Whiter Than Snow by Sandra Dallas - 3.5* (Round up to 4*)

[Doughgirl5562]

Synopsis: On a spring afternoon in 1920, Swandyke - a small mining town in the Colorado Mountains - is changed forever. Just after 4 o'clock, a large curtain of snow breaks off from the mountain above the town and hurtles down the slope, burying nine children who were on their way home from school. Some survived. Some didn't.

My thoughts: We are told in the very first chapter how many children survived the tragedy of the avalanche, but not which children. The majority of this novel introduces us to the parents or guardians of the children. Two estranged sisters who grew up in Swandyke, a civil war veteran raising his grandson, a prostitute, a black man who had fled from the post civil war South, and the mine manager's high society raised wife.

The stories of each of the parent's felt a little disjointed to me - at first. By the end of the novel it all comes together. This novel never really got my emotions strongly engaged until the end, but I did feel a sense of time and place by reading the varied stories of the parents. And I did feel the parents' grief. How could you not? In the end, this was a good example of how tragedy brings a community and people together and ends on a hopeful note.

[LibraryCin]

I have this on my tbr. Was this based on a true event, do you know? Thanks!

[Doughgirl5562]

LibraryCin wrote: "I have this on my tbr. Was this based on a true event, do you know? Thanks!"

Not that I can find. Sure reads like a true story though.

[Ellen]

Even though the subject matter was tough, I enjoyed this book quite a bit. For some reason I thought it was based on a true story but I could be wrong. I do love Sandra Dallas books.