Sugar Land

Starred review from August 15, 2018
The long, wondrous life of a mostly closeted Texas lesbian, from teenage years in the kitchen at the men's prison to old age in a trailer off RR 23, with the 20th century rolling by in the background."My first workday at the Imperial State Prison Farm for men was February 8, 1923." When we meet Miss Dara, she has traveled from her home in West Texas all the way to a prison on the outskirts of a steamy, smelly little town called Sugar Land, near Houston. She is hoping to escape the fallout of her passionate love affair with a girl named Rhodie who comes in to buy eggs at the egg store where Dara works--"how could I not love a girl with a butterfly scarf and a bow with no arrows?" At the prison, Dara meets several characters who will greatly influence her life: the horrible and predatory head cook; a mustachioed co-worker named Beauregard; the Warden, a decent man who will play an unexpectedly large role in Dara's future; and a talented if violent prisoner named Huddie. Huddie Ledbetter turns out to be the real-life musician Lead Belly, who actually was pardoned by the governor for his singing. From these beginnings, the story takes many delightful twists and turns, always described succinctly and colorfully by this narrator, who is irresistible even on days when she's "retaining enough water to grow rice in Arizona." By the end of it, she comes to believe "that each and every life has the number of trials it is destined to have, and if you take one away, another one fills its place....No life is easy and no life is hard; it's just what adjectives you choose to use to describe it." Dara's story is a postcard of small-town Texas life from Prohibition through civil rights, tracing the treatment and awareness of gay people through these decades.The love child of Fannie Flagg and Rita Mae Brown, Stoner is sure to win her own devoted following with this ravishing debut.

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 15, 2018

DEBUT In 1923 Texas, 19-year-old Dana and Rhodie's burgeoning romance doesn't stand a chance. After Dana overhears her cousin, Sheriff Earl, boasting about beating lesbians and running them out of his jurisdiction, she leaves Rhodie and takes a job as a cook at the state prison in Sugar Land, TX. There, she ignores Rhodie's letters from college, befriends inmate blues musician Leadbelly, endures sexual harassment from the sadistic head chef, and eventually marries the widowed prison warden. After he passes away, "Nana Dana" remains close to her two stepdaughters, moves into a cat-filled trailer home, and enters the 1950s assuming that she will be lonely for the rest of her life. Tanya May Rogerton, a local dressmaker (and widow) may be able to change Dana's solo destiny if Dana can just let it happen and enjoy herself. Racism, sexism, and homophobia have an impact on all of the characters, and Nana Dana is resilient and relatable and doesn't always follow the path readers might want. VERDICT In this engaging and authentic tale of one woman's life and loves, debut novelist Stoner follows in the bright legacy of Southern humorists such as Fannie Flagg, Rita Mae Brown, Bailey White, and Rebecca Wells.--Jennifer B. Stidham, Houston Community Coll. Northeast

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2018
In this always surprising and exhilarating first novel, Stoner presents a memorable character. When we first meet Dara, she is a 19-year-old Texan who has fallen in love with her best female friend, Rhodie. Given that this takes place in 1923, decades before the gay-liberation movement, to say that this presents a problem is an understatement. In order to mend her aching heart and keep her secret intact, Dara finds work as a cook at the Sugar Land Prison, where she meets an inmate by the name of Huddie, as in Huddie William Ledbetter. Better known as Lead Belly, he was the blues singer who was pardoned by the governor and became one of the biggest names of the folk revival. Meanwhile, despite being a lesbian, Dara agrees to marry the kindly prison warden. Dara is both practical and passionate, and likable to boot, as she makes her way in the world, sometimes clumsily, other times with determination, and always trying to remain true to herself. A lovely debut that addresses race and class, sexuality and identity.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)