This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite
In Not in This World by Jane Scott Stuart, with Elaine Flowers, Paul Carew is a Black boy growing up in 1930s Kentucky, where his preacher father punishes him for wearing his mother’s clothes. After Paul begins working for the Jackson family, Emma Gordon entrusts him with her newborn daughter, Jane, a white child who comes to regard Paul as her parent. Their bond carries him from segregated Horse Cave into the Gordon family’s life overseas, where he continues raising Jane as Europe moves toward war. When war reaches England, Paul returns across the Atlantic to serve with Jane’s father in the Royal Air Force. Jane remains in Kentucky, separated from the man she calls Paw, while Paul enters a conflict that could keep him from the child who waits for him.
Not in This World by Jane Scott Stuart, with Elaine Flowers, is excellent historical literary fiction, with the authors giving Paul Carew an individual voice across a changing world. Their use of setting makes racism visible in the places he enters. At the Waldorf Astoria in New York, Paul is redirected to a back elevator despite staying at the hotel, showing how Jim Crow follows him beyond Kentucky. The authors give Jane the same attention as she grows older. At school, her friendship with Luretta, a poor mountain girl, shows how naturally she notices inequality when she quietly brings chicken salad sandwiches for lunch. County Down has its own atmosphere, with village shops and Paul’s growing place among local people broadening the world around him. The narrative handles the passage of years with an easy sense of continuity, keeping Paul’s experiences connected even as his circumstances alter dramatically. The conversational prose supports that movement by keeping the people and places grounded in everyday life. This is excellently done. Very highly recommended.
