Call the Canaries Home

 

Call the Canaries Home

Author: Laura Barrow

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Publication Date: July 1, 2023

    Three sisters arrive at the home of their grandmother in Muscadine, Louisiana. They are here to dig up a time capsule they buried 25 years before. Rayanee and Sue Ellen left Louisiana as soon as they were old enough and had no desire to return However their younger sister, Savannah, finally persuades them to keep the promise they made 25 years ago.

    The reunion with their grandmother is strained, at best. Her house is full of painful memories of their mother, now deceased, and of their sister, Georgia. Georgia is Savannah's twin. She disappeared while swimming with her sisters one summer and was never seen again. While going through the time capsule, the girls make a startling discovery in an old photograph. As more questions are asked, a mystery begins to unfold and long-buried secrets are brought to light.

    This book is a real page-turner. The more secrets are revealed, the more twisted the plot becomes. The ending is quite surprising. It was the opposite of what I thought it would be. I highly recommend this book.

 Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly

*I received a digital copy from the publisher. I was not compensated in any way.

author: Marie Bostwick

publisher: William Morrow

release date: May 30, 2023

    Having lost her job and her marriage, Esme Cahill returns to the lake resort where she was raised by her grandparents. Her grandmother, Adele, had asked Esme to return to Last Lake just before she passed away. Now Esme finds her grandfather, George, and her estranged mother, Robyn struggling to keep the resort out of financial ruin. Not only are the finances shaky, but the resort itself is run down as well. On top of that, George has hired a mysterious (handsome) new chef that lives out of a van.

    In a storage room, along with Adele's beautiful quilts, sits a box of items Adele left for Esme. As she goes through the box, Esme slowly unravels her grandmother's secret past and a beautiful love story.

. I think that one of the things I enjoyed so much about the story is that it adds a few touches of the unexpected. There are quite a few "stories within the story". Esme's relationship with her mother is strained at best since Esme was taken from her care as a child and placed in her grandparents' custody. Both Robyn and Esme have their share of regrets, and Robyn has a few secrets of her own.

Esme's story is interspersed with chapters of Adele's. As Esme finally learns what brought Esme to Asheville and why she decided to stay, she has to take a long look at herself and her own life choices. This is a book about our dreams and the decisions we make to follow them, or let them go.

Read this book if...

...you love southern fiction

... you love stories of coming home

... you love books about family.

The Thing About Home by: Rhonda McKnight

 The Thing About Home

Author: Rhonda McKnight

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publish Date: May 9, 2023

*I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Casey Black is known worldwide as @YourGirlCaseyB, a famous influencer. However, when her life falls apart in front of millions of followers, she is humiliated and doesn't know where to turn. Her overbearing mother/ manager is too much to handle. Her husband wants a divorce.

Casey leaves New York City for the Lowcountry of South Carolina searching for her father's family. Her mother has never allowed her to meet them or even know about them. 

Arriving in South Carolina, she finds the family she never knew. Through her Great-grandmother's journals, she learns the history of her family and their 300-acre farm in Georgetown. The slow-paced lifestyle, delicious food, and love of a family bring healing to her heart and soul. 

As old family secrets come out and she learns the truth about her life, Casey has to make some choices. This is her story.

I truly enjoyed reading this book! I love the South Carolina Lowcountry. The Gullah-Geechee culture is fascinating and beautiful The food is amazing. McKnight truly captures the beauty of the region and the people who call it home. The characters are well-rounded. I could see the people, the land, and the food. 

I don't read many books with romance as a key player. However, this one was a joy to read. I look forward to reading more books by Rhonda Mcknight. She brings the beauty of the region and its people to all of us through her words.

Read this book if...

