Missing Isaac

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Isaac believed in luck. But from Pete's point of view, Isaac's luck had all run out.

When Pete McLean loses his father in the summer of 1962, his friend Isaac is one of the few people he can lean on. Though their worlds are as different as black and white, friendship knows no color. So when Isaac suddenly goes missing, Pete is determined to find out what happened--no matter what it costs him. His quest will lead him into parts of town that he knows only through rumors and introduce him to a girl who will change his life. What they discover together will change the small Southern town of Glory, Alabama--forever.

With vivid descriptions, palpable atmosphere, and unforgettable characters, debut novelist Valerie Fraser Luesse breathes life into the rural South of the 1960s--a place where ordinary people struggle to find their footing in a social landscape that is shifting beneath their feet.


"Valerie Fraser Luesse's beautiful story reveals the human heart that always beats beneath the headlines. In the process, she movingly illuminates not only the spirit of a special region but the soul of every human being who ever dared to care. Missing Isaac will break--and then heal--your heart."--J. I. Baker, journalist and author of The Empty Glass 

"Welcome debut novelist Valerie Fraser Luesse to the legions of gifted Southern writers before her. Missing Isaac is the first of what we hope will be many more tales from this talented writer."--Nancy Dorman-Hickson, coauthor of Diplomacy and Diamonds and a former editor for Progressive Farmer and Southern Living magazines

"Valerie Luesse has an ear for dialogue, an eye for detail, and a profound gift for storytelling. She breathes life into these colorful Southern characters and this quirky Alabama town from the first page."--Sid Evans, editor-in-chief of Southern Living magazine


Valerie Fraser Luesse is an award-winning writer and a senior travel editor for Southern Living. Specializing in stories about unique pockets of Southern culture, Luesse has published major pieces on the Gulf Coast, the Mississippi Delta, Louisiana's Acadian Prairie, and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. She lives in Alabama.


Endorsements

"Valerie Luesse has an ear for dialogue, an eye for detail, and most of all, a profound gift for storytelling. She breathes life into these colorful Southern characters and this quirky Alabama town from the first page, and then she has you. As the senior travel editor at Southern Living, Valerie knows how to take readers on a journey, and with Missing Isaac she has taken that skill to a whole new level."

Sid Evans, editor in chief of Southern Living

"Welcome debut novelist Valerie Fraser Luesse to the legions of gifted Southern writers before her. Missing Isaac is the first of what we hope will be many more tales from this talented writer."

Nancy Dorman-Hickson, co-author of Diplomacy and Diamonds and a former editor for Progressive Farmer and Southern Living magazines

"Looking both acutely and compassionately past the upheavals that defined the South in the troubled 1960s, Valerie Fraser Luesse's beautiful story of a white boy's quest for a missing black field hand reveals the human heart that always beats beneath the headlines. In the process, she movingly illuminates not only the spirit of a special region but the soul of every human being who ever dared to care. Missing Isaac will break--and then heal--your heart."

J. I. Baker, journalist and author of The Empty Glass 


The Author

  1. Valerie Fraser Luesse
    Mark Sandlin

    Valerie Fraser Luesse

    Valerie Fraser Luesse is the bestselling author of Missing Isaac, Almost Home, The Key to Everything, and Under the Bayou Moon. She is an award-winning magazine writer best known for her feature stories and essays in Southern...

    Continue reading about Valerie Fraser Luesse


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