Gods of Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson

I picked this book to read because I had read "Between, Georgia" which I thought was an excellent book, and thoroughly loved. "Gods in Alabama" was her first novel and I wanted to read another one of her books to see if it matched the quality of the last one I had read.

I had read the credits on the front cover and one of the reviewers said she was grabbed on page one. It didn't grab me on page one; it was more like page 40, the first page of chapter 3. I read on, working my way through her (Arlene) obsessive thinking, restructuring her promises she had made to herself and God. I waited patiently on the book, not rushing my response to the characters. I did not like Arlene right away. Just like I am with any friends of mine, I had to see where she was leading me.

Arlene was living in Chicago and dating a black man, a lawyer. She was working, her life going pretty well. She did her usual phone calls home to keep Aunt Florence and her family aware that she was still alive.

Somewhere and for a secret to be kept between her and God, she was never going to return to Possett, Alabama, she was never going to lie or fornicate again, if He kept her secret. All things change when a girl from Possett shows up at her door.

Burr her boyfriend and her Aunt Florence pressured her into returning to her home. Meeting her family again and introducing the man she loves to her racist family scares her, but more than that scares her, her secret may be in jeopardy.

She is mortified by this fact, how is going to tell her boyfriend, how will it happen, she keeps rehearsing in her mind what and how she is going to say. It keeps her in knots for 10 years.

Her mother is nonexistent, her Uncle Bruster loveable, her cousin, sister, friend Clarice is true blue, honest and sweet. Her Aunt Florence is hard and protective. Bullying herself into Arlene's life. With the love and devotion of Burr "don't worry you picked a man that can read tax code and live with a celibate for two years" kind of guy and Aunt Florence that she finds her way to home and family.

Dark and subtle, light at the end of the tunnel are words to describe this book. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes romance, thrillers, twists.