The Promise of Unbroken Straw by Ken Steele Book Review and Author Interview

I’ve always been drawn to novels with country settings. Despite their remoteness, there are a ton of elements to play with and a lot of intensity that can arise from their stories.

The Promise of Unbroken Straw by Ken Steele is one such story that brings a welcome addition to the country novel. With its fascinating premise, deep characterization, and range of emotions, it is easily one of the best novels I have reviewed on this blog. Below is my five-star review of The Promise of Unbroken Straw followed by an interview with Steele about his book and his writing process.

The Promise of Unbroken Straw plot summary

Paul Landrum is a young teen growing up on his family’s farm in the 1940s. He lives with his widowed father, Jake, grandfather, Eli, and older brother, Tim. Paul isn’t athletic like Tim, and his grades continually slip due to his tendency to daydream during class. His best friend, Teddy, suffers at the hands of his abusive father and a recent family tragedy, and most of the farmers in the area are struggling to keep their properties with the war raging and debts accumulating.

After losing their wheat crop during a tornado strike, the Landrums give into an oil driller’s offer to drill on their land in hopes of striking oil. This leads to a windfall that not only saves the farm but leaves them with enough money to escape to the city where Jake hopes to provide a better life for his sons. But money doesn’t solve all of their problems. It instead leads to a fateful turn of events that alters their family dynamic forever.

The story

The Promise of Unbroken Straw is a sharply told historical fiction novel with well-drawn characters, a number of twists and turns, and an overall poignant tale about families and the hardships they are able to endure. The Landrums have had tough times, but they make do. Still, the sadness of the past has enveloped the family and has greatly affected Paul’s upbringing, making him feel like a useless burden.

When they come into money, the family is swept away to a whole other existence that is both exciting and intimidating. The boys do their best to adjust, but they stick out like sore thumbs, despite Paul finding a girlfriend and Tim proving himself on the football field.

Every so often, adult Paul interjects in the story as he recalls his past while on his way to meet his ailing father. Along the way, he reconnects with some of those main players from his childhood, and the reader sees how they have coped, or not been able to cope, with the hands that life has dealt them.

The prose is very descriptive without weighing down the pace or using narration as a crutch to tell this story. There are great monologues and dialogues between the characters and a very rich plot layered with backstory and forward-moving action that keeps the reader turning the pages.

The jumping from past to present is very effective and expertly done without breaking up the momentum of the story or spoiling anything that the reader has not yet learned. The reader roots for these characters, and it makes them eager to know what became of them.

The characters

Our protagonist, Paul, is first introduced as an adult on his way back to the farm to visit Jake. From the beginning, his wit and resourcefulness is plain to see. So, when we backtrack to him as a kid, unconfident and directionless, it creates a relatability in him and gives the author plenty of clay to mold him with.

The family dynamic between the four Landrum men is fascinating to watch play out. Jake is a stern and withdrawn father, though it’s apparent that he cares for his family. Eli is more nurturing, taking on the maternal role that the boys’ mother’s death from a pandemic flu took away from them. Tim is more confident but never cocky, and his relationship with Paul is protective rather than one of sibling rivalry.

These four characters are in it together, but they’re far from a tight-knit unit. They struggle with communication and conveying their emotions. They’re stunted in a lot of ways, but there is potential for growth, and when they do break through, even in the smallest ways, it’s a triumph.

Peppered into the story are the friends, neighbors, and enemies of both the country town and the city population that eerily mirror one another. These people each play a small but vital role in the direction that the story takes and the impact that they leave on Paul and his family. From the neighbors who bring the Landrums food after the tornado to the bullies at school who antagonize the brothers, each make their mark and help project Paul along to the destiny that has been laid out for him.

My recommendation

I recommend The Promise of Unbroken Straw to anyone who is looking for a thoughtful, character-driven tale with a well thought out premise and a tearjerking ending. Steele has crafted a masterpiece of fiction that hits all of the right beats and says exactly what it wants to say in a very raw and gut-wrenching series of events.

My rating

An interview with Ken Steele

The story is primarily set in the 1940s. What kind of research did you do while writing or preparing to write this book?

I lived in every corner of the internet, and I can’t imagine writing historical fiction involving unfamiliar settings or topics without those resources. This was certainly among the more tedious tasks required to fill the pages, but I learned things along the way: how to farm, how to actually do that nearly a hundred years ago, how far-reaching the war was even thousands of miles from battlefields. I also connected with family members who’d had personal experience with some of the topics I was exploring.

How much of the story, if any, did you plot out before you started writing? Did you know where all of the characters were going to end up?

I knew how this story began. And I knew how it ended, at least with respect to one arc of the narrative. But as to the other 95%, that fabric was yet to be woven.

I realize that authors approach this in varied and specific ways. In my case, I wandered. For years, to be candid. For me, writing is like sculpting, and I needed to shave off the pieces before the underlying ideas fully emerged.

As to the ending, the last change – and it was a big one – was the addition of a parallel timeline. With that, you get to see the protagonist in a different light, both in adolescence and adulthood, and you can connect the dots explaining those divergent people.

Paul has trouble concentrating in school. Does this indicate some undiagnosed ADHD, or do you think he is just distracted by his homelife or world events?

This is the first time I’ve been asked this, so well done. Paul and his creator share certain character traits, one of those being an undiagnosed battle with ADHD.

But in Paul’s case, he was also influenced by external events, including an unfulfilling life on a remote farm, difficult family dynamics, and a global conflict that directly impacted friends and acquaintances. As the parallel timeline reveals, he finds a way to work through that. As we all eventually do, or don’t.

If your book became a movie, who would you want to play the main characters?

Another original question. If you’ll permit me a time warp, I’ll go with this.

• Paul – a much younger Jesse Eisenberg
• Jake – a younger, and meaner, Willem Dafoe
• Grandpa – the former, Hal Holbrook

Without spoilers, do you have a favorite moment in the story?

The spoilers problem is a pretty high bar. But my favorite moment is when we learn that one of the characters eventually finds peace, at the exact same time we learn that another still struggles to do so.

At the end of the book, Jake makes a comment that relates to the title of the book. What does the title mean to you?

The title represents a beacon on the horizon, a promise that whatever life throws at us can be defeated. And it points to the resilience of people who somehow knew that all along.

What is the best compliment you have received about the book?

A blogger, whom I don’t know, recently selected it as her favorite read of 2024 on a list that included The Women.

What’s next for you?

I have drafted a second novel, but much work is required before it can escape my laptop. It’s a very different genre, a political thriller with a sweeping scope, but it also touches on subject matter that was central to my career. Time will tell how it progresses as it’s in direct competition with the mountains of Colorado.

Buy it!

Buy a copy of The Promise of Unbroken Straw here, and help support local bookstores! This is an affiliate link, and I will earn a commission on any sales.

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