...you love southern fiction

...you love stories about the South Carolina Lowcountry

...you love feel-good stories

...you are interested in the Gulla-Geechee culture

...you love romance

...you love starting-over stories

Dark Secrets of the Old Oak Tree

 Dark Secrets Of the Old Oak Tree (Southern Tree Series)

by: Delores J. Wilson

Publisher: Medalion Press

Pages: 350

Publish date: 2010

From Amazon:

Following the end of her 15-year marriage to a high-powered attorney, Evie Carson returns to her small hometown in Georgia only to stumble upon a horrible secret. She is stunned into silence as she watches a mentally-challenged member of the community carry the nude, lifeless body of her childhood friend. The authorities are sure that once the man is arrested, the town's nightmare will be over. But when he turns up dead and Evie's home becomes the center of bizarre events, she and an investigating state trooper fear she may be the next victim. With his help, Evie wages a battle to save her life against the secrets of the oak tree. Soon, she begins to wonder if she is safe from anyone in her hometown, including the state trooper.

My thoughts:

(No spoilers!)

    This is one of the best murder mysteries I have read in a long, long time. I literally could not put it down. There are all sorts of twists and turns, and the murderer is completely unexpected. This is a real page-turner. I thought I knew the culprit several times and was wrong every single time.

This is the first book I have read by this author. It will not be the last! If you read this blog, you know I love Southern Fiction. This story takes place in a small southern town. The setting and characters are very believable. 

This is a great book to cozy up with on a dreary winter day (or rainy night). I highly recommend it. You won't be able to put it down.

Read this book if...

    *you love murder mysteries

    *you love southern fiction

    *you love small-town stories

    *you have plenty of time to read (because you will not want to put it down)

Miss Pearly's Girls: A Captivating Tale of Family Healing by: Reshonda Tate Billingsley

 Publisher:Dafina  Pages:272

From Amazon:

Raising four very different daughters on her own in rural Arkansas wasn't easy for Miss Pearly Bell. And she's always regretted that the sisters went their separate ways for good—and never wanted to see each other again. But when Pearly is stricken with a terminal illness, she summons them all home—determined to somehow help them get right with each other and forgive...But that means dealing with past secrets and lies first.
 
As the oldest sister, pastor's wife Maxine took her responsibility way too seriously—and never fails to judge everyone else. But a secret she can no longer keep will explode everything she stands for. Youngest sister Leslie is all about making a very different life with her new love—but she didn't expect a shattering past truth to be suddenly revealed and uproot everything she ever thought she knew. Elegant PR professional Stella and her earthy twin, Star, don’t see eye-to-eye on anything—and now a long-ago deception could wipe out their last chance at a relationship.
 
Soon each sister must confront the illusions they've taken refuge in for so long and deal with each other woman-to-woman. But can building an all-too-fragile trust repair the damage done—and help them come together when they are needed most?

My thoughts:

This is a wonderful book about sisters, family, daughters and mothers & healing. It is a story about love, both romantic & familial. There are secrets around every corner. Each sister has dealt with the past in her own way and none of those ways are especially healthy, with the exception of one. ( I don't want to add spoilers.) This story is told, in turn, through the eyes of each sister. The author does an amazing job of fleshing out the characters. We see them as they are- the good, the bad & the ugly. This is an unforgettable story.

Read this book if:

    *you love southern fiction

    * you love African American fiction

    *you love family sagas

    *you love stories about sisters

Memphis: A Novel by Tara M. Stringfellow

 Publisher: The Dial Press Pages:272

From Amazon:

    Summer 1995: Ten-year-old Joan, her mother, and her younger sister flee her father’s explosive temper and seek refuge at her mother’s ancestral home in Memphis. This is not the first time violence has altered the course of the family’s trajectory. Half a century earlier, Joan’s grandfather built this majestic house in the historic Black neighborhood of Douglass—only to be lynched days after becoming the first Black detective in the city. Joan tries to settle into her new life, but family secrets cast a longer shadow than any of them expected.

As she grows up, Joan finds relief in her artwork, painting portraits of the community in Memphis. One of her subjects is their enigmatic neighbor Miss Dawn, who claims to know something about curses, and whose stories about the past help Joan see how her passion, imagination, and relentless hope are, in fact, the continuation of a long matrilineal tradition. Joan begins to understand that her mother, her mother’s mother, and the mothers before them persevered, made impossible choices, and put their dreams on hold so that her life would not have to be defined by loss and anger—that the sole instrument she needs for healing is her paintbrush.

