Sandra Dallas Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Dubbed as a quintessential American voice by Vogue Magazine’s Jane Smiley, Sandra Dallas is an award-winning author best known for her adult fiction and children fiction books. As an accomplished author, Dallas loves to center her books on various themes such as friendship, loyalty, human dignity. After graduating from Denver University with a degree in journalism, Sandra Dallas began her writing career by working for Business Week as a reporter. For more than twenty years, Sandra Dallas served as a news reporter, before eventually becoming the first female bureau chief. By incorporating many of her experience as a reporter, Sandra Dallas delivers highly intriguing narratives, which are realistic in every sense.

While serving as a reporter, Sandra Dallas began working on her first draft, which would, later on, become the first of ten non-fiction books. Some of these non-fiction books include, The Quilt-That Walked to Golden and Sacred Paint. In the year 1990, author Sandra Dallas turned to fiction and managed to publish 10 novels including the best-selling novel, Praying for Sandra. As an accomplished author, Sandra Dallas is the recipient of numerous awards including the American Spur Award, Western Heritage-Wrangler Award, and many others. Sandra Dallas has two daughters; Dana an attorney based in New Orleans and Povy, a professional photographer.

Prayers for Sale
In Prayers for Sale author, Sandra Dallas captures the reader’s attention using a series of narratives. Dallas draws these stories from the past and then links them to the present. In Prayers for Sale, the readers meet with 87 years old, Hennie. Due to her old age and a series of unfortunate events, Hennie has the experience to deal with anything that life may decide to throw at her. Apart from her husband dying during the civil war, Hennie lost her only child. Moreover, she suffered at the hands of a brutal man, her second husband and eventually became a widow for the second time in her life. One fine morning, as she was going on with her daily activities, Hennie decides to post a sign on her front porch. The sign read “Prayers for Sale”. A few days later as a newlywed girl, Nit was walking past Hennie’s house she spots the sign and immediately stops. Eager to find out why the owner of the house erected the sign, Nit knocks on Hennie’s front door. Despite being newlywed and having her dream wedding, Nit had just given birth to a stillborn baby.

The readers get to watch as these two characters get to know each other and eventually end up becoming the best of friends. Moreover, readers also get to see how the life of Rocky Mountain can forge new friendship and alliances. Prayers for Sale is undeniably a character-driven novel filled with lots of sad and happy moments. Readers will get to fall in love with Hennie as the story progresses. Apart from being a loveable character, Hennie is one tough cookie. With that said, Prayers for Sale is full of tear and laughter-inducing moments narrated from Hennie’s point of view. Author Sandra Dallas writing style is quite engaging while her characters are well drawn.

Persian Pickle Club
Set in the 1930’s, Persian Pickle Club is a book set in Kansas and revolves around a group of women who get together for a literature and quilting club each week. The group of women refers to themselves as the Persian Pickle Club and getting together every week to share stories and quilt was an excellent way of adding some fun into their lives during the Great Depression. However, when the body belonging to one of the group member’s husband is found, things began to take a turn for the worse. Rita, one of the new members of Persian Pickle Club wants to become a news reporter and thus, uses this opportunity to find out if she has what it takes to be an investigative journalist. Thus, the hunt for the killer begins. With the assistance of Queenie who happens to be the narrator, these two women embark on a journey, which not only threatens their well-being but also that of their family members as well.

While this book, Persian Pickle Club was to revolve around the element of friendship, author Sandra Dallas goes an extra mile to introduce a mystery element. The readers will definitely want to find out who the killer was, while at the same time waiting for Rita to find out. While author Sandra Dallas creates an environment of deprivation and need, she still does an excellent job of presenting characters who did not act in any way deprived. Moreover, author Sandra Dallas does something unexpected by presenting a group of ordinary women. Many at times, with such novels, the author will present a group of eccentric or bright women. However, the characters in Persian Pickle Club are not only ordinary but are characters that you can easily forget. This is definitely something that the readers will find quite intriguing.

Tall Grass
Tall Grass is another highly entertaining book by author Sandra Dallas. Set on the onset of World War II, Tall Grass highlights the plight of American Japanese, forced by the American government to relocate to intermittent camps, west of the US. Author Sandra Dallas recounts the tale through the eyes of a 13-year-old girl, Rennie Stroud. Rennie resides in one of the intermittent camps located in Ellis, Colorado. The intermittent camp is known as Tall Grass, mainly because of the patch of land that the camp was built on. Many of the locals are suspicious of the new visitors, and thus, end up treating them with hate and hatred. However, the Strouds happen to be an open-minded people, believing that the newcomers are a group of American citizens suffering at the hands of their government. This, in turn, does not make the Strouds a popular family among the locals.

When one of Rennie’s friends a young girl is found assaulted and murdered, everyone in the small town of Ellis begins to accuse the newcomers. Overall, Tall Grass is a highly satisfying read mainly because the characters are well drawn and all rounded. It is a heartwarming, coming of age narrative, which has several elements brought together into a delightful story such as history, human decency, prejudice, unique characters, and mystery. The characters in Tall Grass both major and minor are people you will want to know more about, read about and at times cheer for. The Stroud family consists of extraordinary individuals especially Lowell and Mary; apart from being honest, they are also humble and good-natured.