Book Jacket

 

rank 5341 (-132)
word count 41125
date submitted 01.06.2009
date updated 13.06.2009
genres: Fiction
classification: adult
incomplete

Shepherd Moon

Carole Bellacera

 

A Kentucky woman fights for independence and identity in an “Ozzie & Harriet” society during the 50's & turbulent 60's.

 

Rural Kentucky, 1952 -- 18-year-old Lily Foster, the daughter of strict Southern Baptist parents, gets pregnant by town “bad boy” Jake Tatlow. For Lily, life isn’t the “happy days” of The Fonz and Richie Cunningham. She finds herself married at 19 to a man who doesn’t want to be a husband, who feels he was trapped into marriage when he should be out drinking and carousing with women. But Lily is the one who is really trapped. Conventions of the day—and the rigid society of ultra-religious rural Kentucky--forbid divorce, and even if it were possible, one major obstacle would stand in her way. Lily loves Jake—always has, since they were children playing in the woods on adjoining properties--and she’s convinced she can eventually make him love her. All it will take is desire and patience. Once the baby arrives, they will be the perfect little family. From Lily’s home on Opal Springs Ridge to a four-year stint at an army base in New Boston, Texas, and finally, to life on their own in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Lily struggles to maintain a rocky marriage with a moody alcoholic husband while raising two daughters.

 
 

tags

60's, elvis, fifties, jackie kennedy, jfk, kentucky, rock & roll, romance, vietnam

on 4 bookshelves

on 1 watchlists

18 comments

 

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Cato Sulla wrote 315 days ago

Well the 'bride didn't climax on her wedding night' but I thought your writing did around chapter fifteen!

What a cracker of a read Carole, fast flowing and a page turner.

Backed with pleasure (With a capitol 'P')

Bob x

monodreme wrote 386 days ago

Whoa! That's quite a beginning.

Gonna hafta sit a spell while my blood stops boiling.

:)

Nice work, Carole

Carole Bellacera wrote 386 days ago

Carole: Here's the sad thing, Jeanne. This scene actually happened with my mother and father. (Not the butcher knife, but the bringing home of the harlot.) I remember hearing about it.

The sheer shock and insult of the scene at the beginning left me reeling for a while as I went on to read about Lily's life earlier. There's excellent tension and palpable heartache in Lily's dilemma over meeting a bad boy (Jake) and then being pressured for sex by her regular boyfriend Chad. I love the detail of the recipes preceding the odd chapters, it's a delicate, homey touch that contrasts well with the writing. I'm very happy I shelved this, and look forward to reading on.

Jeanne

pialia wrote 387 days ago

Carole:

The sheer shock and insult of the scene at the beginning left me reeling for a while as I went on to read about Lily's life earlier. There's excellent tension and palpable heartache in Lily's dilemma over meeting a bad boy (Jake) and then being pressured for sex by her regular boyfriend Chad. I love the detail of the recipes preceding the odd chapters, it's a delicate, homey touch that contrasts well with the writing. I'm very happy I shelved this, and look forward to reading on.

Jeanne

Evan Palmer wrote 388 days ago

SHEPHERD MOON - Carole, this is a lovely story told in a captivating manner. It is sometimes depressing like life and sometimes it's very touching. Lily seems too naive at points but she's so sweet we really care about her.. I wish there weren't so many negative men in these stories but "it is what it is".. good luck in getting published.. evan (oaklane woods)

Carole Bellacera wrote 413 days ago

This feels real, but I'm hoping that it's not your reality at the same time. There's beauty in amongst the tragedy and poignancy and a deft evocation of time and place which makes this haunting and memorable. You write emotion and description with great skill, and I was moved by the pain in here. Shelved.

Drew X
BiteMARKS



Not MY reality, thank God. But pretty much my mother's. Let's just say my dad wouldn't like the book.
Carole

GMiki wrote 423 days ago

Carole,

The story is off to a great start. Good writing--as usual. It's very filmic, too. Best of luck with it.

Gail

Carole Bellacera wrote 427 days ago

Carole,

This is very good on the whole. The plot is a natural and sad story involving an unfortunate girl and her horrible husband. Good description of Jake and how she feels drawn to him despite her misgivings. And he is very persuasive. The reader can understand her feelings.

I've got a few crits. (1) Cliche - knee high to a grass hopper. (2) Not sure about starting the book with the recipe.

Other than that it's good. It's on my watch list and will go on my shelf as soon as I make room.

Peter.



Thanks for the comment, Peter. In defense of the cliche, that's how the people talk down there, and we're in Lily's head, so...but I appreciate you pointing it out.