Unfolding over seventy years through a chorus of unforgettable voices that move back and forth in time, Memphis paints an indelible portrait of inheritance, celebrating the full complexity of what we pass down, in a family and as a country: brutality and justice, faith and forgiveness, sacrifice and love.

My Thoughts:

    This book is hard to put down. The author has a beautiful writing style. She can paint a million pictures with a simple sentence. This is a beautiful story of 4 generations of women living in the family home in a Memphis neighborhood. It is a story of family, sisters, and the struggles that single mothers face.It is a story of survival. It is a story of finding one's own truth and following one's dreams. I loved this book and I look forward to reading more books by this author.

Read this book if....

    *you love African-American literary fiction

    *you love southern fiction
    *you  love stories about sisterhood & family
    *you love family sagas

The Almost Sisters by: Joshilyn Jackson

The Almost Sisters Author: Joshilyn Jackson Publisher: William Morrow Pages: 384

From Amazon:

Superheroes have always been Leia Birch Briggs’s weakness. One tequila-soaked night at a comic-book convention, Leia is swept off her barstool by a handsome, anonymous Batman. She remembers he was tall, black, and an excellent French kisser—but not much else.

The Caped Crusader leaves her with more than just a fond, fuzzy memory. She’s having a baby. Though Leia always wanted to fall in love and have a child, as a young woman she learned exactly what betrayal felt like. Before Leia can break the news of her impending single-motherhood to her conventional lily-white Southern family, her perfect stepsister Rachel’s marriage—to the very man who broke Leia’s heart all those years ago—implodes. Worse, she learns her beloved ninety-year-old grandmother, Birchie, has been hiding her dementia.

Heading seven hundred miles south to Birchville, Alabama—the small town her family founded generations ago—Leia plans to put her grandmother’s affairs in order and clean out her big Victorian house. Just when Leia thinks she’s got it all under control, she learns that Birchie is hiding more than her illness. A dangerous secret with roots that reach back to the Civil War is tucked away in an attic trunk. Its exposure threatens the family’s reputation and freedom, and will forever change the way Leia views her ancestors, herself, and her baby’s future.

This book is about as honest as it gets when it comes to viewing the south as it really is. I don't mean how outsiders see it. I don't mean how we wish it was. I mean as it is. I'm not a fan of comics, so I wasn't much into that aspect, but I love how it all ties in together. This book is a beautiful story of family and race relations in the modern south as seen through the eyes of a 38-year-old white woman, a comic nerd (her words), who is pregnant with a bi-racial child. When her grandmother becomes ill, she travels to the small town of Birchville, Alabama with the intention of shutting down and selling out the family home. Instead, she uncovers a terrible family secret that changes the way she sees herself, her family, and her own unborn child. I don't want to include spoilers. I will just say that I could not put this one down. It has been a long time since I have read a book that didn't bore me.I highly recommend this book.

Read this book if:

*you love southern fiction

*you love mysteries

*you love family fiction/ sisters

*you love stories about race and race relations

Nora Bonesteel's Christmas Past by Sharyn McCrumb

Title: Nora Bonesteel's Christmas Past Author: Sharyn McCrumb Publisher: Abingdon Fiction, 2014 Pages: 157

When I saw this book, I knew I had to read it. I am a huge fan of Sharyn McCrumb's Ballad Novels, and I dearly love Appalachian fiction. Although this is a bit different from McCrumb's other novels, it is still a pretty good book. I LOVE that she goes into detail about how the original Appalachian people celebrated Christmas. (One thing I love about Sharyn McCrumb is that she values and celebrates the Appalachian culture.)
I was expecting a great deal of suspense- McCrumb's other works keep you on the edge of your seat. This one was more easy going. It did point out the difference in the natives of Appalachia and the summer people. Their lack of appreciation and understanding of the native culture is well illustrated here.
Mostly this book meanders slowly through two separate plots- a summer family has renovated a local mansion and feels that it is haunted. They seek Nora's psychic abilities to remedy the situation. Meanwhile, Sheriff Spencer Arrowwood and Deputy Joe LeDonne must serve a warrant on Christmas Eve in an area that is not known for its appreciation of the legal system.
Fans of McCrumb will not find the usual suspense, but they will find familiar characters in a light-hearted novella.

