{"title":"Susan Gregg Gilmore","description":"Susan Gregg Gilmore is the author of the novels The Curious Calling of Leonard Bush,  Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen, The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove, and The Funeral Dress. She has written for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, the Los Angeles Times,  and the Christian Science Monitor. Born in Nashville, she lives in Tennessee with her husband.","products":[{"product_id":"the-curious-calling-of-leonard-bush-hardcover","title":"The Curious Calling of Leonard Bush - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eYoung Leonard Bush buries his lost leg and saves his whole East Tennessee town in this winsome and miracle-making novel.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen twelve-year-old Leonard Bush loses his leg in a freak accident, he decides to give his leg a proper burial in the hilltop cemetery of his East Tennessee town. This event somehow sets off a chain of miraculous and catastrophic events--upending the lives of Leonard's rigidly God-fearing mother, June; his deeply conflicted father, Emmett; and his best friend, Azalea, and her mother, Rose, who is also the town prostitute. While the local Baptist minister passes judgment on events and promises dire consequences, the people of this small community on the banks of Big Sugar move together toward awakening.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSusan Gilmore's love of storytelling flows naturally from her Tennessee roots. She's the daughter of a revival preacher's son, brought up on the land and streams that populate this novel that is, as Appalachian novelist Lee Smith says, a \"homespun \u003ci\u003ePilgrim's Progress\u003c\/i\u003e.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50102882959583,"sku":"9781958888551","price":27.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/4iZLOCAd019781958888551.webp?v=1781087532"},{"product_id":"the-funeral-dress-paperback","title":"The Funeral Dress - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A rare and wonderful glimpse into lives and friendships among blue-collar working women in America.\"--Fannie Flagg, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author of \u003ci\u003eFried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Improper Life of Bezellia Grove, \u003c\/i\u003ea deeply touching Southern novel filled with struggle and hope\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEmmalee Bullard is on her own with a new baby. She has no husband, no running water in her house, no know-how about caring for an infant, and no help from her cruel father, who's furious she got herself into this situation. Only Leona Lane, the older seamstress who sat beside her sewing collars on the neighboring machine at the local shirt factory, has befriended her. Much to Emmalee's wonder, Leona even offers her a place to live. But before Emmalee can jump at the chance for a better life, Leona is in a terrible accident, and her life is lost, along with Emmalee's chance for escape. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEmmalee decides that since nothing in Leona's closet is nice enough to wear for eternity, she'll make Leona's burying dress herself, though there are plenty of people who don't think someone who has so obviously sinned should design a dress for an upstanding woman--or care for a child on her own. While relatives scheme to get custody of her baby and the local church tries to keep her away from Leona's funeral, Emmalee struggles to do what is right for her daughter and to honor Leona the best way she can, finding unlikely support among an indomitable group of seamstresses and the town's funeral director. In this moving tale exploring Southern spirit, camaraderie among working women, and the power of compassion, a young mother compels a town to become a community with every stitch.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50104883282143,"sku":"9780307886217","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/aBMICIR0qa9780307886217.webp?v=1781111520"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/susan-gregg-gilmore.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}