The Flood Girls: A Book Club Recommendation!

Wow I loved this so much! It really struck an emotional chord with me. These are broken and bruised characters who have lived hard, but you can't help but love. Even through all their mistakes and misgivings. It hits home because we always say that we are not our past, but the past is so hard to overcome - especially the choices made as young adults. It's why it is painful to be around old friends and family if you have a past you aren't proud of. Just being in their proximity makes you feel like you are a teenager all over again. It can continue to cause feelings of shame and inadequacy. I'm not sure that ever goes away. I totally adored Jake. He was easily my favorite character. I don't want to leave any spoilers but I will just say I was shocked by events in the end and feel heartbroken. Rarely does a book hit me with such emotion. Brilliant debut!

The characters in this entertaining novel are over the top, all of them. Rachel Flood has returned to town, a newly reformed alcoholic, to make amends. The town is having none of it. Especially Rachel's mother. And Rachel is shamed and bullied into playing on the softball team. Even though her response to a ball coming in her direction is to put the mitt over her face for protection.

Most of the characters are mean and wild and very, very badly behaved. The town hobby seems to be starting fights in a sleazy bar, the Dirty Shame. These man, nasty characters sometimes have soft underbellies they are trying to hide.

Jake, a rather flamboyant young man, is reviled by his alcoholic stepfather. Jake is one of the most interesting characters in the story. I was really cheering for his life to go well.

Although this isn't great literature, it is an entertaining story. If you care to look deeper, it is a story about forgiveness, shame, and trying to get on the right path, some more successfully than others.

There was a surprise near the end that I did not see coming.

Solid entertainment. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I borrowed an audio edition of this book from my local public library.

If you are looking for a good book to read, go pick this up! If you grew up in a small town you will love this book! The characters were all a little quirky, a little over the top (which I actually liked) and each had issues of their own. The town of Quinn is a hot mess of a small town. The story itself is funny and entertaining. The I found myself saying, "Oh yeah! So-and-so that lived down the street was sort of like this character in The Flood Girls!"

If you didn't grow up in a small town, you will still love this book!

The Flood Girls is A League of Their Own with a twist. There are town alcoholics, drug addicts/dealers, bar fights, lesbian miners, and a fire department where 90% of the firefighters are named Jim. It's a story of a softball team full of characters who all have issues, a town that is a hot mess, and a recovering alcoholic harlot who returns to her hometown after spending 9 years trying to get away from it, hoping to make amends with her mother and the entire town who have all basically shunned her.

I absolutely loved this book!

'The Flood Girls' a debut novel by Richard Fifield is a story about the strange characters that inhabit a small town. It made me think about the town I grew up in.

The book revolves around three characters. Rachel Flood has come back to town after leaving a wake of destruction nine years ago. She is clean and sober now, ready to make amends, but people in town are still not ready to forgive her. Rachel's mother, Laverna, own's The Dirty Shame, the only bar in town. She is none too thrilled to have her daughter back. Rounding out the threesome is young Jake, who lives next to Rachel and spends his free time and money buying flamboyant clothing at the local thrift store, collects rosaries, and listens to Madonna music on his walkman.

There are a variety of weird characters in town, like Red Mabel and Black Mabel. All the volunteer firemen are named Jim. There are a group of female miners that hang out at the bar and get in fights. The softball team is called the Flood Girls, and they are notoriously bad.

The book made me laugh out loud and cry. I could see the ending coming from quite a way away. The writing style is good, but the book leans pretty heavily on stereotypes. There were a few small twists along the way, but I was hoping for something more to happen. Still the story of Rachel making amends and fixing up her dad's old trailer, Jake trying to find his way, and Laverna and her violent friend Red Mabel made for a fun read.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

The Flood Girls by Richard Fifield is a highly recommended novel about strong women and one young boy in small town Montana.

Rachel Flood fled Quinn, Montana (population 956), nine years earlier. Now she is sober, and looking to make amends and atone for her drunk, promiscuous, out-of-control behavior that alienated most citizens of this small town. Rachel's father has died and left her his dilapidated trailer, so she is ignoring the advice of her Alcoholic Anonymous sponsor and is moving back to Quinn and into his trailer. The one person who she is really desperate to mend her relationship with is her mother, Laverna Flood, owner of a bar named The Dirty Shame and coach of a women's softball team.

Once Rachel moves in she meets her neighbor and becomes friends with 12 year old Jake. Jake loves wearing the right, perfectly stylish and well-coordinated outfit for every occasion. Jake was also her father's friend. Her father even built a shed to house Jake's wardrobe. It seems natural that Rachel and Jake would understand each other and strike up a friendship. Rachel used to be best friends with Jake's mom, Krystal, but she's taken up with her live-in loser boyfriend Bert, and the new baby.

As fate would have it, Laverna is incapacitated and Rachel ends up taking a day shift at The Dirty Shame to help her mother. Even worse than that, she is recruited to play on the Flood Girls team despite the fact that she doesn't play ball. The Flood Girls is the name of the team coached by Laverna.

The town of Quinn is populated by a quirky group of citizens known by their nicknames (Black Mabel, Red Mabel, Martha Man Hands, Bucky, Jim number 3) or their family's last name. At night roving gangs of drunken, pugnacious female silver miners drink hard and cause trouble at The Dirty Shame. Drinking seems to be the main recreation - that is until soft ball season starts.

This is a funny, well written, entertaining look at an odd small town and its inhabitants. Fifield brings the development of his larger-than-life characters to fruition and as he covers basically a year in this small town.

I'm torn on rating this book. While reading I was actually becoming a bit disturbed by the overt stereotypes used to describe the diverse cast of characters, The miners are all big, tough women, wear flannel, drink excessively, and fight. Jake loves clothes, ironing, sewing, and fashion. The church people are all described as if they are from some plain-sect. The church women all dress alike in modest home-sown blouses made from the same pattern, wear denim skirts, and no make-up, naturally. The men in short sleeve button down shirts with ties.

Setting the stereotypes aside, I did find The Flood Girls enjoyable. The ending is shocking and memorable. In some ways it feels out of place in this novel that was more wacky-small-town-life rather than the dark side. I'm going with 4 stars because of the blatant stereotypes, but I have a feeling I will be remembering this book for the ending.

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Gallery Books for review purposes.

Drugs and alcohol abuse are endemic in the small towns of America and serve as the backdrop for Rachel's story of recovery through AA in Quinn Montana. Rachel has burned all her bridges but goes back home anyway, knowing that recovery isn't complete without this step. And oh my, what bridges she has burned, including that with her mother Laverna, owner of the Dirty Shame bar.

The characters are my favorite part of this book, and as Laverna sponsors a softball team, there are plenty of colorful characters. It might seem impossible that Rachel tottering on her second year of sobriety is strong-armed into working a bar shift, I had a friend who said she stayed sober because of her bar shift knowing that she never wanted to behave like the drunks she delivered drinks to again. It seems quasi-serious until an incident near the end which I did not see coming. Life is like that and sometimes the innocent are punished and the guilty get away. Nevertheless it took my breath away.

It's a delicate dance to make an entertaining tale out of alcoholism, and indeed, while some of the sordidness is painted as comedic, the vomiting and fighting are very real. I read this over a couple summer afternoons, not quite a beach read but almost. The writing is effortless, just what the doctor ordered.

How does one love brazen, foul-mouthed women who throw their weight around, beer-guzzling-in-the-outfield female softball players, and their burly female audience who love to throw punches? I don’t know, but I do – I love this book and all its quirky, faulty characters.

Welcome to Quinn, Montana: Population 956. A town owned by the headstrong, sassy women that have been there forever. Laverna Flood owns the only bar in town, The Dirty Shame, which serves beer and shots – never mixed drinks because they’re too much trouble – to their regulars – the local silver-mining lesbians, the alcoholic widow of the local judge, and a dogcatcher who sucks at catching dogs.

Within the oppression of this small, poor town lives Jake Bailey, who at twelve already loves Jackie Collins novels, lives for fashion more than anything else, and savors finding his only privacy on the roof of his family’s beat-up trailer. Jake is the butt of jokes for most of the males in town, including his violent and cruel stepfather Bert.

