Through the Groves

 

Author: Anne Hull

Publisher: Henry Holt & Company

Release Date: June 1, 2023

*I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! I found it difficult to put down. Anne Hull is an amazing writer. The reader is immediately transmitted to 1960s central Florida- to a place known as The Ridge. Life surrounds the orange groves that cover that part of the state. Her father, a former pesticide salesman, now in the orange juice business, takes Anne with him on his route. (This was her teacher-mother's idea, in order to make sure her dad didn't wind up drinking or in places he should not have been.)

We meet Hull's family in all their eccentric glory. Her father grew up on The Ridge in a family of orange growers. Her mother had come from up north with her own mother- a woman who spoke in a foreign accent although she was American. There is also her easy-going brother Dwight, whose name the family decides to change to Jim later in the story. 

As her coming-of-age story unwinds, Hull takes us back to the 1960s and early 1970s: The Jackson Five, bell bottoms, shopping malls, Tiger Beat Magazine. Her family often struggled financially as they moved around central Florida following her mother's teaching jobs and her father's life in the Groves.

As Hull moves through her teen years, she begins to come to terms with her homosexuality, eventually realizing that she would eventually have to leave the Groves in order to live her life as she chose. 

This is a moving memoir that took me back to my own years in the south in the 1970s. I highly recommend it.

Read this book if...

...you love biographies and memoirs

...you love stories from the southern states

...you enjoy coming-of-age stories

... you enjoy stories about family

Deceived by: Randy Wayne White

Author: Randy Wayne White Author: Randy Wayne White Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2013 pages: 338

This was my first Randy Wayne White novel. I'd been hearing about him for years. My family visits the Sanibel area on a regular basis, and Doc Ford's (his restaurant) is one of our absolute favorite places to eat. Just before our last trip to Sanibel, I was in the library looking for beach reads and decided to check out a Randy Wayne White mystery. What could be better than reading a book that takes place exactly where you are, right? Deceived caught my eye because of the female protagonist. Something about it appealed to me, so I took it home. I sure am glad I did! I couldn't put it down! I have to admit, Hannah Smith is not the cuddliest of characters. If I met her in person, I doubt we'd be friends. However, the storyline itself kept me flipping pages. Hannah's mother's best friend disappears suddenly. When Hannah stops by her house to check on her, she has a run in with an axe-wielding stranger. It only gets better from there. Throw in bogus charity schemes that prey on the elderly, destruction of state artifacts, a twenty- year- old unsolved murder from the early days of Florida's drug smuggling...plus a love affair with Doc Ford, the hero of Whites other mystery series...and you have a book that is hard to put down. (My husband is reading it now.) I loved this book and can't wait for the next. I'll probably go back and read the first in the Hannah Smith series as well. This corner of Southwest Florida is stunning, and White's knowledge and love of the area are evident. I enjoyed reading my copy under an umbrella just down from Bowman's beach. Pick your favorite spot and try it out. :)

Read this book if...
*you love mysteries
*you love Southwest Florida
*you love stories that take place in tropical settings

Swim to Me

Title: Swim to Me  Author: Betsy Carter Publisher: Bantam Books Pages:325

From: Amazon

It's a fresh start for Delores Walker when she boards a Greyhound bus bound for Florida. Leaving the Bronx far behind, she's headed for sunny Weeki Wachee Springs, frayed roadside attraction in danger of becoming obsolete with the opening of Walt Disney's latest creation, only miles up the road. Always more suited for a life underwater, Delores joins a group of other aquatic hopefuls in this City of Live Mermaids, where she discovers a world of sequined tails and amphibious theme shows that even Disney couldn't dream up. It's in this fantastic place of make-believe and reinvention that Delores Walker becomes Delores Taurus, Florida's most unlikely celebrity. 

Bringing together an eccentric assortment of outcasts, poseurs, and underdogs, this wise and poignant novel conjures up a time in America when anything was possible, especially in the Sunshine State. A story of family, chasing dreams and finding your way, Swim To Me will have you believing the impossible—even in mermaids from the Bronx.

I think it is the setting for this story that makes it so appealing- Weeki Wachee Springs, Florida- home of the famous mermaids. Delores Walker first sees the mermaids perform at age 14. An avid swimmer, she dreams of returning to Weeki Wachee and becoming a mermaid. Her father left home shortly after their return from the trip to Florida. Her self-pitying and unloving mother faded into a shadow of herself. The only hard part of leaving New York was leaving behind her baby brother, Westie.

It is 1973 and Delores' dreams are all out in front of her. Away from the sadness of her family, she comes into herself.

This isn't one of those hanging-on-the-edge-of-your-seat novels, but neither was it boring. It was interesting enough to keep the reader coming back. Interesting, also, was the brief appearance of Crystal Landy from Orange Blossom Special, Carter's previous novel. I think the most compelling part of the story, other than the setting, was the way Delores' parents changed for the better after they were apart. 

