Overview

Based on one of the most infamous feuds in Texas history-and incorporating family archives, newspaper accounts and trial transcripts-Before We Turn to Dust is an honest, shocking and masterfully written glimpse into sex, society and justice in early 20th century Texas. It's 1912 in the Texas Panhandle, and Lena Snyder Sneed is madly in love. The only problem is, it's not with her wealthy husband, Beal, who for months at a time leaves Lena alone to care for the children and homestead. And to her own devices. With Beal gone, Lena falls into a relationship with Al Boyce, a wealthy cattleman in town more often than her husband. And in small-town Texas, gossip spreads like wildfire - especially among the wealthy. When Beal gets wind of Lena's liaisons with Al, jealousy, revenge, and pride brew into a Biblical storm that consumes the two families and leaves tragedy in its wake.

Full Product Details

9781955058209

Table of Contents

Reviews

""A fresh new voice in literary fiction steps onto the stage"" -JODI THOMAS, New York Times bestselling author of Ransom Canyon (now a NETFLIX series) ""Shakespearean in scope...will seduce and shock readers with its vivid portrait of passion and vengeance."" -RICK TREON, international bestselling author

Author Information

Clara Sneed was born in Texas and never got over it, despite a peripatetic childhood that landed her in California.She earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in English literature at UC Berkeley, raised a son, managed IT systems for a San Francisco law firm, and had a successful second career as a tutor for writing and Spanish-all the while working on her own writing.Though she began as a poet, she loves complex historical stories that require a lot of research. The events depicted in her debut novel Before We Turn to Dust (Blue Handle Publishing, December 2024) more than qualify. Her nonfiction account Because This is Texas, was first published in the 1999 Panhandle-Plains Historical Review and was republished by Blue Handle Publishing in June 2025.Sneed and her husband split their time between Berkeley and Milam County, Texas.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available