Tyler Granger, founder of the Windsor Heights Book Fair and author of Iowa Trouble, announced the Top Ten Books by Iowa Authors of 2023. Number 7 is What Leora Never Knew by Joy Neal Kidney:
“Joy Neal Kidney’s October 17th, 2023 release, What Leora Never Knew, is more than just a book; it’s a granddaughter’s poignant excavation of family history and a companion piece to Leora’s Letters, their shared legacy etched in the crucible of World War II. Devouring it in a single afternoon, I found myself captivated by the tale, each document and photograph a silent witness to the family’s grief. The toneless telegrams announcing tragedy after tragedy — ‘The Secretary of War desires me to express his regrets…’ — resonated with a heartbreaking finality, amplified by Kidney’s sparse, Midwestern prose. Yet, amidst the crushing blows, life continued in rural Iowa. Hope flickered amidst uncertainty as the family regrouped, comforting Leora and sharing the weight of her sorrow.
“With her first three books, Kidney gifted us an intimate glimpse into the lives of a single Iowa family, a microcosm of America where ordinary lives intertwined with extraordinary sacrifice. Leora’s Letters laid bare the raw truth of losing three of five sons to the war. Now, in What Leora Never Knew, Kidney meticulously reconstructs the lives of these men, weaving a tapestry of their hopes, dreams, and tragic fates. Read not for the sadness, but for the heroism it illuminates. This is a tale not just of one family, but of countless farm boys, truck drivers, and factory workers who traded their furrows, wrenches, and tools for the uncertain promise of freedom. In their sacrifice, we glimpse the debt we owe, a debt that can only be repaid by upholding the ideals for which they gave their all.”
Here’s Tyler Granger’s Amazon Author Page.
Congratulations, Joy. You deserve the recognition!!
Thank you, GP. It was a nice surprise!
Wonderful, wonderful and so very well deserved. Cheers to you, Joy! xo! 🥰
Thank you, Vicki. It was a delightful surprise. I’m thankful that someone includes indie authors!
🥰❤️🥰
Congratulations!
Thank you. It was a fun surprise!
Congratulations, Joy! What an honor!! These lines from Tyler’s review are so important:
“This is a tale not just of one family, but of countless farm boys, truck drivers, and factory workers who traded their furrows, wrenches, and tools for the uncertain promise of freedom. In their sacrifice, we glimpse the debt we owe, a debt that can only be repaid by upholding the ideals for which they gave their all.”
We–all of us Americans– should see to it that those sacrifices will not have been made in vain.
Thank you, Liz! You summed up their sacrifices so well.
You’re welcome, Joy!
Congratulations, Joy. A well-deserved accolade!
Outstanding!
Thank you, Judy. It was a lovely surprise!
Congratulations, Joy, on this review! ❤ Your work certainly earned the compliments.
Thank you for your encouraging note, Tim!
Congratulations, Joy! What a great honor.
Thank you, Linda!
Congrats, Joy. A body of work that belongs in every Library in America and taught in schools.
Thank you for that comment! I wish I’d found similar books when I was a student. Because of what I’d encountered in high school, I avoided history classes through college. “Leora’s Dexter Stories” sure would have encouraged me to learn more about the Great Depression.
Lucky number 7! Congratulations, Joy! That’s quite an achievement. It sounds like Granger liked your book so much that he ate it–in only one afternoon! 🙂
Several people have read it in one day, all of them men! hmmm