What happens to the landscape is disturbing, and Meadows creates a haunting portrait of the unimaginable ... I Will Send Rain is both historical and cautionary, a reminder that our failures of imagination undermine our best intentions, while that same human capacity for invention and possibility help us weather the unthinkable.
...a grim portrait of a family weathering the Dust Bowl as naggingly evocative as grit in your mouth ... Meadows works in a biblical or mythic mode, presenting timeless tableaus. If the book’s meticulously researched, precisely evoked setting can sometimes feel more alive than the Bells, I Will Send Rain still eyes them with compassion. These characters learn to practice kindness, even without knowing one another fully. We may not suppose we know them fully either, but Meadows nevertheless makes them deserving of our empathy.
...impressively depict[s] the parched, unforgiving landscape where dust storms destroy their animals and crops ... If you are looking for an uplifting, cheery read, this is not your book. I Will Send Rain, however, is a powerful rendering of human resilience.
