Description

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A page-turning debut novel set in Scranton, Pennsylvania, during the height of coal mining, vaudeville, and evangelism.

—Nominated for a 2014 Lime Award for Excellence in Fiction

“An earnest, well-done historical novel that skillfully blends fact and fiction.” —Publishers Weekly



“Solomon enticingly described the novel Sing in the Morning, Cry at Night by Barbara J. Taylor (Akashic), set in a coal-mining town in 1913, as ‘one of those sit on the couch and don’t bother me’ reads.” —Shelf Awareness, NCIBA Spring Rep Picks

Almost everyone in town blames eight-year-old Violet Morgan for the death of her nine-year-old sister, Daisy. Sing in the Morning, Cry at Night opens on September 4, 1913, two months after the Fourth of July tragedy. Owen, the girls’ father, “turns to drink” and abandons his family. Their mother Grace falls victim to the seductive powers of Grief, an imagined figure who has seduced her off-and-on since childhood. Violet forms an unlikely friendship with Stanley Adamski, a motherless outcast who works in the mines as a breaker boy. During an unexpected blizzard, Grace goes into premature labor at home and is forced to rely on Violet, while Owen is “off being saved” at a Billy Sunday Revival. Inspired by a haunting family story, Sing in the Morning, Cry at Night blends real life incidents with fiction to show how grace can be found in the midst of tragedy.

About the Author

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BARBARA J. TAYLOR was born and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania. She sets her novels in the hometown she loves and fills them with miners, evangelists, vaudevillians, nuns, gangsters, prostitutes, widows, musicians, dreamers, and a seer or two. She is the author of Sing in the Morning, Cry at Night and All Waiting Is Long. Rain Breaks No Bones is the final installment in her Scranton Trilogy.

Praise For…

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An absolute gem of a book filled with beautiful characters and classical writing techniques rarely seen in modern literature.
— The Christian Manifesto, Top Fiction Pick of 2014

This story is at once poignant and hopeful, spiced up by such characters as Billy Sunday, the revivalist, and Grief, the specter who haunts Grace to the very edge of sanity. A rich debut.
— Historical Novel Society

A fantastic novel worthy of the greatest accolades. Writing a book about a historical event can be difficult, as is crafting a bestseller, but Barbara J. Taylor is successful at both.
— Downtown Magazine

Taylor’s careful attention to detail and her deep knowledge of the community and its people give the novel a welcome gravity.
— The Columbus Dispatch

One of the most compelling books I’ve ever read . . . a haunting story that will stay with the reader long after reading this novel.




— Story Circle Book Reviews