When Jake’s only male friend, Frank from next door, kills himself, Frank and Laverna’s daughter, Rachel Flood, inherits Franks’ trailer and moves in. Because of her past drunken teenage escapades of sleeping with every man in town, including her mother’s boyfriend, no one is happy to see her. But Rachel has been attending Alcoholics Anonymous and decides she must make amends to the town she hurt so badly all those years ago, befriending Jake in the process.

Fifield’s residents of Quinn are one-of-a-kind characters who have weathered hardship, and poverty, and the cold Montana terrain, but maintain a fierce loyalty to each other as they struggle to survive. Most of the women of Quinn are irreverent in their drinking, working, and socializing, but have a soft spot for two things: The Quinn ladies’ rag-tag softball team, and the team’s effeminate scorekeeper, Jake Bailey.

I felt especially drawn to the theme running through The Flood Girls – the battle against alcoholism through AA meetings, and the strong bond which develops between those whose lives have been ravaged by the bottle. Within Quinn’s only AA group, Rachel finds the most loyal friends she’s ever had.

Reminiscent of a John Irving novel, Fifield has given his characters an abundance of flaws, but with those, an abundance of feeling and heart as well. Irreverence and surly behavior, accentuated by beer guzzling, is the façade which masks the inner turmoil of the people who have lived together their entire lives, intertwined within each other’s loves, and loss, and attempts to survive another day.

I’ve read a number of reviews that fault Fifield’s depiction of Quinn, Montana, as a town full of disrespectful, drunken trailer-trash who have no regard for anyone other than themselves; the reviewers resent the opinion they feel the author has made about rural, small town life and people. But readers must remember - this is fiction! Fifield is no more making a statement about all American small towns than Stephen King did about all winter resorts in The Shining. Whether part is based on fact, or the majority was created in his brain, Fifield has given readers a glimpse of a community who share more than just the drinks served at The Dirty Shame, or the ball thrown over the frozen, pothole-filled softball field.

The Flood Girls is definitely a must read!

And thank you Simon & Schuster for providing me with an advance copy for reading and review.

First off, this book gets my first five-star rating of the year, so small kudos for that.

I was a little worried at the foreword that the author made it clear that much of the story was based off of his own life, that some of the characters were basically people he knew, and that one of the characters was even largely based upon himself and his own life. Usually these types of stories, the ones that require a foreword or disclaimer at the beginning, end up being something that I just can't get behind. Mostly I end up struggling through the book feeling like the author was jazzing up their own mediocre life into something worth sitting on a bookstore shelf.

This wasn't the case for The Flood Girls.

While the story is set in a realistic, modern-ish setting, from the start, it seemed as if the characters were larger than life. However, what worked is that they didn't seem unbelievably so. Rather than characters having bombastic personalities for the sake of covering up their flat characterizations, any quirks or craziness in the characters was appropriate as it fleshed out a well rounded character with their own struggles or flaws, their own strengths and achievements. Nearly every character in this novel would be worth having at *least* a short story written about them. How many books can you honestly say that about?

Yes there's kind of a cliched twist at one point, but honestly, with the story that's been developed to that point and featuring these characters, it's actually something that fits very well and helps to make the whole story feel a bit more satisfying.

I'd honestly go out of my way to read a sequel if he ever writes one.

[Review based on an advance copy provided by Netgalley]

To be transparent, I did not purchase this book from the store - I rented it from my local library. However, I enjoyed it so much that I was moved to write a review. (This is not normal for me when it comes to books. There are so many good ones out there that to write reviews for them all would be difficult. But, this one was worth it.) The best way I can describe this book is that it is a hot mess of characters. Each of them is facing their own challenges that should, logically tear them apart or isolate them. But, somehow, they connect. And they connect in the most gloriously entertaining of ways. (Except for near the end. Something happens near the end that will have you simultaneously devastated and then fuming. Right before it happens, you'll see it coming, and you won't like it. That's all I'm saying...) I giggled, laughed, guffawed, gasped, cried, etc. over the three hours I read this book. Hats off to the author for creating characters that stick with you long after you set the book aside.

Damn you, Richard Fifield.

I took a copy of The Flood Girls on a family vacation this Summer, and I couldn't put it down! Rather than having ravaging sex with my husband under the midnight sun of Iceland, I feigned sleepiness so I could climb into bed and read more about the town of Quinn and it's lively inhabitants. I snuck quick chapters in the bathroom as my family impatiently waited for me to be ready to walk into town for dinner. Friends ask me to regale them with stories of our adventure, and my mind mies up the waterfalls and the beautiful blonde people of Iceland with the softball games and bar brawls of small town Montana.

Jk, Jk. For reals, thank you Richard Fifield, for writing a beautiful and spot-on book. For capturing characters that we all are familiar with but could never use words to describe them in such a witty and magical way as you have. Thank you for giving a voice to small-town women whose lives always seemed desperate and sad to me, but after reading The Flood Girls, I see in a new light. A somewhat envious one.

I can't wait to give this book to every person I know and blow their minds.

I really enjoyed this book a lot. The characters really made this a unique and fun read. I have never read a book with so many colorful, quirky characters. My favorite by far was Laverna, the mother of Rachel the main character. I laughed out loud at almost everything Laverna said. It was not just the laughs though, Fifield does such a good job of showing the difficulties and pain Laverna has endured. I really felt like I got to know Laverna and Rachel as real people and I loved reading about them finding there way back to some kind of relationship with each other.

Is this book for everyone? No. I am sure there are many that will be put off by the language and the subjects that are discussed throughout the book. I can say that for me it was one of the most entertainting and original books that I have read in a long time. I am looking forward to reading more from this talented author in the future.

A black sheep returns to the fold and tries to atone for her very bad behavior in this book. But were her actions any worse than her own mother? Should that matter? I happen to be drawn to stories about small town life (the quirkier, the better!), so this book was a special treat.

Rachel was a druggie and alcoholic as a teen and slept with most of the members of the town's volunteer fire department. Other than having an obnoxious mom who runs a bar, the book doesn't give much of an explanation for why she was so self-abusive. But I think the point of the story is that it doesn't matter. What matters is who she is now. As the novel begins, Rachel has been sober and following the AA 12-step program successfully. But there is one rung on the ladder to recovery that she can't seem to get past: making amends with those she hurt. There is a very long list of people to ask to be forgiven: all the wives of the men she slept with (even though she was under age and was actually a victim), her former best friend Crystal, her mom Laverna, and her toughest critic, herself.

What I loved:

Characters:

I thought Rachel was one of the most realistic studies in a person coming to terms with their alcoholism that I have seen in a book to date. Even though she has been sober for nearly a year, that is only one of the issues in her life. She needs to make amends with so many people. But she also must, somehow, forgive herself. I appreciated that the author, Richard Fifield, didn't resort to scenes of Rachel looking longingly at a bottle to convey her struggle. There is so much more to healing than just not drinking.

Aside from Rachel, there is a plethora of interesting characters. I loved the tween character Jake, and all the various "Flood Girls" on the local softball team. There are male characters that I hated from Jake's sleazy step-father Bert, to Reverend Foote, a preacher who oozed insincerity. But there were also solid guys such as "The Chief" who acts as Rachel's sobriety sponsor, and the sweet repair man who has a crush on Rachel. Rachel's mom, Laverna, is a special kind of messed up human-being. I appreciated how each individual had their problems and were fully-fleshed out people.

Setting:

I lived a large part of my life in a small town, and I remember those days well. For better or worse, everyone knew everyone else. Kids couldn't get away with much without their parents finding out about it. If you had a dispute with your neighbor, it could easily turn into a decades-long feud. This book has a lot of those little touches that make the town of Quinn, Montana come to life. I also liked that, while some people were desperate to leave for more cosmopolitan cities (particularly Jake who can't be openly gay in this town), many were content to live out their lives in Quinn. I could totally see the appeal. There can be something very comforting in small-town life.

What I didn't like:

The Ending:

I was really saddened by what happens to one character. It was like watching an ant struggle to move up the hill only to see it crushed when it makes it to the top! The ending may have been realistic, but it was very unsatisfying. I work hard to NOT put spoilers in my reviews, so I can't say precisely what happened in the story. But I thought that, even if justice couldn't be served, the "Flood Girls" would have done more to make sure a certain someone got their comeuppance.

