Teddy Jones’s earlier novel, Jackson’s Pond, Texas, began the saga of the Jackson family. Now, Slanted Light continues their tale.
Claire Havlicek’s late night call brings her brother Chris Banks from his home in New Mexico back to the town that bears their family name, Jackson’s Pond. She’s collapsed under the weight of threats to her thirteen-year marriage that have undermined her confidence and her will. Her husband, J. D., responds to seduction by a woman in need; theft and the threat of a forced buyout jeopardize Claire’s two medical clinics; drought imperils their ranch and cattle business; a teenage daughter turns to bulimia.
When Claire admits her limits, her grandmother, Willa Jackson, and the other members of her family help her learn that being human, weaknesses and all, can be a source of strength and joy.
The first book in the Jackson’s Pond series, Jackson’s Pond, Texas, introduced readers to not only the members of the complicated family of which Willa Jackson is the matriarch, but also to the land they farm and ranch, the town that bears the name of a pond on the ranch, and the culture of the area. Now, in Slanted Light, the second in the series, the same wide-lens view returns, and as in Jackson’s Pond, Texas, important elements of the story come to light through news articles and other ephemera that precede each chapter. Here’s one from Slanted Light that suggests there might be hope for the drought-troubled town.
Teddy Jones is the author of three other published novels, Halfwide, Jackson’s Pond, Texas, and Well Tended, as well as a collection of short stories, Nowhere Near. Her short fiction received the Gold Medal First Prize in the Faulkner-Wisdom competition in 2015. Jackson’s Pond, Texas was a finalist for the 2014 Willa Award in contemporary fiction from Women Writing the West. Her as-yet-unpublished novel, Making It Home, was a finalist in the Faulkner-Wisdom competition in 2017 and “A Good Family” was named a finalist in that contest in 2018.
Jones grew up in Iowas Park, a small Texas town. She has worked as a nurse, a nurse educator, a nursing-college administrator, and as a nurse practitioner in Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico. For the past twenty years, she and her husband have lived in the rural West Texas Panhandle, where he farms and she writes.
THREE WINNERS! First Winner Signed copies of both Jackson’s Pond, Texas Series books + $25 Amazon gift card Second and Third Winners Signed copy of Slanted Light
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Thanks for kicking off the tour of Slanted Light. Can’t wait to dive into Jackson’s Pond, Texas!
Thanks, Kristine!