Author: Davis Bunn
Publisher: Howard Books
ISBN: 978-1-4165-5673-2

“No way was she giving up on this place, this home, this job, this church, this new chance at life for herself and her little girl. Amy’s back was to the wall,” Davis Bunn writes in his novel, The Sign Painter.

At two hundred and fifty-six pages, this paperback targets those who like stories of redemption, grace, and gratitude involving the homeless. With topics of gang violence, drug use, and poverty, the book would not be appropriate for immature readers. A reading group guide with a total of fifteen discussion questions and conversation with the author completes the book.

In this current day tome inspired by a true story, thirty-two year old Amy Dowell is doing the best she can taking care of her five year old daughter. When her husband died of cancer almost two years ago, the mother never expected to be homeless, jobless, and living in a beat-up truck camper.

Eighteen months on the road land the mother and daughter in central Florida where she hears through a local church of a temporary job doing sign painting at Denton Chevrolet. Not only does the church’s community director offers daycare for her daughter, she provides a nice small apartment and a trusting friendship.

While painting window advertisements for Bob Denton at the car dealership, she encounters a circumstance that solidifies her honest nature but she forces her to rely on the church’s security team leader and a drifting ex-federal agent for protection.

With a drug house dealing with gang activities blocks away from the church causing problems, Amy begs for a normal life while those around her ardently try to connect the dots between cash, drugs, and thugs to help keep the neighborhood safe.

Being wary and insecure in her new environment, the woman does everything she can to shelter her daughter from harm as she learns to turn her inner fears and regrets into godly responses to improve her daughter and her lives.

As Bunn’s descriptive, tender tale provides a heart-wrenching view into the bleakness of homelessness, a shimmering hope by trusting God for every need is conveyed. Due to the honest approach of being penniless, readers should not be surprised when tears well up in their eyes more than once.

Thanks to Howard Books for furnishing this complimentary book in exchange for a review based on the reader’s honest opinions.

Follow Here To Purchase The Sign Painter: A Novel