I didn’t make it one third of the way through before determining that I could no longer waste my time reading this abominable dreck. The characters are as stilted and one dimensional as their lackluster dialogue, and this is not well disguised by the author’s irritating and repetitive dependence on giving tedious scenes a sense of movement and color by inserting a pack of brawling lesbians in the background. Seriously, there had to be another literary device available to enliven this story, such as, oh, I don’t know, maybe a flock of enraged pterodactyls swooping down and carrying all of the hapless townspeople away from this abusive and mediocre plot, with the exception of Rachel, who in her solitude decides that it was stupid of her to engage in this masochistic exercise of seeking pardon from a cluster of boorish jerks. Just what the hell is so uproarious and cheeky about a bunch of self-loathing stereotypes who prefer drugs, alcohol, and sex to a clearheaded contemplation of the vapid humorlessness of their shallow and impoverished lives? I disliked everyone in this pageant of hostile futility, and might have kept reading anyway just to see if it suddenly blossomed into the promise held forth by all of those positive book reviews had it not been for the group of one-star reviewers who were kind enough to dissuade me from that poor decision. Much to my relief, many one-star reviews also state that this book isn’t accurately reflective of small town life in Montana. Enjoy it if you insist, but for those who are plodding though and wondering if it gets better, stop flagellating yourselves and find something else to read.

Note:
I was given an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review- this review DOES contain spoilers!!!!

I need to begin by saying that this is not the typical genre of book for me, so it shouldn't be taken lightly when I say that I could NOT put it down.

This book was not at all what I had expected. The characters were unique and intriguing. The mystery of Rachel's past kept me turning page after page. Her mother Laverna, was the character I initially loved to hate. The interaction and the tension between the two was excruciating at times. I was pulling for their reconnection the entire book, I won't lie, I let out a huge sigh of relief when Laverna finally let go....

I absolutely fell in love with Jake, he pulled all the characters together in a way no other type of character could. Needless to say, the ending crushed my soul and left me crying in the fetal position for a couple of hours. Darn you Richard Fifield!!! I need Jake back!!!! (Or at least I need to know how Red Mabel settled the score)

Best of luck to the author on his new publication.

Snarky and deep at the same time....how many novels can do this? Richard Fifield's first novel does, and heroically. No foible is spared in Fifield's chronicling of the tiny town of Quinn, Montana, which he describes with scathing humor and honesty. I felt I was having a really good gossip that often made me laugh aloud. Yet the story is also about some very important things: being a recovering alcoholic, being gay in a small rural town. This is a winner of a book, and I can't wait to see what Fifield does next.

I laughed, then I cried. This was a wonderful novel sharing the ups and downs of living in a small town in the middle of nowhere. Quinn, Montana has a population of 956. There is a volunteer fire department where at least 3 of the volunteer firemen are named Jim. The Dirty Shame is the only bar in town and is owned by Laverna. She and her best friend, Red Mabel pretty much run the town and intimidate everyone. Laverna also sponsors and manages the town softball team, The Flood Girls, that has never even come close to having a winning season. Until now.

Rachel Flood, Laverna's daughter, has snuck back into town after leaving behind a trail of chaos nine years prior. She was an alchoholic as well as a drug addict who has been 1 year sober and wants to make amends. Her mother is not ready to believe she has changed or accept her apology for what she did so long ago. Meet Jake, Rachel's neighbour. He is 12 and gay. He loves Rachel and they become soul mates. He is extremely flamboyant, dresses in clothes from the local thrift store, learns to sew, and is hated by his homophobic step-father.

The inhabitants of Quinn are diverse, humorous, and somewhat eccentric. The seven men who attend AA and bond with Rachel as well as the members of The Flood Girls and Jake all help Rachel and Laverna salvage their relationship. The only thing I didn't like was that it seemed that there was so much alcoholism and drug use in this town. Between the volunteer firemen who were hailed as heroes, the inhabitants of the trailer park, the members of the "new church in town", the members of The Flood Girls and Athena, Rachel's sponsor from the Big City there is never a dull moment in the book. All I can say is that I was not ready for the ending at all. A wonderful read.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The story takes place in a small town called Quinn, population 956 located in Montana. I was a little disappointed in the story in the beginning as it didn't really match the description I read on NetGalley. I didn't really find this a hilarious or funny story at all. I mostly became fascinated by all the diverse personalities and the separate POV's as the story progressed into its culmination.

I particularly liked the author's use of the back story throughout the book so you could understand better the behaviors and manner of speaking from the characters.

Rachel Flood has returned to Quinn after many years away. When she left home it was under a huge cloud of hate and anger. Rachel was such a bad, bad girl and even her mother didn't want to have her around anymore. Rachel, during those years spent most of her time in the pursuit of hard drinking and living wild, has gone through AA and has come back home to make amends for all the damage she caused and the betrayal of her mother.

As Rachel works at rebuilding relationships amongst the townspeople and especially with her mother, you discover a motley crew of personalities that flow in and out of "The Dirty Shame". "The Dirty Shame" is the only bar in town and owned by her mother. It is the characters that flow in and out of the bar that I found to be hilarious.

Jake, a young man who is very comfortable in being who he is. Jake is gay and proud of it. I enjoyed Jake so much and thought he made for a good friend to Rachel as she struggled to belong in a town where she hurt so many people.

Overall, I enjoyed the book immensely though I did put it down for a couple of day and read something else. I became involved with the storyline and the characters at about the half-way mark and so glad that I stuck with it.

I highly recommend "The Flood Girls" to anyone who is looking for something that is just a little different and quirky. I look forward to reading more from this author.

While I felt the prose in Richard Fifield’s The Flood Girls was a nice balance of sparse and detail; his descriptive tone was spot on and his characterization very engaging, I found the overall plot a little try too hard. It wants to be sassy and heartwarming and it desperately tries for such a tone until an end that feels almost cheap and determinedly contrived as a shock moment.

I get that the comedy that is life includes tragedy. But there was just something off about how the author tries to blend the two. It felt forced on the reader in a way that reminds me of how heavy handed a commercial can be. When a commercial so clearly wants its audience to have an 'awww' moment and many times it just feels flat for me. So too was this book. Some of my reaction was that I felt that the author tried to litter the plot with too many characters that had to be quirky. There weren't enough even secondary characters that seemed rooted enough in simple counterpoint and so the abrupt moment towards the end threw me out of whatever investment I had to that point.

This is not a bad book by any means. But it shies from greatness too soon and never recovers enough to make the end the emotional punch for me I can't help but feel the author was so determined I experience.

As a former Miss Teen America and dutiful public speaker I'd like to refute the nabobs who claim The Flood Girls isn't representative of their rural idyll. I grew up in backwater Michigan. I've done time in backwater Montana. Some may say the characters inhabiting this novel are too colorful and raw. I say folks haven't been to ALL the parts of their hometown. If I had a dollar for every night my mother tuned to the police scanner for the latest after school tryst or open window robbery, I'd place my trailer high on a hill.

This is a book to be read for entertainment and enlightenment. If it offends the sort who decorously turn their heads away when confronted with a neighboring reality, Richard Fifield has written an even better indictment of the culture than I thought. I mean, really, people don't know there are closeted kids in their community? There's no equivalent to The Dirty Shame down the road? The message Mr. Fifield delivers in a thoroughly pleasing package of well-crafted portrayals, darkly humorous moments, and much love is yes, these types of people do exist. We've always existed, you just never knew where to look for us.

{I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.}

Richard Fifield's debut novel, The Flood Girls, is a book that will make you both laugh and cry. Plus, there's softball.
The Flood Girls by Richard Fifield is a debut novel with a great deal of heart. The novel tells the story of Rachel Flood, who returns to her small hometown in Montana to make amends after years of alcoholism. She burned many a bridge there in her youth and attempts to rebuild them not through a grand gesture, but by contributing to her community. Softball is involved.

This novel was a slow burn for me, with a very emotional ending. The characters leapt off the page because Fifield effortlessly weaves in the small details of life that shape everyone into the mess of quirks and foibles that we are.

