Stormy Weather was less impressive to me, although it was still a decent read. The story revolves around the Stoddard family - a mother and her 3 daughters - who are struggling to survive after their husband/father's ignominious death. Although Jack Stoddard hadn't given them much of a life to begin with, the women miss the meager paychecks he managed to bring in on occasion. After Jack's death, the Stoddards move back to their family's crumbling farm. Not only is the house falling down, but the land itself is difficult to farm after suffering from drought and the severe dust storms that plague Texas in the 1930s. Through sheer determination and a lot of hard work, Jeanine Stoddard (the middle daughter) rebuilds the farm, but it's not enough. Finally, the family places their last hopes and cash on a wildcat oil well and Jeanine's temperamental racehorse.

Although I enjoyed the characters in this novel, I thought the plot dragged too much. This, coupled with Jiles' cold writing style, made the book a long, laborious read for me. The only reason I stuck with it is because the characters were interesting and I wanted to see what happened to the indomitable Jeanine. Of course, she triumphed, but again it was all a little too serendipitous for my taste.