Full Beaver Moon

Full Beaver Moon

"A richly textured charmer about a Jim Crow–era Virginia brothel and its resourceful owner… readers will quickly become immersed in its subtle magic.” — Kirkus Reviews Searching the deep South for a lost friend, an eighteen-year-old biracial boy comes to terms with life's dark and bitter truths. Bursting with odd-balls, language, and place, FULL BEAVER MOON is a tale of kinship, compassion, and faith set in the 1950s. "A multiracial teen receives an unusual inheritance in Skinner's latest historical novel, the second in a series. Charlottesville, Virginia, 1954. Seventeen-year-old Willie Graves is newly alone in the world. He's inherited his dead mother's bordello, The Bottom, as well as a thick envelope of cash from his recently deceased friend Moses Henry, the former bell ringer at the local university. On top of that, his friend Stick Watson has gone missing. Willie is desperate to locate Stick, to whom he owes his life, but he has no idea where to look, and the sphinxlike instructions from Sister Mo, the local fortuneteller, aren't particularly helpful. Meanwhile, Willie plans to fix up The Bottom, sell it, and then use the money to realize his long-held dream of attending the local university—no easy feat for a multiracial boy like him. In fact, nothing is easy for Willie, who now has to grow up fast in a town that runs on gossip and rumor, much of it involving stories about him and his family. With the help of interior decorator Cary Buck, Willie begins to realize that his best move might be to keep the brothel, run it right, make some real money, and take control of his own narrative. Skinner's prose is an unmistakably Southern blend of descriptive lyricism and plainspoken humor, perfectly capturing both the setting and the honest naïveté of his protagonist: "The coffee was strong. He tried some sugar. After the third sip he added cream, then sugar again. He liked the way it smelled, how it swirled around when he stirred it. He figured it was an acquired taste, something you drank from habit, or from watching others do it—like Dr Pepper, or vodka on the rocks." The novel takes a while to orient readers, picking up where the previous book left off with little explanation of the characters or their backstories. Even so, readers will quickly become immersed in its subtle magic. A richly textured charmer about a Jim Crow-era Virginia brothel and its resourceful owner." — Kirkus Reviews FIVE STARS: "Everything that I wanted...great characters and a great plot" — Kathryn M, NetGalley Reviewer "Quirky characters, social commentary, and a well paced plot kept me reading straight through in one setting... Strongly recommended." — Bruce R, Reviewer "Challenging to describe this lovely book. Insightful, descriptive, entertaining. I loved it and would definitely recommend reading it." —Sandy H, Reviewer "Hard to put down..." --Allison V, Reviewer "Peter Skinner has done an excellent job of portraying how hard life could be when you do not fit in." — Denice L, Reviewer "Luminous. A wonderful story of ordinary people. I couldn't put this book down" — Brad Davis, author of Trespassing on the Mount of Olives "A well-crafted, suspenseful plot and mastery of the vernacular." — Rebecca Lilly, Award-winning poet "FULL BEAVER MOON is a captivating, challenging, and ultimately rewarding slice of historical fiction dripping with lyrical prose and Southern-tinged atmosphere." —James Weiskittel, IndieReader "This engrossing story is sweeping in its breath and detail. The sounds, the smells, the sights, and the sweat are palpable on every page. It's a story that you don't want to end, but you can't wait to discover what comes next. A story you'll want to revisit again and again." — J.M. Northern Media "Spellbinding." 4 STARS — Clarion Review