The only negative for me in The Flood Girls was detailed descriptions of softball games. I skimmed those parts, but understand why they were there - softball is a big deal in Rachel's small town.

If you love a book that will make you both laugh out loud and have tears running down your face, The Flood Girls is the one for you. It's not a page turner, but the mysteries of how Rachel ruined all of her hometown relationships are slowly revealed, bit by bit. Some of the behavior in the book is really out there, so be warned and just go with it!

As a former Miss Teen America and dutiful public speaker I'd like to refute the nabobs who claim The Flood Girls isn't representative of their rural idyll. I grew up in backwater Michigan. I've done time in backwater Montana. Some may say the characters inhabiting this novel are too colorful and raw. I say folks haven't been to ALL the parts of their hometown. If I had a dollar for every night my mother tuned to the police scanner for the latest after school tryst or open window robbery, I'd place my trailer high on a hill.

This is a book to be read for entertainment and enlightenment. If it offends the sort who decorously turn their heads away when confronted with a neighboring reality, Richard Fifield has written an even better indictment of the culture than I thought. I mean, really, people don't know there are closeted kids in their community? There's no equivalent to The Dirty Shame down the road? The message Mr. Fifield delivers in a thoroughly pleasing package of well-crafted portrayals, darkly humorous moments, and much love is yes, these types of people do exist. We've always existed, you just never knew where to look for us.

{I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.}

Richard Fifield's debut novel, The Flood Girls, is a book that will make you both laugh and cry. Plus, there's softball.
The Flood Girls by Richard Fifield is a debut novel with a great deal of heart. The novel tells the story of Rachel Flood, who returns to her small hometown in Montana to make amends after years of alcoholism. She burned many a bridge there in her youth and attempts to rebuild them not through a grand gesture, but by contributing to her community. Softball is involved.

This novel was a slow burn for me, with a very emotional ending. The characters leapt off the page because Fifield effortlessly weaves in the small details of life that shape everyone into the mess of quirks and foibles that we are.

The only negative for me in The Flood Girls was detailed descriptions of softball games. I skimmed those parts, but understand why they were there - softball is a big deal in Rachel's small town.

If you love a book that will make you both laugh out loud and have tears running down your face, The Flood Girls is the one for you. It's not a page turner, but the mysteries of how Rachel ruined all of her hometown relationships are slowly revealed, bit by bit. Some of the behavior in the book is really out there, so be warned and just go with it!

Attention book clubs: Read THE FLOOD GIRLS!

Not only is Fifield's prose rich, inimitable and unflinching, the story offers countless angles for discussion on a variety of timely themes.

Set in a tiny town, where logging and the local tavern are the only businesses, The Flood Girls offers a fresh take on unlikely friendships, family dysfunction, the dark side of religion, and viciously ugly prejudice.

Fifield has hit a home run of a debut, and established himself as a voice to be reckoned with in contemporary American fiction.

If Fannie Flagg worries that she has no heir, she can relax; Richard Fifield is here. The Flood Girls is his brilliant debut, and you have to read it! Fifield will cut out your heart and feed it to you with a rusty spoon, and he’ll make you like it, too. Hell, he’ll even make you laugh through it. I got the DRC free via Net Galley and Gallery Books in exchange for an honest review, and I’m going to read it a second time before I archive it as I am supposed to. This is only the second time I have done so after hundreds of galleys have come my way; that should give you a measure of how impressed I am with this title.

From his arresting first line to the deeply satisfying ending, I was completely bound up in this book, only setting it aside as a reminder to myself to delay gratification and make it last a little longer. In the end my e-reader had 177 notes and marks, and every single one of them was there to highlight outstanding imagery, a passage in which yet another character was developed, a place in which he had shown us something important while saying something else, or a place in the text that was drop-dead funny. I would guess the last of these accounts for 100 of those 177 notes.

Let’s start with the premise: Rachel Flood has returned home to Quinn, Montana after many years away. She is here to make amends. It isn’t easy: “A small town never forgets, or forgives.” It’s a tough town, full of people that have survived dozens of harsh 6 month winters. Its people are abrupt and sometimes rude; they don’t suffer fools here.

Rachel’s sponsor has assured her that she doesn’t have to move back to Quinn to make amends; she isn’t here to do penance, after all. Offer the amends and then, whether or not they are accepted, hit the road! But for several reasons, not all of which Rachel understands herself at first, she chooses to stick around, and it isn’t easy. Ultimately, she is cornered into playing in the outfield of The Flood Girls, the local softball team sponsored by the mother she has wronged. She becomes a friend and mentor to Jake, a quirky twelve year old with a fondness for fine fabrics, wardrobe and design, and an intolerant right-wing Fundamentalist stepfather.

Perhaps the most technically impressive aspect of this work is the way Fifield differentiates a very wide cast of characters. I cannot think of any other novel among the 151 books I read and reviewed over the past year in which there were so many characters that were juggled so deftly. When I put down the book, I did a quick finger count of how many characters I could actually name and identify without looking. I stopped at 21, and I didn’t try long or hard. Every single one of these characters, most of whom are wonderfully eccentric, stood out in my mind, apart from two small groups (the silver miners and the Sinclairs) that are treated as such in the text.

It isn’t only the eccentric characters and the small town setting that makes me think of Flagg’s masterpiece, Fried Green Tomatoes; it is also the message. Fifield wants us to know that intolerance will kill us. It is only by accepting and celebrating one another’s differences and quirks that we become part of the human family. We must learn to help and rely upon each other, because we are all we have. That said, The Flood Girls shares Flagg’s spirit, yet it is not derivative, but wholly original.

You don’t have to like baseball to enjoy it.

This hilarious, engaging new novel is for sale to the public February 2, 2016. Very conservative evangelical Christians won’t enjoy it, and it wasn’t written for that audience anyway. It is highly recommended to everyone else. This book will be talked about, and you’ll want to be in on it from the get-go! Put this one at the top of your list.

This book is literature. Literature is an actual genre of fiction like scifi or historical romance. Literature is usually about the lives of ordinary people, it is the kind of fiction that Steinbeck wrote. In this case the ordinary people/main characters are a woman bar keeper/owner, her formerly alcoholic and morally loose daughter now a year into AA recovery, and a precocious, gay, 12 year old boy living in a house also occupied by his mother's boyfriend, who hates and abuses him. And there are a ton of small town personalities that populate the stories including the Flood Girls, which is a womans' softball team.

This book should not have interested me at all, but I really enjoyed it. What a nice surprise. Wonderful characters, lots of sub plots, lots of action, lots of humor, lots of fun poked at lots of institution. Lots of tragedy.

I think that most folks will enjoy this book. I listened to the audio book which was well narrated/performed.

I was given this book from a friend in exchange for an honest review. It took me about a week to read it, I wasn't too sure about reading it, but then I got a jolt of "I need to read this book to the very end." I sure am glad I read it! I can not believe this is Richard Fifield's debut novel! It is set in Quinn, Montana, population 956. The main character is Rachel Flood and she has moved back home to make amends with everyone in the town that she has hurt, after nine long years. The way it is written, you would think he had ten other novels published. From the very first page I was hooked! Reading this, I could actually picture myself in the story, being best friends with Jake, being there for him when times got too tough. All the characters living in Quinn, Montana, were brought to life in my head as if it were a movie. I really did not like Bert, Jake's stepfather, because he was a mean, drunk and horrible person who couldn't accept the fact that Jake was gay. Richard did a really great job creating a villain in Bert because Jake could see right through him. You will laugh, rage, cry throughout the book until the very last page.

This was such a good book! I really enjoyed how the story flowed, the characters were great! This one made me laugh, and it made me sad. I fell in love with Jake, I saw myself in him, when I was his age (14) back in the day! I definitely was behind the main characters, and for sure the protagonist. Being from a small town myself, I felt the plight of Jake, not feeling comfortable in his own skin, and not being accepted by his family. The Flood Girls were hilarious, but in the end endearing. This is one for everyone! A coming of age story with a heart, but I will warn you, you will need a box of tissues nearby to finish this novel! Congratulations Richard Fifield! Looking forward to reading another novel by him!