All in all, it's a decent read.

Read this story if...

*you like stories about families

*you like stories that take place in Florida

*you like stories set in the mermaid town of Weeki Wachee

*you like stories that take place in the 1970's

The Orange Blossom Special

Title: The Orange Blossom Special Author: Betsy Carter Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill Pages:296

From Amazon:

Carbondale, Illinois. 1958. For widowed Tessie Lockhart, booking two seats on a passenger train to Florida symbolizes a fresh start, far from her memories of love and loss. For Tessie’s teenage daughter Dinah, who misses her father terribly, the move to Gainesville means a new school and the painful ordeal of making new friends. Rich, popular Crystal Landy is one of the first girls Dinah meets—and it will be Crystal, along with her exquisite mother, Victoria, who will transform the Lockharts’ lives in ways they never could have imagined. For as war and change come to this small southern town, the bonds between mothers and daughters will be tested, friendships sealed, secrets revealed, and relationships forever altered by the turbulence of the coming decades. 

Wise, moving, and warmly funny, The Orange Blossom Special, spans twenty years in the lives of an unforgettable cast of characters. Betsy Carter has crafted a powerful, richly rewarding novel about growing up, moving on, and turning strangers into friends.

When Tessie Lockhart's husband dies, leaving her all alone with her eleven-year-old daughter in Carbondale, Illinios, she decides there is a need to make changes. Gainsville, Florida seems to be just the change they need. 

Tessie and Dinah both adjust to life in Florida and to the death of Tessie's husband, Dinah's father. Tessie gets a new job, struggles to make a life for her daughter and begins an affair with a married mogul. Dinah befriends the richest, most popular girl in school and also develops a friendship with Eddie, a boy with an extra finger and no friends to speak of.

From the late 1950's to 1986, this book follows a unique cast of characters through the pivotal years in their lives. It's a story of survival, friendship, and moving on.

Read this book if:

*you like southern fiction

*you like books that take place in small towns

*you like stories about mothers and daughters

Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women's Literary Society

Title:Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women's Literary Society Author: Amy Hall Hearth Publisher: Atria Pages: 234

I borrowed this book from my local public library.

From Amazon:

Eighty-year-old Dora, the narrator of a story that began a half century earlier, is bonding with an unlikely set of friends, including Jackie Hart, a restless middle-aged wife and mother from Boston, who gets into all sorts of trouble when her family moves to a small, sleepy town in Collier County, Florida, circa 1962.

With humor and insight the novel chronicles the awkward North-South cultural divide as Jackie, this hapless but charming “Yankee,” looks for some excitement in her life by accepting an opportunity to host a local radio show where she creates a mysterious, late-night persona, “Miss Dreamsville,” and by launching a reading group—the Collier County Women’s Literary Society—thus sending the conservative and racially segregated town into uproar. The only townspeople who venture to join are regarded as outsiders at best—a young gay man, a divorced woman, a poet, and a young black woman who dreams of going to college.

This brilliant fiction debut by Amy Hill Hearth, a New York Times bestselling author, brings to life unforgettable characters who found the one thing that eluded them as individuals:a place in the world. Inspired by a real person, Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women’s Literary Society will touch the heart of anyone and everyone who has ever felt like an outsider longing to fit in.

Dora Witherspoon won me over on the first page. An intelligent and caring divorcee', she whiles away her days in a small town post office.  When glamorous Jackie, newly arrived from Boston, starts a reading group, Dora can't wait to attend. She and the other members of the group are largely outcasts in this small southern town. Slowly they develop a friendship that bonds them together when tragedy strikes. 

I enjoyed this book. It realistically portrays life in a small southern town, as well as how northerners are perceived in the south. A fish out of water, Jackie has no idea how her northern ways and words are interpreted by others in Collier County. The price she pays for this is a heavy price to pay, but is enlightening for all in the end. 

Hearth's writing style is easy and enjoyable. This book isn't weighted down by endless detail. She gets to the point and tells her story in an easy-going style. I look forward to reading more of her work.

Turtle in Paradise

Title: Turtle in Paradise Author: Jennifer L. Holm Publisher: Random House Pages: 177

I borrowed this book from my school library.

Summary (from the verso):
In 1935, when her mother gets a job housekeeping for a woman who does not like children, eleven-year-old turtle is sent to stay with relatives she has never met in far away Key West, Florida.

I must say from the beginning that I really enjoyed this book and have found myself repeatedly recommending it to my students. Turtle is a delightful girl with a realistic (and refreshing) outlook on life.  Sure, she has had her share of hard knocks, but she is clever and witty enough to survive and make the best of things.  She repeatedly outsmarts older kids and adults alike. The Depression- Era Key West setting makes a great background for this hilarious and heartwarming story. The ending was not what I expected, but it was exactly what Turtle needed. A great read.

Rad this story if:
*you love children's fiction
*you love historical fiction
*you love stories that take place in an island setting
*you love stories with a strong female protagonist