I've loved Fannie Flagg's writing since I first read Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man years ago. Still, when I first started this one, I wasn't sure. A reunion of filling station workers didn't sound all that appealing to me. Luckily, I gave it a chance and discovered this is NOT what the story is about.
Sookie is a typical wealthy southern belle- nice home on the bay, high-ranking social status, and secure in her place in one of the "old southern families". SO... imagine her surprise when she finds out that she was adopted. Not only was she adopted, she was born a yankee- and a Catholic at that. Thus begins Sookie's adventure in finding out her true identity and how she came to be who- and where- she is.
As and adoptee and adoptive mom, I found this story to be heart warming. However, at times I found it irritating. In the year 2013, I find it quite surprising that anyone with a small modicum of political correctness would still be caught dead using the term "real mother". (The term, in case you have been hiding under a rock, is "birth mother".) Real mothers raise their children, care for them, nurture them... birth mothers give birth. But, I digress...
(Now that I think about it, we southerners have been well known for our lack of political correctness...maybe this is another example...)
In spite of the insulting terminology, I truly did love this story. I laughed, I cried.. (we already know I got annoyed). Not only was this great southern fiction, but it was great historical fiction as well. Anyone who loved Jennifer Niven's Velva Jean Learns to Fly will also love this story of women pilots in WWII. I fell in love with Fritzi (the birth mother) and her wild and crazy ways.
I do highly recommend this book to lovers of southern fiction and Fannie Flagg. I will continue to eagerly await all her novels. She is a true writer of great southern fiction.
Read this book if-
*you love southern fiction
*you love stories of adoptive families or adoption
*you love historical fiction
*you love stories from the WWII era
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