The Floor of the Sky (Flyover Fiction) [Paperback]

Pamela Carter Joern (Author)

Book Description

Series: Flyover Fiction | Publication Date: September 1, 2006

In the Nebraska Sandhills, nothing is more sacred than the bond of family and land—and nothing is more capable of causing deep wounds. In Pamela Carter Joern's riveting novel The Floor of the Sky, Toby Jenkins, an aging widow, is on the verge of losing her family's ranch when her granddaughter Lila—a city girl, sixteen and pregnant—shows up for the summer. While facing painful decisions about her future, Lila uncovers festering secrets about her grandmother's past—discoveries that spur Toby to reconsider the ambiguous ties she holds to her embittered sister Gertie, her loyal ranch hand George, her not-so-sympathetic daughter Nola Jean, and ultimately, herself.

 

Propelled by stark realism in breakneck prose, The Floor of the Sky reveals the inner worlds of characters isolated by geography and habit. Set against the sweeping changes in rural America—from the onslaught of corporate agribusiness to the pressures exerted by superstores on small towns—Joern's compelling story bears witness to the fortitude and hard-won wisdom of people whose lives have been forged by devotion to the land.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Toby Jenkins, now 72, has been living all her life in the same ornate Sears, Roebuck farmhouse in the Nebraska Sandhills her father bought for her mother back in 1920. For now, Toby aims to stay there with her cranky self-righteous sister, Gertie, despite the local weasel banker's pressure to sell. Toby is widowed, resolute and land-scarred; a string of family deaths, tragedies and abandonments have left Toby and Gertie with no one to pass the place on to. Then Toby's 16-year-old pregnant granddaughter, Lila, arrives from Minneapolis. At first the unloved, metal-studded Lila, the child of Toby's adoptive daughter, a bitter airline stewardess, is surly and ungrateful, but eventually her curiosity about country rituals and her grandmother's life leads her to the family cemetery and to archives harboring long-buried family secrets. Playwright Joern's characters are as stern as the land, and the world of her debut novel is sturdy and memorable. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Joern intricately weaves together a compelling family saga and a beautifully rendered paean to the land her characters love and are struggling to preserve. Rooted in the Nebraska Sandhills, Toby, an aging widow, lives with her older sister in the house their parents built before the Depression. Toby invites Lila, her pregnant 16-year-old granddaughter, to stay with them until her baby is born, in part to assuage the long-standing rift between Toby and Lila's mother. While sifting through her feelings about her pregnancy, impending motherhood, and adoption, Lila simultaneously begins digging into family secrets, including the death of Toby's first love in an accident caused by her father and the son Toby gave up for adoption months later. Surrounding the intertwined details of this family's loves, jealousies, and regrets like a cocoon is their emotional bond with the land itself--the land they're in danger of losing to a ranching conglomerate. Joern's lyrical and painterly descriptions of the vast Sandhills are the perfect backdrop for this subtle drama. Deborah Donovan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 238 pages
• Publisher: Bison Books (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803276311
• ISBN-13: 978-0803276314
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #610,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great piece of fiction, October 29, 2006

By 

Ratmammy "The Ratmammy" (Ratmammy's Town, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Floor of the Sky (Flyover Fiction) (Paperback)

THE FLOOR OF THE SKY by Pamela Carter Joern
October 29, 2006

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Another great novel I've read this year has to be THE FLOOR OF THE SKY, the story of a family living in the rural farmlands of Nebraska. Beautifully written, the story focuses on granddaughter Lila, who has left her family back in Minnesota and has come to live with her grandmother Toby. Lila is pregnant, doesn't want to talk about it, but apparently has left home because she's not getting any support from her mother, Nola Jean. She has always loved her grandmother Toby, who tries her best to support Lila, who refuses to discuss the pregnancy and continues to harbor a sour attitude despite Toby's willingness to be there for her.

What made this story riveting are the layers that make up the book. The various characters all have secrets, and it's through Lila that the reader learns what the older generation has been hiding for decades. Gertie is the older sister of Toby, and the two are like night and day. Gertie is a bitter old woman whose husband is in a home suffering from Alzheimer's. Toby lives alone, but is full of life, but at the same time is preparing for her own death, feeling that it is soon her time to go. The two sisters do not get along, although Toby is living with Gertie because it is not safe for her to live alone anymore. Other characters come into play, most of whom were present when a tragedy decades ago took the lives of Toby and Gertie's mother, as well as David, the younger brother of George, a man that had lived on the property for as long as they remember, helping the family out with the land.

Lila's relationship with her cousin Clay is another facet to the story. The two had been very close growing up, but hadn't seen each other in years. Now, Clay is involved with a married woman, and Lila is not happy with this. As time passes, Lila begins to come to terms with her pregnancy, and as she gets acquainted with the people that surround her grandmother, Lila begins to open up.

THE FLOOR OF THE SKY is probably one of the best novels I've read in 2006. Intriguing characters drive the story to its conclusion, with a tragic ending that in some ways helps bring resolution. The writing is superb and eloquent, and while it may come across as a more literary effort, readers will be drawn to the story because of its themes of family and forgiveness. THE FLOOR OF THE SKY is highly recommended.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Floor of the Sky, November 19, 2006

By 

Candace Simar (Pequot Lakes, Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Floor of the Sky (Flyover Fiction) (Paperback)

I loved it! The undercurrents of family secrets along with the stark setting of the Sand Hills, Nebraska, makes this a great read. Pamela Joern did a great job of setting the story, developing the characters, and like a magician, drew me into the story in a compelling way. I'd recommend it to anyone.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Loving portrait of the Western Plains, September 10, 2006

By 

Kevin Holtsberry (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Floor of the Sky (Flyover Fiction) (Paperback)

A poetic and loving portrait of the Western Plains. A restrained and understated tale of love and loss; of tragedy and family secrets that reflect its harsh, remote, but beautiful setting.