Top
IndieReader reviewed Too Many Stones and gave it a 5 star rating which says in part: "Rodney Nelsestuen's TOO MANY STONES is an emotionally powerful novel... ...A luminous pastoral novel about how a young teen's sexual awakening and rape drastically change her life and those of everyone close to her... ...TOO MANY STONES stretches from the Great Depression to the Vietnam War, but the challenges it presents are timeless... …sure to encourage deep conversation… …It deserves to be discovered and discussed on many levels." ~Alicia Rudnicki for IndieReader.
Inspired by actual events, Too Many Stones is the story of Evelyn Toraason. It begins in 1930 when Evelyn is a bright eleven-year-old girl with the potential to go far beyond the poor, rural, and beautiful, almost spiritual Wisconsin coulee farm where she lives. The bond between Evelyn and her father, Olav, cannot quite fill the void created by her failing mother who continues to retreat within herself over the years. Evelyn's teacher and mentor, Miss Johnson, sees her potential as the fulfillment of her own lost dreams.
As Evelyn grows into a young woman, she suffers abuse at the hands of Alfred, a second cousin eight years her elder, that forever changes the course of her life. Evelyn's courage sustains her in the face of multiple setbacks and crushing losses.
But even as she rises to these challenges, her own insecurities plague her as she navigates life. And in the end, Evelyn searches for a path to reconciliation, and the means to embrace both success and failure as a life well lived.
