Gail Anderson-Dargatz

Books

Gail Anderson-Dargatz

Books

A Rhinestone Button

a rhinestone button 450

National bestseller.

About the book:

Gail Anderson-Dargatz transports us into a world filled with richness and magic, where divine intervention drops from the sky and silos are billboards for God. A Rhinestone Button has all the hallmarks of the author's previous, award-winning fiction, with a cast of unforgettable characters and a landscape drawn with perfect and loving detail.In a world where everything depends on the harvest, Job Sunstrum is a late bloomer.

In the rough-and-tumble farming community of Godsfinger, Alberta, he lives a solitary existence, raising cattle and farming the land, like his father and grandfather before him. Yet the surrounding pasture do not old much attraction for him. Instead he prefers his humble farmhouse kitchen, where cooking and baking, and even washing dishes, give him deep satisfaction.
 
If his delight in making almond squares for the church doesn't brand him as odd, his soft blond curls and cherubic face are unmistakable foils for his beefy local peers. Yet something else sets him apart, a phenomenon called synaesthesia - an extraordinary ability to see and feel sound in dazzling colours or shapes. Nowhere is the effect more spectacular than when the Godsfinger Baptist Choir sings.
 
But Job's religious faith is soon put to a test when his proselytizing brother Jacob, along with his bossy wife and arsonist son, moves back into the family farmhouse. With them they bring the Pentecostal fervor of a visiting evangelist by the name of Jack Divine. At Jacob's urging, the impressionable Job enlists as one of Divine's religious foot soldiers, but his total immersion in Christian life leads him to wonder what his chances are for love of a more earthly nature. But where might he find such a love? At the Ponoka auction? On "Loveline," a call-in radio show? At the Out-to-lunch Café?

To order:

Please support your local independent bookseller, or buy online through Chapters Indigo or Amazon.ca.

For more options, go to the Penguin Random House Canada site.
 

Reviews

The Almost Widow

“With unique characters, shocking twists, and an emotional core, Gail Anderson-Dargatz’s latest is impossible to put down.”

— Robyn Harding, international bestselling author of The Party

 

The Almost Widow

The Almost Wife

"Compulsively readable... an engrossing study of the truth that we can never out-run our childhood."

— Gail Bowen, Author of the Joanne Kilbourn-Shreve mystery novels

The Almost Wife

The Spawning Grounds

"Anderson-Dargatz has set the bar dauntingly high for every new work; it’s a measure that The Spawning Grounds more than meets..."

―The Georgia Straight

The Spawning Grounds

Turtle Valley

“Exquisite. . . . Anderson-Dargatz creates a strong sense of the complexity of ordinary life.”

The Globe and Mail

Turtle Valley

A Rhinestone Button

"Gail Anderson-Dargatz writes lovely novels about unlovely people: unlovely people who grow beautiful under her compassionate, masterful, sly authorial gaze."

Quill and Quire


 

A Rhinestone Button

A Recipe for Bees

"In language remarkable for its suppleness and unforced simplicity, Anderson-Dargatz delivers both a quirky love story and a serene meditation on endurance and its rich rewards." 

 ― The Washington Post

A Recipe for Bees

The Cure for Death by Lightning

"Gail Anderson-Dargatz...makes her debut in full stride, confidently breaking the rules to create a fictional style we might call Pacific Northwest Gothic." 

 ― The Boston Globe

 

The Cure for Death by Lightning

Spotting Dottie

“A fabulous read that will leave its readers wondering: 'What would I do if I was placed in a similar situation?’ Highly Recommended.”

– CM: Canadian Review of Materials

Spotting Dottie

My Life Off-key

“Both a coming-of-age story and a road map for processing difficult emotions.”

– Kirkus Reviews

My Life Off-key

Bigfoot Crossing

“Pulse-pounding…A terrific addition to the high/low canon for readers seeking a thrill.”
– Booklist

Bigfoot Crossing

Iggy's World

“Iggy’s World is about family and also fitting in. It also looks at the meaning of true friendship and what a friend can look like. A good read. Highly Recommended."

– CM: Canadian Review of Materials

Iggy's World

The Ride Home

"Delightfully poignant...Will hook all middle school readers into [the] story with language they will understand and find amusing."

― The Ormsby Review

The Ride Home