1949 Saint Paul/Minneapolis - those memorable days of push lawn mowers, corner grocery stores, big-band music, burning leaves and filling stations that check the oil and wash the windshield. On this nostalgic canvas, Stanley West has set his riveting and heartwarming novel, the devastating story of young Sandy Meyer.
Bright and outgoing, having grown up through the Great Depression and the World War II year, she is suddenly give one perplexing clue to her past that sets her on an incredible and harrowing journey in search of her lost family. A pilgrimage that brings her face to face with nerve-shattering suspense, unbearable terror and the magnificent capacity of the human heart.
Surrounded by juicy and wacky characters, and without the knowledge of her adoptive parents, her devil-may-care friends or the boy she desperately loves, she summons the courage to doggedly follow where the faint trail leads.
When she stumbles upon the buried past and long-hidden treachery, she is confronted by and evil that knows her by name and drawn into a darkness she never knew existed. Tenaciously refusing to quit, she discovers a heart-breaking heroism and an extraordinary triumph that changes her life forever.
Stanley Gordon West was born in St. Paul, MN and grew up during the Great Depression and the World War II years. He graduated from Central High School in 1950 and attended Macalester College and the University of Minnesota, earning a degree in history and geology in 1955. He moved from the midwest to Montana in 1964 where he raised a large family. Stanley wrote several novels, including AMOS: To Ride a Dead Horse, which was produced as a CBS Movie of the Week starring Kirk Douglas, Elizabeth Montgomery and Dorothy McGuire and was nominated for four Emmys. You Are My Sunshine was his last work before his passing in 2015.
"A story that reaffirms the miracle and wonder of life, and ultimately its preciouseness... a terrific, uplifting read, written with great insight and compassion" — Harvey Mackay
"I liked the book for the nostalgic content; unbelievably correct in detail that was so rewarding to relax into. No worries about some abrupt error of time and places; they were all there and what great fun because I grew up in St. Paul, MN and close to and in and out of that neighborhood and time. I could feel the cast shadows of the summertime leaves from the beautiful tree-lined streets as we rode our bikes and walked up and down between the House of Hope Presbyterian Church on Summit at Avon Street and all those wonderful destinations. Of course, the story line was perfectly strung through those old and dear streets, some of which were still brick in those days. We kids did get into some very interesting situations with the older folks who lived in those huge old homes; rocking horse on the porch, and the trees, the wonderful trees. I will read Stanley West's other novels; I sent this one to two old friends and cohorts, snooping and visiting as did our heroine in this novel!" — Sara Smith, Saddlebreds
"Powerful storytelling... with a twist that Edgar Allan Poe would have enjoyed... one of those rare, haunting scenes that will stick in my mind for years. Stanley West is becoming one of my favorite writers... a man who looks back on his years in St. Paul with a lifetime of experience. I recommend him to everybody." — Steve Thayer