Guffaw-funny at unexpected times, true, poignant, sad and deeply angering by turns, The Flood Girls embraced me and pulled me into the outrageous happenings in Quinn, Montana. I came to care so deeply for all of Richard Fifield's eccentric characters, especially Jake, that in the midst of the book, I forgot it was fiction and was ready to punch out a certain character. Antic and affecting, dissolute and endearing, the outrageous folks in Richard's book captured my heart. They utter pop-psyche and profundity, and achieve redemption and reconciliation in the end, not necessarily in the classic manner. I highly recommend this book.
Cynthia B. Aten, MD

A great read! A window into a small town full of odd characters with interesting ambitions. Once you get to know who's who, family of characters emerges that care for each other deeply, even if it means you show it in a bar room brawl. You learn the language of the story and understand the sometimes complicated negotiations that are part of small town relationships and who stays or leaves and why. This story also has some dark moments that remind us of the greater picture and how hard it is to grow up in the world. Worthy of a reread.

Loved this book!!!! The writing is so good. Detailed, descriptive, witty, and gripping. Richard Fifield paints a picture of a dysfunctional small town that comes to life and pulls you into the characters and story. There are some sad twists and turns, and yet there is also redemption and hope. I don't want to say too much more for fear of giving away any spoilers. This book will stay with me due to some of the themes. I cried but also laughed and fell in love with some of the characters. Fabulous first novel! I hope Fifield is busy writing another!

A beautiful, thoughtful debut that is at times both funny and sad, a feat that takes a truly masterful writer. Full of quirky, engaging, relatable characters, The Flood Girls makes you think about life, family, love and what it truly means to go home again. Fifield is a stunning new talent who is sure to have a long career ahead of him.

I put this book down after reading a few chapters because I wasn't willing to spend another minute in this grubby town and with these unpleasant, unlikeable people. It felt like I was wading around in the muck for no particular reason that I could think of. This book was definitely not for me.

I liked the book so much. It was fun to read, but at the same time you could really understand the difficulties and coping mechanisms the characters used to get through life, For the first time I have an understanding of an alcoholic going through the AA program to try and regain an orderly life. The characters are living life with gusto even though all have sorrow and heartache a the same time. It explores why people make the coping choices, good and bad, that they do.

This book is filled with characters from a diverse background . If you're looking for a wonder bread book this is not it . This is a cast of characters representing a variety of lifestyles . It is unflinchingly real and no holds barred . If you have ever felt different or lived in a small town you will relate to some of what these characters go through . Just like real life it is not always pretty and there's not always a fairytale ending . There is always however, beauty in truth and the courage to be your authentic self .

I'm looking forward to reading more from this writer , he has an amazing talent . I loved getting to know his characters and watching them evolve while maintaining their uniqueness . It's not always a comfortable read but it is rewarding in the end .

Richard Fifield has captured the texure of pain and redemption as his story weaves through the idiosyncratic characters residing in dysfunctional, small-town, Anywhere. The main sport in Quinn, Montana, is acidic gossip and malevolent revenge and throw in a softball team. Rachel Flood bursts into town bringing havoc and emotions with a blind pursuit of righting her wrongs and finds what she least expected. This is a read through the night novel. Fifield is on the Capote spectrum, but dare I say, with compassion. His book had me navigate through my own path, exposing the process of being vulnerable. I look forward to adding Richard Fifield's novels into my bookshelves.

Wow!!! There are some books you read and they stay with you after you've finished reading and this to me is one of them. So many quirky characters in this book and I loved just about all of them. If these characters were real, I'd want to hang out with them!! I absolutely adored one of the main characters, 12-year old Jake---just loved him. The writing is fantastic and humorous with some very touching moments. The ending was not what I was expecting and was really shocked and a bit angry at how it did end, but even so, this book is a must-read. This one is going on my "Favorites" shelf and will be one that I will not forget. I highly recommend this amazing book!!

I've been sitting here pondering how to review this book for a couple of weeks now. It's probably 3.5 stars for me. There were parts that I adored and parts that I hated (and certainly some characters that I hated). I could go 4 stars, but it took sooo long for me to feel invested that I almost abandoned it early on. Once I had gotten to know the characters, I was all in. ALLL in. The softball games, the parade, the AA meetings...I cared about all of it. I'm now left feeling like I'll miss these characters. I'm angry at some of them and oddly proud of others, but they all left their impression...and that's worth something.

I wasn't sure what to expect, BUT - the bloggers I follow (religiously) LOVED this book, so I picked it up, and couldn't be more THANKFUL! An amazing debut novel by Richard Fifield!! I absolutely LOVED every part of this book. The character development was spot on, and at times I felt like I was right there living along them.
I cannot wait to see what he comes up with next! This will be hard to top!

This may be a good book later on, but I just can't past the first few chapters. We are told in the first chapter that the main character has slept with every man in town. Not my favorite subject matter but I wanted to give it a chance so I kept reading but called it quits at the graphic sexual depictions of her in her early teens dispensing oral sex to every boy on the bus, accompanied by her best friend ( a male) who holds the blanket up, basically acting as her pimp. Somehow, I don't find it funny......or uplifting.... pretty depressing read. Maybe it is because I knew some "bad" girls as a kid and they ended up in prison. Maybe also because I have two adult daughters- "nice" girls, thank Goodness. We are supposed to glorify this type of behavior? YUCK

Having spent several summers in the Montana wilderness mostly hiking and kayaking, I came across many interesting characters of whom I wanted to learn more. As an outsider, however, I couldn't get to the depths of theirs lives and unique stories. I could only scratch the surface piquing my curiosity. My continuing questions and probing was met with suspicion, then eventually some exchanges became uncomfortable. A few others were more than happy to share their experiences and I was amazed by the complexity of a simple life in a small town.

Richard Fifield has condensed my years of yearning for more depth into small town, wilderness intrigues. Each character reminds me of someone I met on a trail or in a rustic cafe. A must read for those who wander off the beaten path and want to know more about that path ultimately finding more variations of human life and psychology.

For a week straight, The Flood Girls was the first thing I picked up in the morning and the last thing I put down; I read it while walking and driving (only at stoplights of course). Fifield's characters are incredibly well-developed, adorable and despicable; his portrayal of small town Western Montana is golden. To say I loved this book, have already recommended it to 30 people and will read it again and again would be an understatement.

The Flood Girls will have you wrapped around its lifted pinky from the start. Having grown up very poor in small town Montana, it resounds with me on so many levels. You will find a part of yourself in every corner of this book. The quirky, real characters that remind you so much of someone you know, the small town ambiance & turbulence, the camaraderie of a sports team and its fans, the desire to be loved, and, ultimately, the struggle of fighting for acceptance for who you really are.
The Flood Girls truly is a book for all. I intend on sharing it with everyone from my 12 year old daughter to my retiree father. It's too beautiful of a story to keep to myself.
XOXOXOXO

The best kid in town is the gay kid. He is murdered by the worst person in town who is "a Christian." (He's not really a Christian. But he is what the author thinks of as a Christian.)

I am so sick of this predictable characterization.

Bad lessons in this book:

The previously-worst person in town was completely transformed into a saint by a year in AA while the current-worst person in town is only made worse by going to church.

Drunkenness and drug use is great fun and harmless for everyone except for the one who attended AA for a year. After a year in AA, she has no trouble at all working in a bar and being among alcoholics 24/7.

It's fine for an adult to talk openly to a prepubescent minor about her sexual experiences.

It's also OK for that adult to take the child out of town for a weekend without informing his parents as long as she is the morally-superior gay ally and the child's parents are stupid, intolerant Christians.

Vengeance-murder is a happy ending as long as the intended victim is a stupid, intolerant Christian.

Also, the author forgot to tell the backstory of Jake's mother and the backstory of Misty (Jake's friend), despite leaving several hints that that those backstories would be forthcoming. Athena's and Ginger's backstories were also hinted but not developed.

It's very unfulfilling that Laverna (the mother) doesn't contemplate her alcoholism or anger, yet we're supposed to accept her character development.

At what should have been a pivotal moment in the book, drunk Laverna screams at her daughter, "Why?! Why did you do it?!" Instead of having Rachel reveal something intimate or soul searching, the author has Rachel answer lamely, "I don't know." Very unfulfilling. Another opportunity for character development lost. It's as if once we know that Rachel hates the ignorant, intolerant "Christian" and is a gay ally, we know everything we need to know about her.

