Velva Jean Learns to Drive : Book 1 in the Velva Jean Series

The New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places —soon to be a Netflix film starring Elle Fanning—presents a coming-of-age debut about ill-fated love during the Great Depression—and what it means to be a woman with ambition. Velva Jean’s mother urged her to “live out there in the great wide world,” and growing up in Appalachia in the years before World War II, Velva Jean dreams of becoming a big-time singer in Nashville. Then she falls in love with Harley Bright, a handsome juvenile delinquent turned revival preacher. As their tumultuous love story unfolds, Velva Jean must choose between keeping her hard-won home and pursuing her dream of singing in the Grand Ole Opry. Like All the Bright Places , hailed as a “charming love story about [an] unlikely and endearing pair” ( New York Times Book Review ), Jennifer Niven’s debut novel is a big-hearted story about the struggle to find happiness. In this spellbinding debut, Velva Jean Hart finds true love-and then risks everything to follow her dreams Set in Appalachia in the years before World War II, Velva Jean Learns to Drive is a poignant story of a spirited young girl growing up in the gold- mining and moonshining South. Before she dies, Velva Jean's mother urges her to "live out there in the great wide world". Velva Jean dreams of becoming a big-time singer in Nashville until she falls in love with Harley Bright, a handsome juvenile delinquent turned revival preacher. As their tumultuous love story unfolds, Velva Jean must choose between keeping her hard-won home and pursuing her dream of singing in the Grand Ole Opry Velva Jean dreams of being a big-time singer in Nashville until she falls for Harley Bright, a handsome juvenile delinquent turned preacher, and soon she must choose between keeping her hard-won home and pursuing her dream