“The way you’re yanking on that bolt, you’ll break it off and then we’ll have an awful time getting this radiator off.”

John regarded the grease-blackened wrench that lay in the grip of his strong hand and cast a tentative smile at Lloyd. “I guess I am taking my frustrations out on your tractor. I’m supposed to be fixing it, not making it worse.”

“That’s right. I can bust ‘em up just fine without anybody’s help,” Lloyd said with a laugh. “Did I tell you how I managed to wreck this thing?”

John Connor had already heard the story and he wasn’t in the mood for Lloyd’s chatter. There was hidden hurt wrenching at John’s soul, continually leading his mind away from the task at hand.

Laugh and cry with the Unrefined Connor family—slaves to the farm and mechanic work that is their means of survival, chained by guilt and fear, trapped by despair and worry. Unrefined is the tale of a three-generation family pummeled by tragedy beyond the common hardships of the Great Depression. Some will come to see their difficulties as a refining process. None will survive unscathed—if they survive at all. Who among them will rise above the hopelessness? Can a little spark of faith and some bold determination make a difference to all of them?

About the Author

Sharon Balts and her husband Doug are Wisconsin farmers. They are frequent travelers whose vacations often include a farm show or tractor club convention. They are members of the Hungry Hollow Steam & Gas Engine Club where Doug is an exhibitor.

Unrefined is Sharon’s fourth novel and is the first historical tale set in the Great Depression era. Her other books include: Black Mesa, a contemporary Western, The Protector, the seventeenth- century story of a swordfighter and the daughter of a Christian martyr, and The Killing of Luther Dunn, a tale of opposition to a coming railroad in an 1899 Wisconsin village.