I adored this book. Between the descriptions of Rachel's 90s outfits and the scenes of Black Mabel and Laverna swigging beer at the Dirty Shame, I was hooked, addicted, physically attached to this book. Fifield captures the vibe of a small Montana town and the characters who inhabit it, with a tenderness that can only come from one who has lived and loved there. Hilarious, sad, infuriating, I found myself thinking about the rich and many characters during the workday, before I fell asleep, while flipping through the racks at the local thriftstore. And they continue to linger with me long after I have finished The Flood Girls. Cliche but true: I laughed, I cried, and I cry-laughed. Once I get my hands on my own copy, I vow to read it again, and pass on the tattered, beloved pages to anyone in need of a damn good story of redemption, drinking, thrifting, and softball.

The Flood Girls is the best kind of novel- one with developed characters, an engaging story, and picture- in -your-mind-invoking prose.Richard Fifield is a master storyteller with the rare ability to literally create pictures. I loved the raw emotion of the characters' struggle with relationships. As multiple mother/ child relationships are explored, Fifield forces the reader to examine one's own relationships with parents and children. Underlying themes of forgiveness and being true to oneself are strong heartbeats throughout the book. And, most importantly, chapter after chapter contains laugh-out-loud moment after moment. Read this. Now!

Colorful characters in the backdrop of a gloomy Montana town where nothing seems to change. The softball team has a losing record, the local bar is still host to a motley and volatile group, and the local volunteer firemen are forever kings. Rachel returns to her hometown to make amends and finds herself immersed in the life she left 9 year prior. Will the town change her or will she change the town...

I just finished this lovely surprise of a book. The characters are quirky, yet endearing. There are some that take time to get to know, others you immediately embrace and those to despise. The book is refreshingly different and I plan to recommend it to both of my book groups and my many book-loving friends.

This book is absolutely wonderful. The characters are described so vividly that they come alive on the pages. Sometimes it's as if you're watching a movie unfold before your eyes while reading - this was one of those books for me. The author's wit and sass made this a very delightful read, and it was not without plot twists. I could not put it down.

Having lived in a very small town for the past 12 years, I can tell Mr. Fifield has lived in a small town, too. His characters and descriptions of the town activities reflect so many of the characteristics of where I live.

The descriptions of the characters and the scenery are rich, and the story is full of humor, pain, compassion, and bonding. I especially appreciated all the strong female characters in the novel!

I loved every page!

This novel is so unique . The small town and the characters will stay with you long after you read it . It's a fantastic book club pick full of themes and deep discussions on forgiveness , truly taking it one - day-at-a-time as they say in AA. The ending will leave you in tears except the last few pages you will smile once again. If you want a quirky, colorful, emotional read this is your book!

A hilarious and truthful look into small town America. The author is a master at capturing the hilarious and strange little details about places and people that make an ordinary place extraordinary, and the book handles some dark themes such as growing up gay in a small town with tremendous wit and heart. A total page turner.

One signature of a great story for me is when I catch myself thinking about the characters long after I'm done with a novel, and that's what I've been doing the last couple of days since finishing The Flood Girls by Richard Fifield. I don't think you have to be from small town Montana (or in this case from Troy, which is the inspiration for Quinn) to love this book. It is a story about redemption, acceptance, friendship and forgiveness with Fifield's dry wit woven throughout. The characters are human yet over-the-top; some of them absolutely deplorable, and yet you can't help but love them. I highly recommend.

I really enjoyed The Flood Girls. I grew up in a small town in Montana, and the author's details of life there ring true and authentic. I cannot speak to the Jackie Collins comparisons, but I am shocked at the lack of comparison to Larry McMurtry's contemporary works. The characters are beautifully flawed, I recognize their archetypes in my childhood friends and neighbors. The story is rich and compelling, I cannot personally relate to much of the content, but the author forces me to symapthize. I recommended the book to my mother, but she had already read (and loved) it, she asked that I share it with my aunt that we both agreed would love it as well. I will continue to recommend this book to anyone interested in the small town life, or strong female leads.

This was a great book! It is not perfect, but is definitely worth reading. The characters are at times so wacky, you know they are real. Not all of them (most to be honest) are loveable, but we have all experienced someone like them in our own lives (if we were honest). Rachel comes home to make amends. Jake is too young to have to make amends but is an outcast. These two main characters come together in a delightful manner that changes (most of) their small town. I won't say more because you have to trust me that it will be worth your while to find out how on your own. I hope this becomes a movie! Patti -- from the Fayetteville Free Library of NEW YORK (not Arkansas) Meet the Author Book Club.

To say that I LOVED this book is selling it short. Not since Clive Barker's "The Watchers" have I had lngering thoughts of the characters and how I MISS THEM! I recently started reading it again! Richard Fifield immersed me in a world of fun, flair, softball and complex relationships that I did not care to leave! I am anxiously awaiting this man's sophmore effort as it is SURE TO be another that I shall recommend again and again! 5 stars for The Flood Girls! Thank you Richard Fifield, for writing a book that captures so delightfully growing up in a small town!
-Kelley Provost

Enjoyed this book so much! The characters were fascinating and the author made you really feel like you knew them! This book made me laugh, tear up, smile, and get so very angry. You can't go wrong reading this book!

Love Love Loved this witty well written book. I know these characters in the book, they all live in your small town or small community. If you are lucky enough to live in Montana, you may happily or sadly relate. Hilarious at times with great one liners. A look at hope, all kinds of love, misunderstandings and acceptance. A fast page turning book.

Riveting from beginning to end and full of complex and compelling characters, I couldn't put The Flood Girls down until the last page. A must read from a talented young writer who we will surely hear a lot more from in the future. Bravo Richard Fifield. Can't wait for your next book.

I'm not sure where to start. Fifield's way of telling this story and the characters he brings to life is flawless. With humor and humility he covers some different themes which, over the course of the past and present, culminates in a superb finish, with real emotion from me (the reader). Growing with the time, he unfolds each character and sucks you in. Given the backdrop it's a great read from a first-time published author who is sure to be moving onto even greater things!

Cute, silly story with likable characters. It does get serious at the end, and that part is particularly well done. While this book does not have a riveting plot or any deep literary insights, it's still entertaining and totally worthwhile. This author is very funny and has created some unforgettable characters in Jake and Laverna.

Richard Fifield dives deep into the heart of small town America. He demonstrates a great capacity for insight and compassion through this surprising band of characters in a hard-up western Montana town. If you met these folks on the street, you might stare or look away, but through Fifield’s rich storytelling you are led to take another look and then another. The humanity in this book worms its way into deep spaces where it settles in like a new friend, making us a little softer and more understanding. The ending caught me by surprise. After so much humor and adventure, I didn't expect to be sobbing my way through the finale.

Richard has penned a home run with the Flood Girls. I laughed out loud, chuckled to myself, and cried. Richard has most certainly came through with a clutch hit in the bottom of ninth with the bases loaded with well described picture of small town life. Proud to know him personally and to share the same hometown. Now, he needs to pen another because I've found a new favorite author. C. Kaufman

The Flood Girls had me from page one. The characters represent your iconic locals in a small town, yet have an air of whimsy that make you not want to put this book down. The Flood Girls will make you laugh, then cry, then cheer, and laugh again. It will inspire you with the depths of the human connection. I want all of my friends and family to read it because it's that good.

I picked up this book expecting to read a redemption story for the protagonist and the small town she came from. What I learned is that everyone from small towns are drunks, recovering alcoholics, or generally backwards. Lesbians are all big burly women who work in manual labor, sport crew cuts and are violent. Boys who like fashion and sew are gay. All religious people are stupid and insincere. Firemen (specifically volunteer firemen) sleep with anything that moves. I could not get over such gross stereotyping, and it ruined the story for me.

Crazy cast of characters and I ended up loving them all. This was a great read, and I loved the small-town-everyone-knows-everyone's-story. It was such an interesting ensemble and made for a great story.

