New Release!
A Novel: Between the Sun and Rain
Told by three captivating characters, Between the Sun and Rain is the poignant narrative of those closest to twelve-year-old Julia Pemberton, a small southern town’s golden girl, in the months following her sudden disappearance from a backyard party during the summer of 1985. This story is for readers who love coming-of-age novels or stories of suspense. Pre-order a copy now! Official release date is April 1.
Praise for Between the Sun and Rain
Between the Sun and Rain is a spectacular novel, a powerful, wise and intricate gift to readers. Leighton Kirby Richards gets everything just right: The plotting is remarkable, the details are always spot-on, and the ending is a jaw-dropper that finds truth on so many levels. This is a big-time book. Wow. Just wow.
--Martin Clark, author of The Plinko Bounce and The Substitution Order
When beautiful preteen Julia Pemberton goes missing, everyone in the small town of Chatham, North Carolina, has their own heartbreak to survive--and their own suspicions to tend. Debut novelist Richards skillfully uses multiple points of views to create an artful kaleidoscope of memories and emotions concerning the missing girl. These carefully arranged fragments deftly come together for a heart-stopping and shattering finish.
The book shines with superb period details of small town 1980s life, contributing to the tale’s immersive and authentic feel. This modern Southern gothic thriller is compulsively readable and utterly unputdownable. Grab Between the Sun and Rain and read it before Hollywood scoops it up for a film adaptation.
-Heath Hardage Lee, author of The League of Wives and The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon
A haunting and beautifully layered story of loss, loyalty, and the secrets that live just beneath the surface of small-town life. With emotional precision and quiet suspense, this novel explores the unbearable weight of a child’s disappearance and the fractures it exposes in friendship, marriage, and community. Deeply human and impossible to put down.
— Dianne C. Braley
Best Selling and Multi Award Winning Author of The Silence in the Sound and The Summer Before
SOUTHERN FICTION. SUSPENSE. COMING OF AGE.
About
Hey, I’m Leighton.
I grew up in a small town in southern Virginia, much like the fictitious town in Between the Sun and Rain. I earned my Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Washington & Lee University and my law degree from Drake University Law School. After practicing law for several years in Virginia, I eventually traded the mountains for the Midwest and now live in Des Moines, Iowa with my husband and our three children.
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— From Leighton’s Desk —
