Overview

A family you won't forget ... Infused with warmth, heart and hope ... Glazed with the sorrow of a devastating truth. It's December 1960, and a cold wind is blowing a rare white Christmas toward the Baker farm in South Georgia. Joe Baker, an intense young man hell-bent on achievement and responsibility, finds himself torn between his own desire and ambition and loyalty and responsibility to his family. The oldest of six children, Joe can be counted on to make all the right moves, but what happens when his instincts fail him? Plowed Fields is a family saga, played out between the turbulent years of 1960 and 1970. Besides Joe, the story features a cast of characters searching for a place to belong as they confront the hardships of their time. The Baker family is anchored by patriarch Sam, whose pirate's appearance disguises a gentle giant of goodness, and his son, Matt, who is capable of strength and force when necessary but unafraid of tenderness when the moment requires a softer touch. Matt's wife is Caroline, a practical woman whose pride occasionally gets the best of her Christian values. Plowed Fields also features Lucas and Beauty Bartholomew, a black man and woman struggling to build a better life for their family; Bobby Taylor, the epitome of a racist Southerner and then some; and Paul Berrien, a banker turned sheriff who has a shadow hanging over his aristocratic birthright. Framed within that white Christmas, the Baker family seems poised on the brink of a grand experience. As the decade unfolds, they move from the tobacco field to the battlefield, from Main Street to city lights, from the church doors to the gates of Hell. They battle drought, fire and other hardships, until long-simmering animosity unleashes the unthinkable and leaves them aching to understand its shattering consequences. Beautifully written, slow-burning and haunting, Plowed Fields is a mesmerizing saga of people coming together and falling apart, relying on God and losing faith, and pushing forward and fighting back in times of crisis.

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9781732784505

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Reviews

Praise for Plowed Fields If Pat Conroy had been raised on a tobacco farm in South Georgia, this is the novel he would have written. Plowed Fields is a powerful story about a time in history that left more scars than we care to remember. With his rich detail of farm life, complex characters and sure sense of storytelling, Jim Barber has captured a time and place in Americana with lyrical precision and stunning beauty. Amid the darkness and evil, he has infused this story with warmth, heart and hope as promising as a newly plowed field. Becky Blalock, author of Dare Not since Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove have I read such a solid, unembellished, detail-rich portrayal of rural life lived out in fiction. In fact, while reading Plowed Fields, it seemed I was watching an intriguing TV Mini-series. Plowed Fields is all that a family saga should be--natural, endearing, superbly written and enchanting. Add to that fresh and exact! The characters come alive under Jim Barber's control. Jim Barber is a master story-teller; so by definition, that makes Plowed Fields a masterpiece. Readers are in for a glad experience. Janice Daugharty, author of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated Earl in the Yellow Shirt and The Paw-Paw Patch Plowed Fields explores the hard choices we make, the love we give and the joy, sorrow and hope that shape our lives. It is a deeply moving story of ordinary people navigating through extraordinary times. Ultimately, Plowed Fields paints a portrait of faith lost and found. Joe Baker and his family will resonate with you long after the last page is read. I hope there's a sequel. - Sam Heys, author of The Winecoff Fire and Big Bets Set in the recent past, this is the perfect novel for our time of national uncertainty, cynicism, and corruption of values emanating from the very top. In nine episodes, Plowed Fields gives us the turbulent 1960s as lived in Georgia by the Baker family. Their haunting saga of desire and responsibility--of revolution and resolution--has a great deal to say to us today. In the words of the aphorism often attributed to Mark Twain, History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes. Alan Axelrod, author of The Gilded Age, 1876-1912: Overture to the American Century and How America Won World War I Imagine a family like TV's The Waltons living and loving on a farm in South Georgia during the 1960s, and you will have a strong sense of Plowed Fields. The story certainly has a wholesome quality--some might even say sentimental--but it's also glazed with the sorrow of a devastating truth. Jim Barber has captured a time and place with exquisite detail and superb storytelling. Plowed Fields will break your heart, but it's the warmth and tenderness of the people and their stories that will stay with you. Emelyne Williams, editor of Atlanta Women Speak Barber is an exciting new voice who defines family and coming of age with an engaging style. Joey Ledford, author of Speed Trap and Elkmont: The Smoky Mountain Massacre

Author Information

Jim Barber grew up working on his uncles' farms in South Georgia while pursuing his dream to become a newspaper reporter. His first job came at age sixteen, covering sports for his county newspaper. Jim spent the bulk of his news career with United Press International before a short stint with the New York Daily News led him to transfer to the world of corporate journalism and a twenty-five-year career with one of the nation's largest utilities. A state and national award-winning writer, he previously co-edited three books. Jim and his wife, Becky, live in Atlanta near Stone Mountain, which he climbs faithfully almost every day. They have three grown daughters, one son-in-law (soon to be two) and three grand dogs. Visit the author's website at www.jimbarber.me

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