In his debut novel, Richard Fifield illustrates the nuances of small town Montana living in a way that only a native son could. With palpable affection, he paints his bawdy, brash, and soft-in-the-center (if just for a minute) female protagonists with the same endearing authenticity. Fifield infuses his ribald comedy romp with just enough pathos to create a poignant piece of fiction that will keep you turning pages as you fall deeper in love with these brassy broads, shining brightly in their perfect imperfection.

A delightful, poignant read. I laughed out loud, I shed tears. Am feeling bereft now that I have finished the book. A small, quirky Montana town full of the characters that only small towns produce. Or maybe they just get noticed more in small towns.

The Flood Girls by Fifield_ Richard
Story of a woman who returns to her home after her mother has kicked her out of the house.
Small town, less than 1000 people. Lavinia runs the town. Rachel hopes to turn things around after being away 9 years gone.
Story goes back in time to when Jake was a teen and he would peek into others windows.
Rachel is back as she's inherited her dads mobile home but there's not much that works there. She also has to take over for her mother at the bar...
Lots of drama in this town...
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).

Hard truths (albeit delivered with great compassion) beneath the humor. An accurate depiction of small-town life that manages to be affectionate without sentimentality. A good one to read twice. Can't wait for Fifield's next book.

This is Richard Fifields debut novel. Recovering alcoholic Rachel Flood returns home to make amends with her past and we met some eccentic but wonderful characters. I laughed and cried and I never so the twist at the end coming.

Thoroughly enjoyed this original novel: both sensitive and gritty, character-driven, & with many hilarious, chaotic moments. Although one reviewer criticized what perhaps seemed the author's use of gratuitous profanity, it is spoken by certain characters and is appropriate for the setting of 1980's backwoods Montana. A great story about an unlikely opportunity of redemption and the ripple effect it has on a small town.

I agree that this book was gritty but so is real life. The characters were flawed and sometimes hard to love, but aren't we all? All in all though I enjoyed this book, it showed that you can overcome your past and forgive even when you can't forget.

This book took me places I never go. Jake is a fascinating character, perhaps too much so for being only 12 years old. Rachel's character gives insight that seems believable if somewhat exaggerated. This book presents an aspect of small town life that is apparently real but which I have not seen. The book is a worthwhile read. You will find yourself thinking about it for weeks and perhaps forever as you drive past a bar in a back roads small town.

I finished The Flood Girls sitting at the Atlanta airport and spent my entire flight just thinking about it...letting it sink in. The people of Quinn were intriguing. At times it seems that EVERY character is a bit "over the top", but I can't help but like all save a few. I think this is a book you must experience for yourself.

There are many reviews on this book so I will keep mine short as the story has already been revealed. I found it to be a very worthwhile read and definitely recommend it. RF has a knack of bringing his characters in to full bloom and even if you would not want to exactly be best friends with them, they are so colorful and well defined that reading about them is wonderful. Read it!

The author has talent writer and some of the scenes were engrossing, but overall this book just seemed to be trying too hard. There were way too many characters who were all over the top and really didn't come off as believable. Many of them (like Bert, Jakes stepdad) were stereotypical and one dimensional. I felt like I was supposed to care about the characters but I never really did. I had to force myself just to finish this book.

There are many reviews on this book so I will keep mine short as the story has already been revealed. I found it to be a very worthwhile read and definitely recommend it. RF has a knack of bringing his characters in to full bloom and even if you would not want to exactly be best friends with them, they are so colorful and well defined that reading about them is wonderful. Read it!

The author has talent writer and some of the scenes were engrossing, but overall this book just seemed to be trying too hard. There were way too many characters who were all over the top and really didn't come off as believable. Many of them (like Bert, Jakes stepdad) were stereotypical and one dimensional. I felt like I was supposed to care about the characters but I never really did. I had to force myself just to finish this book.

This book is everything I look for in great literature: Funny, compassionate, brave, honest. I loved these complex characters and I suffered and celebrated alongside of them as I read. This is a brutal portrait of a Montanan small town, but it's not without affection and redemption. Kudos to Fifield for writing what I believe is this year's Great American Novel.

Months after finishing the book, the characters still walk my mind and warm my heart. A sort of "tales of the city" but set in a trailer park in rural Montana. A fantastic fun read I highly recommend!

The Flood girls is a novel that will grace your bookshelf for years begging, to be read again and again. Once I absorb the fact that I just gobbled it down, I shall go back for another run at it! Thank you Richard, your novel is phenomenal and deserves every ounce of credit it is given. Cannot wait for your next page turner.

Books rarely make me laugh out loud. Even less often can they make me cry. And I am always suspicious of male authors choosing to write female heroines. But this book has moved me in all kinds of ways and directions. I might not have read it if the author wasn't living in Missoula, and what a loss it would have been to miss it.

It was a great book, till the end. It felt like the author couldn't figure out how to end it,so he just (pulled stab bit out of the hat so to speak). The ending was shocking and ruined the whole book for me.

"The Flood Sisters" is a portrait of small town life, of what happens when fire and flood sweep away the community and what flotsam and jetsam is still left behind as the community haphazardly rebuilds.

If it's Quinn. Montana, you end up with two bars, a post office, a police and fire station and a whole bunch of trailers. Rachel, daughter to one of the two bar owners in Quinn, has returned to the town after 9 hard years away of drugs, sex and alcohol to make amends per her step program. Conveniently her dad's trailer has come available since he's died in the interim. That's how she meets Jake, a twelve year boy with a flair for style and talent with a sewing machine.

The town is populated with more eccentrics than Bon Temps, LA-sans that fictional town's cast of otherworldly creatures. The judge's wife who quietly drinks in the bar and hides it behind the crossword puzzle her dementia makes an escalating challenge. "Black" and "Red" Mabel who help keep peace at the bar and garner a little side action with a quiet drug trade. Bears that wander the town looking for an unguarded food source. And a softball team of the local women who spend more time hungover than actually practicing for the games.

It's a dark comedy of human foibles and telling moments, such as Jake's first taste of big city life when Rachel takes him out to the nearest good sized town with a mall for his birthday. Or Jake's careful crafting of personalized softball jerseys for the Flood Girl's championship playoff game on his Singer. Or the ultimate tragedy that makes up the ending of this tale.

Is there bad language? Are there sexual situations that might make you uncomfortable? Yep. But this tale will let you see life through someone's eyes you might not normally encounter. There are some laugh out loud moments and some head shaking moments but all in all, it's a worthwhile tale.

A funny, sweet, and sad story about redemption and love. I did not think I was going to like this book, it was a book club read, but it was very good. Keeps you thinking about the story way after you have finished it!!

The Flood Girls by Richard Fifield is an engaging story of regrets and redemption set in small-town America.

After almost a decade's absence, Rachel Flood is back in Quinn, Montana (Population:956) to make amends for the devastation she wrought as a wild teen to an openly hostile collection of family, (ex) friends and enemies. After a week of scathing silence, pointed glares and outright threats, Rachel is on the verge of admitting defeat when her mother, Laverna Flood, the proprietor of one of Quinn's two taverns 'The Dirty Shame', is targeted in a robbery and her injuries require Rachel to take her mother's place behind the bar, and on the local women's softball team.

This is a story full of family dysfunction, addiction, friendship, failure and forgiveness. Rachel's search for redemption is complicated, and no-one is inclined to make it easy on her, least of all her self.

Fifield has created an eccentric and often outlandish cast, including the uncompromising Laverna, the frightening Red and Black Mabel's (distinguished by a rotten smile), Rachel's no nonsense sponsor, Athena, and the members of the softball team. The town's three rookie firefighter volunteers are all named Jim, the Police Chief runs the local AA meetings, and Reverend Foote is determined to convert the town's sinners.

Of all the characters however is Rachel's neighbour, twelve year old Jake, who is the most endearing. A devotee of Madonna and Jackie Collins, with an individual sense of style and fashion, he is mature beyond his years, but his effeminate manner infuriates his brutal stepfather. Jake is one of the few residents of Quinn willing to give Rachel a chance, and a delightful bond develops between them.

Though the humour is a little uneven and the plot not particularly original, The Flood Girls is written with heart and a genuine feel for small town life. A strong debut.