Carole

Carole Bellacera wrote 427 days ago

Hello Carole
Thank you for offering to read Appetites and/or Miranda (I've forgotten which?!) and can I say it has been a pleasure to read this in return.
The opener got my attention immediately. I often get frustrated when reading a humdinger of an opening to find the next chapter takes us back in time and that we are obviously going to have to wait some time to catch up (guilty myself of that!), however your writing draws me in and I am happy to follow Lily's progress from schoolgirl to sexual teenager.
You paint the characters of Jake, Chad and Lily very well and my heart goes out to the innocent girl as the mercy of her hormones and those of the men!
In the three chapters I read the whole thing flowed beautifully and I would happily read much further when time allows. There was nothing I could pick up on that jarred for me or that I thought could improve the story and it is pleasure to back it. Very good luck. Shubie



thank you for all the compliments! :)

Carole

Peter Carlyle wrote 428 days ago

Carole,

This is very good on the whole. The plot is a natural and sad story involving an unfortunate girl and her horrible husband. Good description of Jake and how she feels drawn to him despite her misgivings. And he is very persuasive. The reader can understand her feelings.

I've got a few crits. (1) Cliche - knee high to a grass hopper. (2) Not sure about starting the book with the recipe.

Other than that it's good. It's on my watch list and will go on my shelf as soon as I make room.

Peter.

Carole Bellacera wrote 438 days ago

thx 4 the read: u r backed, my friend!



Thanks so much!!!

soutexmex wrote 439 days ago

thx 4 the read: u r backed, my friend!

Carole Bellacera wrote 441 days ago

hello Carole,
Sorry for the short comment, but I have managed to get so many books on my w/l. Um, this is a culture I am totally unfamiliar with, but it sounds real, and sad. Hope that Lily manages to overcome all the obstacles in her way. I cheered for her when she reached for the knife.
Regards and good luck with this.



Thanks, Ariom. :) this is what I like about being a fiction writer. I can change history. (The book was inspired by my mother's life.)

Carole

Ariom Dahl wrote 441 days ago

hello Carole,
Sorry for the short comment, but I have managed to get so many books on my w/l. Um, this is a culture I am totally unfamiliar with, but it sounds real, and sad. Hope that Lily manages to overcome all the obstacles in her way. I cheered for her when she reached for the knife.
Regards and good luck with this.

NoraDonovan wrote 444 days ago

Finally got to make a start on your book!
On the basis of the first few chapters -
Love the voice, which (though I'm no expert on southern speech) seems fully authentic. And I love the way you evoke a certain place and time. The prologue is a great idea, making your readers wonder how your protagonist gets to be married to a piece of shit like Jake!
One quibble: Using the same voice for both prologue and chapters makes it hard follow the jump back in time. How about having your prologue as a third-person narative? It would be an easy change, and set it apart more. Just an idea ...
Meanwhile on my shelf.

Arc wrote 444 days ago

You evoke the period wonderfully. I don't normally read this kind of romance story (and I have no patience for or comprehension of family conflicts involving religion) but you tell everything so clearly and compellingly that it drew me in.

Carole Bellacera wrote 451 days ago

Hallo Carole, love this. A clear voice that conjures a culture (not mine) and an era (yes, mine) so well. You convey so much about the family, the peer group, the social and religious conventions. The dialogue, inner and outer, is utterly credible, from the agony of the monstrous scene in ch 1 to the torture of adolescence in 2 & 3. Not sure why the recipes are there - I rather like them - but it suggests a different kind of book. Maybe it becomes clear later. Meanwhile on my shelf'
Jill
Hiding the Colour



Thanks, Jill. I'm glad you liked what you read. I decided to use the recipes because the book was inspired by my mother, and cooking was an integral part of her life, as well as my grandmother's, so I used recipes from their kitchen that I found after their deaths, along with a few of my own recipes. I think Southern cooking is so engrained in the women down there, especially of that era, and you'll find that when I've posted a recipe in a chapter, there is usually some mention of that particular dish in that chapter. Thanks for giving me the opportuity to explain. :)

Carole

klouholmes wrote 454 days ago

Hi Carole, Already I was appalled in Chapter 1 when the harlot “slid her tongue along her bottom lip.” Going from Jake’s house to innocent teenage years was quite a contrast. There I liked the voice and the many 1950’s details. After the first chapter, the references to religion were notable. I don’t know if the mood of the book would keep a person reading the recipes although I tend to look at them. I did want to read on to see how she became married to a person like Jake. Shelved – Katherine (The Swan Bonnet)

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