Read this book if...
*You love Sharyn McCrumb's other works
*You love southern fiction
*You love Appalachian fiction
*You love Christmas stories

The Oleander Sisters by: Elaine Hussey

Title: The Oleander Sisters Author: Elaine Hussey Publisher: Harlequin Mira Publication date: 2014 Pages: 338

In August, 1969, Biloxi Mississippi prepares itself for disaster as Hurricane Camille lurks on the horizon. As Beth (Sis) Blake and her family prepare themselves for Camille's approach, a disaster of another kind poses even more threat. Beth's sister, Emily, is engaged to marry a man that everyone else despises. Where Emily sees a new start for herself and her illegitimate son, her family sees evil lurking behind a too-slick smile.
Sis has been self-appointed caretaker and guardian for her younger siblings, Emily and Jim, since their parents died in a car crash when Sis was fourteen. Raised by their grandmother, Sweet Mama, and her best friend Beulah, the three Blakes grew up in a pink Victorian by the sea and in Sweet Mama's Bakery/ Cafe. Sis has put aside her own dreams in order to make sure Emily and Jim achieve theirs. Now it is 1969 and, as Emily embarks on her own wedding, Sis sees her own chances at love slowly fading away. Will the return of a childhood friend bring fresh hope?
As Camille lurks on the horizon, Sis' life is turned upside down. Jim returns from Vietnam and is no longer the brother she once knew. Emily is hiding more than fresh bruises, and, scariest of all, Sis discovers human bones buried beneath the roses in Sweet Mama's yard!
When tragedy strikes and Emily's life hangs in the balance, the Blakes pull together against Larry, against Camille, and against long-buried family secrets.

I enjoyed this book. I was immediately drawn into the story with Sis' horrifying discovery underneath the roses. Although the outcome is fairly predictable, the story is still enjoyable and the characters are likable. I loved the strong women in the story and the strong devotion to family. Both of these are true southern characteristics. The story was both suspenseful and heartwarming. A great beach or vacation read, I recommend this story to lovers of southern fiction.

Read this story if....
*you love southern fiction
* you love stories of family
*you love stories about strong women

Palmetto Moon: A Lowcountry Novel

Title: Palmetto Moon: A Lowcountry Novel Author: Kim Boykin Publisher: Berkley Pages: 320 2014

From Amazon:

June, 1947. Charleston is poised to celebrate the biggest wedding in high-society history, the joining of two of the oldest families in the city. Except the bride is nowhere to be found…

Unlike the rest of the debs she grew up with, Vada Hadley doesn’t see marrying Justin McLeod as a blessing—she sees it as a life sentence. So when she finds herself one day away from a wedding she doesn’t want, she’s left with no choice but to run away from the future her parents have so carefully planned for her.

In Round O, South Carolina, Vada finds independence in the unexpected friendships she forms at the boarding house where she stays, and a quiet yet fulfilling courtship with the local diner owner, Frank Darling. For the first time in her life, she finally feels like she’s where she’s meant to be. But when her dear friend Darby hunts her down, needing help, Vada will have to confront the life she gave up—and decide where her heart truly belongs.

This is a sweet, fairy-tale type story. It isn't entirely believable, but sometimes we all just want a happy ending. The characters were a little flat and stereotypical. The main character was not really likable- spoiled and self absorbed, she takes a job as a teacher but conveniently never steps into a classroom for the entire novel. That being said, this is a cute, fast beach read. It isn't bad at all. It isn't deep, but it isn't meant to be. When you need a light, quick, simple read with a happy ending, this is the one.

Read this story if...

