it down.

[Elke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit of Scout, a bit of Ramona Quimby and a whole lot of fun. Travel back in time to a small town Kansas,where childhood is fraught with not just the usual trials and tribulations.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoying this book. It reads like a memoir. It takes place in the 1920's. Discusses a family and its inter-relationships. A nice read that "takes you back." Quick.... easy to put down and pick up. Didn't knock my socks off, but found myself thinking about it and anxious to get back to the story. Good book -definitely worth reading.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a first novel by a MALE newspaper reporter, editorial write, columnist, and film critic and written from the point of view of a young girl growing up in the 1920's. He credits his sister and daughter for guidance on creating Emma's voice.

[Beth Jaworski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Moving story beautifully told. A quick read also. This is good because once you start reading this book, it is hard to stop.

[Karla Kitalong · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I thought I was just reading it to fill in a gap in my bedtime reading (waiting for my husband to finish a book), but it turned out to be very well written and filled with suspenseful moments. The chapters were short--most about 5 pages. This is always a benefit for bedtime reading. When I realized that the narrator was a young girl and the author was a man, I worried that the voice of the narrator would be wrong, but it wasn't. He didn't infantilize her, but her thoughts and assumptions rang true. Recommend. I rarely give a book 5 stars, but here ya go.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It starts out as a cute little amusing story about a little girl growing in 1920s Kansas. But oh boy, it takes a turn at the end I wasn't expecting.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A growing up story about the Starkey family of Corucopia Kansas. Special focus on Emma who is actually telling the story. We also encounter the Drummond family who come to Kansas from Detroit to live in the same neighborhood as Emma's family. As I read I grew to appreciate the child Emma and the things she went through. Interesting plot twists but nothing earth shattering. A little sad in retrospect but a good read in the end.

[Sharon Lewis Merritt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do enjoy these sort of folksy, slice of life, mockingbird-style books. This one is certainly well-written but it does lack a story. The only real event happens in the very end and at that point it felt a little anti-climactic.

However, I give Douglas Armstrong kudos for writing from the perspective of a young girl. I did stay with it because even though Emma was a bit mature for her age, I enjoyed the depiction of her family life and pictured everything clearly in my head.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This coming-of-age story felt disjointed, like a series of anecdotes strung together. That's not to say that the anecdotes weren't enjoyable, but the book seemed to lack an overarching plot structure. It seemed almost like a faint echo of "To Kill a Mockingbird," (she even calls her father Thad) but with a focus on the harm a teenage girl can wreak on a community rather than on racism.

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think Douglas Armstrong is a talented writer; it can't be easy to write in the voice of a little girl. I just thought it was a little light weight. There were hints all along that something was going to happen, but I think it was fairly predictable and so I lost momentum with it.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

"coming of age" story. I liked this book. If you haven't already read several similar stories then add a 4th star.

[Judypie Molnar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having just finished another "coming of age" story about two young girls, I was a little sick of reading about the lives of eleven year olds. I didn't do this on purpose! Easy, quick read.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story of a young girl coming of age in small town Kansas in the 1920's. Emma Armstrong's son is the author and that is her picture on the cover. My copy is signed.