Virginia Beach Public Library Recommends
Virginia Beach Public Library Staff Picks
http://vbplrecommends.blogspot.com/2010_12_01_ archive.html
In this stunning novel based on fact, Virginia author Connie Lapallo takes us back to the early 1600s when her English ancestor Joan Pierce made the wrenching decision to sign on with the Virginia Company and relocate to the New World with her husband, Will. For Joan, this meant leaving loved ones, a comfortable cottage, a bountiful herb garden, and even her oldest daughter. But rumor had it that Virginia was the Promised Land, flush with natural resources, teeming with wildlife, and offering an endless supply of land to those willing to claim it…..

History books often overlook the tough, adventurous women who accompanied their husbands on the grueling journey to a new world, how hard they worked to create homes for their families in a beautiful but treacherous setting, and how their faith got them through the heartbreaking tragedies that they endured. Brew a cup of tea, have a hefty food supply on hand, and let Joan Pierce tell you about the Starving Time, and how it was Dark Enough to See the Stars in a Jamestown Sky.

The Virginia Gazette
A tale of tested faith, courage, friendship, and the refusal of some hardy souls ever to capitulate.

Tidewater Review
From the very first page, the reader is aware of Lapallo’s personal investment in making the story both historically accurate and beautiful.

Pleasant Living Magazine
The description of the tempest ‘hurican’ the fleet of ships encounters off Bermuda is itself alone worth the read.

Suffolk News-Herald
The mention of the Jamestown colony brings to mind the work and the history of its men. Yet, Lapallo is helping to change that.

Sharon Baldacci, author of A Sundog Moment
Lapallo has given the women that settled this colony a voice, and it’s a powerful one.

Janice Campbell, Everyday Education
Occasionally, I read a book that makes me want to e-mail all my friends and say, "You've got to read this book!" It's not quite as often that I encounter a book that makes me want to buttonhole complete strangers, saying "You have to read this book!"

Connie Lapallo's debut novel is the second kind of book...

If you plan a trip to Jamestown, I highly recommend that you read the book first. When you arrive at Jamestown, and walk through the palisade, explore the ship, and sit in the little church, you just might feel a sense of deja vu as you look over the land that became Joan's home...
Read this book!

Jerry Brunning, Catholic Homeschool Bookshelf
This book is a labor of love, in honor of the author’s thirteenth and twelfth great grandmothers. As such it adds a granddaughter’s tenderness to the narrative... Original documents are quoted and brief biographies of the historical figures are included.

Dark Enough to See the Stars in a Jamestown Sky... deserves an honored place in Virginia’s grand four hundredth birthday celebration.
-Jerry Brunning, Catholic Homeschool Bookshelf


Bronwyn McIntosh, author of Torn in the New SA
The book makes compelling reading and is very moving. It is morally uplifting too in that it is written about faith, faith in yourself, faith in others, faith in God, faith in life and the strength that is given to you to continue to survive despite the odds.

Northern Neck News
Rich characters appear against the brutal background of the Starving Time.