*you love southern fiction

*you love fairy tales

*you love quick, light reads

*you love a happy ending

Madam: A Novel of New Orleans

Title: Madam: A Novel of New Orleans Authors: Cari Lynn and Kellie Martin Publisher: Plume Pages: 321 2014

 From Amazon:
When vice had a legal home and jazz was being born—the captivating story of an infamous true-life madam

New Orleans, 1900. Mary Deubler makes a meager living as an “alley whore.” That all changes when bible-thumping Alderman Sidney Story forces the creation of a red-light district that’s mockingly dubbed “Storyville.” Mary believes there’s no place for a lowly girl like her in the high-class bordellos of Storyville’s Basin Street, where Champagne flows and beautiful girls turn tricks in luxurious bedrooms. But with gumption, twists of fate, even a touch of Voodoo, Mary rises above her hopeless lot to become the notorious Madame Josie Arlington.

Filled with fascinating historical details and cameos by Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, and E. J. Bellocq, Madam is a fantastic romp through The Big Easy and the irresistible story of a woman who rose to power long before the era of equal rights.

I truly loved this book. The authors take you inside the life of a prostitute in New Orleans in the late 1800's. I actually learned a lot about this fascinating world. Although the story is called Madam, it really tells the story of Mary Deubler up until she became Josie Arlington, the madam. It stops before her life as a madam really began. I would love, love, love to read a sequel- to see what her life was like as madam and how it changed. This is a fascinating look at a different side of New Orleans . It was very hard to put down.

Read this book if:
*You love novels set in New Orleans
*you love stories of Storyville and the seedier side of the city
*you love historical fiction with a true basis

Dollbaby

Title: Dollbaby Author: Laura Lane McNeal Publisher: Penguin, 2014 Pages: 338

From Amazon:

A big-hearted coming-of-age debut set in civil rights-era New Orleans—a novel of Southern eccentricity and secrets

When Ibby Bell’s father dies unexpectedly in the summer of 1964, her mother unceremoniously deposits Ibby with her eccentric grandmother Fannie and throws in her father’s urn for good measure. Fannie’s New Orleans house is like no place Ibby has ever been—and Fannie, who has a tendency to end up in the local asylum—is like no one she has ever met. Fortunately, Fannie’s black cook, Queenie, and her smart-mouthed daughter, Dollbaby, take it upon themselves to initiate Ibby into the ways of the South, both its grand traditions and its darkest secrets.

For Fannie’s own family history is fraught with tragedy, hidden behind the closed rooms in her ornate Uptown mansion. It will take Ibby’s arrival to begin to unlock the mysteries there. And it will take Queenie and Dollbaby’s hard-won wisdom to show Ibby that family can sometimes be found in the least expected places.

For fans of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt and The Help, Dollbaby brings to life the charm and unrest of 1960s New Orleans through the eyes of a young girl learning to understand race for the first time.

By turns uplifting and funny, poignant and full of verve, Dollbaby is a novel readers will take to their hearts.

 (Warning: This does contain spoilers.) I loved this book! I was hooked from the beginning. I was drawn to Ibby, Fannie, Quennie, and Dollbaby. McNeal paints a nostaligic portrait of 1960's New Orleans from 1964-1972. There were a couple of characters whose actions I did not understand. I don't really understand why Graham was sent to boarding school.(I know the reason, but would Fannie and Norwood really do that?) I couldn't understand why Norwood would abandon Fannie after what happened with Muddy. (Not if he loved her the way he seemed to love her.) And I can't understand Fannie's actions in the end. Even though she did suffer from mental illness, I would think her life with Ibby would keep her from doing that. That being said, I did truly love this book and could not put it down. I look forward to MnNeal's next book. In response to those reviewers who felt it was too much like The Help, Secret Life of Bees, Etc., I disagree. Although they are all southern novels that deal with racial issues, Dollbaby stands on it's own. I highly recommend this book!