I can’t remember the last time I read an editorial blurb that was as off base as the one for “The Flood Girls”. Describing the women in the book as “lovable” and using words like “hilarious” and “heartwarming” give the impression that this is the story of a charming small town and its quirky inhabitants. To put it in television terms, I thought I was getting “Northern Exposure” and instead I got the cast of “Shameless”. That said, this was not a bad book.

The gist of the story is that 29 year old Rachel Flood has a year of sobriety under her belt and feels that it’s time to make amends to her mother and the rest of the town of Quinn, Montana. She moves into her late father’s dilapidated trailer and strikes up a friendship with her next door neighbor, 12 year old Jake. The story is mostly just a series of slice-of-life type stories involving the various characters, and what a cast they are. This is one raunchy group – drunk before noon, profane, washing down painkillers with beer, fighting …every sad stereotype of “trash” that you’ve ever heard, magnified to the nth degree.

While I cannot say that I enjoyed reading about these people (except for Jake; I liked his character) and their sordid lives, I found snippets of writing that I thought were quite good. I think this would have worked better for me if the author had focused more on a few core characters and made them more three dimensional. As it is there’s such a large cast and the characterization is just so over-the-top that the people became almost interchangeable to me. I also would have liked the storyline to be more plot driven instead of just a series of vaguely interrelated anecdotes.

While this book falls far short of “hilarious”, the author does display a wicked sense of humor in some scenes and I couldn’t help but laugh in a few places. I can see a lot of potential in Mr. Fifield’s writing, even if this book wasn’t an unequivocal hit for me.

For people who care about such things….

Profanity is used liberally and there is some brief sexual content.

If you've never lived in a small town in Montana, here's your chance. Richard Fifield gets it right. This is an honest look inside, full of humor and pain. Like life, it's dirty and beautiful, heartbreaking and redemptive.

As other reviewers have noted, Flood Girls is the story of a small town, nearly washed away by a flood, and all the people who still live there. Imagine what the ground looks like after a flood falls away: a bunch of trash and debris scattered on the ground, damp and soggy. That's a little bit the story of this town: a bunch of leftover, muddy people sort of scattered around after a flood. I think this book almost works best as a series of short stories: it's a series of vignettes, told from the perspective of different characters in the town. On its own, each chapter/story is well written. r Fifield has a natural style of writing, very vivid and original. But there's two real problems. The first, as other reviewers have said, is that the characters aren't likable. That would actually be okay. Characters don't have to be likable. But at least in my reading, the author seems to look down on his characters - not to have empathy for them. Flannery O'Connor wrote a lot about "down on your luck" people, the same sort of "flood people" that Mr. Fifield covers here, but she never seemed to look down on them. She always seemed to see something that made them worth looking at. Because the thing is, if they're not worth our consideration, then why would we spend our time reading about them? And in a story that is essentially a character study, that's problematic. The other problem is that, while each chapter on its own is well done, they don't seem to lead anywhere in particular. There is no sense of momentum, or events leading towards anything. It comes across more as a series of short stories about less-than-worthy people. Well written, but not the sort of funny, warm, heartfelt read that the blurb promises.

As someone residing in a small town in Montana, I was so easily able to relate to so many of the book's characters. Fifield's vivid descriptions made it so I felt like I was right there in each scene. His use of humor, even during the saddest scenes, was pure perfection. He created some amazing characters, and I can't wait for the movie (PLEASE!) or his next book. Bravo!

The Flood Girls is set in a small town in Montana, where not much has changed and the local tavern is still the meeting place for an eclectic group of quirky characters. Rachel has returned home after nine years in order to “be of service, to right her name” to her estranged mother and a judgmental town. Years ago, Rachel left in disgrace, after a checkered past, which included much sex and alcohol. Forgiveness does not come easily, however, Rachel's mother, Laverna, asks her to take over the place of a departing player, on the losing softball team she manages. Rachel also strikes up an unlikely relationship with Jake, a creative 12 year old boy, who loves to sew, read woman's fashion magazines and hates his mother's lazy and boorish boyfriend.

Multiple story lines make up the parts of the whole, featuring an array of characters who march to their own drummer. Each character is dealing with their own challenges and sorrows. This debut novelist also tackled some pressing topics. For me, personally, some parts were a little over the top as the book lost some of the plausibility by the end of the story. I imagine it would be tailor made for fans of John Irving. Very different and inventive, just not my writing style.

I didn't make it past the first twenty pages of this book the first time because I found everyone so unappealing. Then I went on line and read the reviews and decided to give it another chance. I read to page 26 the second time. I don't know what I'm missing that I didn't find any of this funny (up to and including cats being trapped and drowned) but there you have it. Very disappointed as I was looking forward to this.

I had visions of Fanny Flagg like characters, rollicking fun stories, and memorable, one of a kind characters. Sadly, that's not to be. It comes across as a mean spirited look at small town people, making them look unattractive and ignorant, with no redeeming points whatsoever. Such a disappointment!

I enjoy books about comic misadventures and quirky characters–––Fannie Flagg novels, for example. This book is billed as one that will make you laugh out loud and bawl like a baby. The editor compares it to Empire Falls, Where’d You Go, Bernadette, and A League of Their Own. Those are wildly inaccurate comparisons.

As debut author Fifield depicts it, the small town featured, Quinn, Montana, is almost entirely populated by drunken, hostile trash. He overpaints his characters so much that they’re just not relatable. As the book goes on, he tries to make them become something more than caricatures, but he never quite succeeds. I wanted to like the people and the story, but it was just so relentlessly tawdry that I couldn’t. I never bought the author’s attempt to turn things around and become heartwarming. It just seemed contrived and insincere.

I don't usually find fault with a book since I understand that writers have their own style and sometimes readers have their own style and the two sometimes clash.

But I must say that this book disappointed me on multiple levels. I thought the story line was improbable and not true to the rural like in Montana. Having lived in rural farm / ranch country America I didn't find anything about this book to be plausible to my life experiences.

I find some of the writing to be just poor quality. It seems to me that a story can be told with good descriptive words but I found the author to have a limited vocabulary that didn't get the reader to be drawn in.

Sorry, but this was one book that I couldn't even finish

I was expecting laughs from this book, but instead found it to be insulting to small communities. Small town people just aren't like this. I don't mind humorous portrayals, but this book honestly is mean spirited. I don't recommend it at all.

Can't stand this novel. I'm very familiar with small-town Montana life and I guarantee it's nothing like this. The characters in this story are all trash. OTT trash. They're nasty, rude, sleep around, sell drugs, are alcoholics...and I realize every town has them, but for every single person in town to be disgusting? Noooo. Not an accurate depiction of small-town Montana life at all.

This is an awful, stereotypical, mean spirited portrayal of people living in small town Montana. I suppose it is meant to be humorous but I just found it disgusting and stopped reading about half way through. Maybe something happens in the second half of the book to redeem it somewhat but I am doubtful and refuse to waste any more time reading this to find out.

This is indeed a strange but satisfying book. It takes place in the small town of Quinn, Montana, where every inhabitant is a story by themselves. The narrative is humorous and entertaining, while sucking the reader in to a horrifying act, and emotional conclusion. Rachel Flood is a recovering alcoholic, and that fact penetrates every interaction in the story. While the characters are comic and their antics humorous, the story is quite serious, providing both entertainment and illumination.

The Flood Girls is set in a small town in Montana, where not much has changed and the local tavern is still the meeting place for an eclectic group of quirky characters. Rachel has returned home after nine years in order to “be of service, to right her name” to her estranged mother and a judgmental town. Years ago, Rachel left in disgrace, after a checkered past, which included much sex and alcohol. Forgiveness does not come easily, however, Rachel's mother, Laverna, asks her to take over the place of a departing player, on the losing softball team she manages. Rachel also strikes up an unlikely relationship with Jake, a creative 12 year old boy, who loves to sew, read woman's fashion magazines and hates his mother's lazy and boorish boyfriend.

Multiple story lines make up the parts of the whole, featuring an array of characters who march to their own drummer. Each character is dealing with their own challenges and sorrows. This debut novelist also tackled some pressing topics. For me, personally, some parts were a little over the top as the book lost some of the plausibility by the end of the story. I imagine it would be tailor made for fans of John Irving. Very different and inventive, just not my writing style.