Read this book if:

*you love southern fiction

*you love coming of age novels

*you love stories that take place in New Orleans

*you love stories that take place in the 1960's

Sweetwater by: Christina Baker Kline

Title: Sweetwater Author: Christina Baker Kline Publisher: Aaron Asher Books Publication date: 1993

I chose this book because it was (1) southern fiction and (2) was the story of a woman starting over, so to speak. I love novels like that. Cassie Simon leaves behind an unfaithful lover and a dead end job at his art studio when she inherits a home from her grandfather in Sweetwater, Tennessee. She packs everything into an old station wagon and heads south to a family she doesn't remember. Having moved north with her yankee jewish father after her mother was killed in a drunk driving accident (the driver was her grandfather) when she was three, Christina knows nothing of Tennessee, the house she has inherited, or the family she has there. What follows is a story of getting to know her family and uncovering dark secrets about a mysterious drowning that took place on the farm shortly before her mother was killed. Each chapter is preceded by the thoughts of her grandmother, known as Clyde, as she thinks about her unhappy marriage. 

I really didn't enjoy this novel very much. It was sad, dark and dismal. It portrayed southerners as narrow-minded religious nuts, or unintelligent air-heads. It also has incest between cousins, which, although a joke with some northerners, is not accurate at all. Baker justifies the incest in the characters' eyes by saying one of them was adopted. It is still gross and not. It really does nothing to help an already bland story. (Maybe that's how y'all do things up north, but down here, it is just gross.) None of the characters were likable. All were angry, sad, and/ or one-dimensional. There were just too many cliches and stereotypes to make it believable, in my opinion. It was a great plot, but it just fell flat.

'Mater Biscuit by: Julie Cannon

Title: 'Mater Biscuit Author: Julie Cannon Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pages: 269 Copyright Date: 2004

From Amazon:

From the author of Truelove & Homegrown Tomatoes comes a heartwarming story of three generations of Southern women working to mend the rifts of the past and set paths for the future.

It is summer in Euharlee, Georgia, and Imogene Lavender's garden is bursting with snap beans, okra, and tomatoes. The household -- made up of Imo; her daughter Jeanette and her new baby; and Lou, Imo's niece -- is about to grow as well. Imo's estranged mother, Mama Jewell, has begun to show signs of senility, and Imo has decided that it is her duty to take her mother in. Mama Jewell brings with her some secrets from the past, including the story of Lou's mother, a revelation that sends Lou in search of her ne'er-do-well father. For Imo, who is feeling the squeeze of being in the middle of the generations, Mama Jewell's temperamental nature stirs up long-buried memories of a difficult childhood. And much to everyone's surprise, wild Jeanette is so determined to find a husband that she joins the church choir to be closer to the handsome and enigmatic young reverend. 

'Mater Biscuit is a wonderful evocation of small-town life in the South, a world where hard work and prayers unite the community. Life isn't always easy for Imo and her girls, but they have only to look as far as Imo's beloved garden to be reminded that all things change with the seasons.

I enjoyed this southern novel every bit as much as I loved Truelove & Homegrown Tomatoes.  'Mater Biscuit is a slow-moving novel or small-town Georgia as it (believe it or not) really is. Imo has to take in her mother after her dementia gets her kicked out of her apartment in a home for the elderly. This is hard for Imo, not only because she is already raising her own child, Jeannette (a teenage mother) and her baby and Loutishie (the child of her deceased sister) but also because Her mother was such an abusive mother. Imo is flooded with unpleasant memories of her terrible childhood at the hands of this woman and finds it hard to give her the care she needs. As she struggles to care for her mother, she grows more distant from Jeanette and Loutishie and neglects her friendship with her best friend Martha. The only thing that gives Imo solace is her precious garden. This is a heart-warming story of forgiveness that teaches the true meaning of family.

Read this novel is....
*you love southern fiction
*you love small-town novels
*you love women's fiction
*you love stories about family

May Wrap-Up Southern Literature Challenge

I read two books in May that qualified for the Southern Literature Challenge. They were :

Stardust by: Carla Stewart

and The Witch of Belladonna Bay by Suzanne Palmieri

This completes my goal of 4 books (which was the most you could choose in the challenge). Southern Literature is my favorite genre, so I will continue to read southern books. I will greatly miss this challenge now that I am done. I wish there were more Southern Lit challenges.....

The Witch of Belladona Bay

Title: The Witch of Belladonna Bay Author: Suzanne Palmieri Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin Pages: 367 pages

I absolutely loved this book! I knew I would. I loved The Witch of Little Italy. In this novel, Palmieri writes even closer to my heart- in the south. Bronwyn left Alabama at age 16, the night of her mother's funeral. Daughter of  a wealthy, privileged family plagued with addiction (her father to alcohol, her mother to opium), Bronwyn runs away from her life and the only people she has ever known and loved. She is also running away from a supernatural heritage- the women in her family are all witches. Fourteen years later, she is in a loving interracial relationship in upstate New York. A successful photojournalist, she has truly left her past life behind. Then, she gets a call from her father asking her to return home. Her brother has been sent to prison for murdering her best friend from childhood. Her niece, who possess more supernatural power than anyone knows how to handle, is running wild. Bronwyn returns to her childhood home to face the ghosts of her past (literally) and to find the truth that will set her brother free. In order to do this, she must face her past and accept her own supernatural abilities.
This is an amazing story, full of surprising twists and turns. The setting adds to the supernatural mystery. I could not put this book down! Palmieri's books are believable. The supernatural element blends flawlessly into the story, making it intriguing and intoxicating. Now for the sad part...we have to wait until she finishes the net one.

Read this book if...
*you love southern fiction
*you love books with a supernatural element

Stardust by: Carla Stewart

Title: Stardust Author: Carla Stewart Publisher: Faithwords Pages: 315

Georgia Peyton inherits the Stardust Hotel at a very opportune time. Her unfaithful husband has been found dead in a nearby swamp. With no way to support her two small daughters, the run-down hotel is a Godsend. However, in the times of Polio and Infantile Paralysis fears - not to mention the prejudices of a small town- life is not easy. With the help of Ludi, a black woman who worked for the former stardust owners, and Peter, a drifter, Georgia tries to start a new life.
Georgia also struggles with her own issues of having been abandoned at the Stardust years earlier by her parents. Raised by her (not exactly motherly) aunt, Georgia has had a hard life.
I will say that this story, although a little fairy-taleish in some places, deals with adoption more realistically than the last book I reviewed.  I really enjoyed the story. Not a very deep read, but still a great beach read.

Read this story if...
*you love stories set in the 1950's
*you love southern fiction

The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion

Title: The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion Author: Fannie Flagg Publisher: Random House Copyright: 2013

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

January Wrap-Up: Southern LIierature Challenge

I read one book in January that qualifies for the Southern Literature Challenge:

Lost Lake by: Sarah Addison Allen

Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen

Title: Lost Lake Author: Sarah Addison Allen Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pages: 294

I've been a huge fan of Sarah Addison Allen for a long while now, and Lost Lake does not disappoint. Allen's novels are at once magical, yet realistic - the real world mixed in with just enough of the supernatural to make it believable. I first met the  main character, Kate, in Waking Kate- Allen's novella which serves as a prequel of sorts to Lost Lake. Recently widowed, Kate finds herself being swept up into the world of her mother-in-law, a wealthy and ambitious real estate agent. As her mother-in-law slowly takes over her life, Kate finds herself packing up her belongings for the move when she runs across a letter from her great aunt Eby, which her mother had hidden. In the letter, Eby invites Kate to visit her at her South Georgia Lake resort, Lost Lake. The background for her most fond childhood memories, Lost Lake looms in Kate's mind as an oasis in the sea of confusion her life has become.  Suddenly, she and her daughter, Devin, pack all their belongings and head out for Lost Lake. Part adventure, part coming home, this story weaves the tale of not only Kate, but those who make Lost Lake their home, and those who return year after year. Not only is this a wonderful story, it is also a very interesting character study. I especially loved Selma. As the story begins, the reader finds her to be pretty unlikable- home-wrecker with a dour personality. However, as more and more of her life is revealed, Selma becomes not only likable, but thought-provoking. This is a great story and I highly recommend it.

Read this story if...

*you love Southern Fiction

*you love Sarah Addison Allen novels

*you love realistic fiction with a little magic mixed in

*you love stories of mothers and daughters