SouthernCategory Archives

The Healer of Fox Hollow by Joann Rose Leonard

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Reason for Reading:
  • The blurb on the cover from Naseem Rakha

I also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

According to folklore in the Smoky Mountains,“When you enter the world with your feet pawing the air before your eyes can see where to put them, it’s a strong sign you’ll lose your way from time to time.”

Right from the start, Layla Tompkin’s way forward is full of detours after her mother dies in breech birth, leaving only her and her devoted, sorrowful father, Ed. Then, at the age of five, Layla is rendered mute after a horrible accident. “God is leading Layla to speak in new tongues,” proclaims Pastor Simpson at the local serpent handling church. Soon after, Layla is found to possess the gift of healing and her reputation spreads. Even Doc Fredericks, the area’s skeptical physician, is forced to re-examine scientific tenets when Layla’s healing touch is the only treatment that brings relief to his son Brian, whose legs were blown off by a landmine in Vietnam. Doubt and the miraculous, loss and survival, hurt and forgiveness collide when a secret challenges what everyone holds true, leaving Layla, her family and the community profoundly changed in a story about what it means to be truly healed.

My Review:

I love being surprised by a book. I picked up The Healer of Fox Hollow for one reason – the blurb on the front from Naseem Rakha. Once I read the description of the story I acknowledged there were a few more elements that appealed to me: the southern setting, the touch of “magic,” the idea of overcoming physical adversity.

I don’t even know where to begin in gushing over this absolute gem of a novel. Because from the first chapter, I was hooked. Completely and totally hooked. And the reason for that? Layla.

Every once in a while I come across a book where the author is in so deep, knows his/her character so well, that the character seems to become an extension of themselves. When this happens, that character blossoms and is lit up on the page. My imagination caught and burst into flame when I read Layla’s story – I couldn’t get her out of my mind. I had to know her more.

The Healer of Fox Hollow is the story of Layla’s life – from five years old when a devastating event happens which robs her of her speech through the twilight years of her life. It deals with horrifying issues such as abuse, abandonment, depression, and war but counters those with the gentleness of spirit within Layla and those close to her, the open love, forgiveness, and most of all, hope. I was moved to tears several times, I’m moved to tears writing this and remembering how intimate this picture was to read. There were moments I felt as if I not only knew Layla, but she knew me and I was able to take comfort away from what I was reading, tuck it away for those moments when my own life seems dark.

The Healer of Fox Hollow doesn’t have a flashy cover or a thrilling story that will have you turning pages as your heart pounds with excitement. But what it does offer is something precious, relevant, and beautiful to experience. I hope you’ll take the time to experience it as well.

About the Author

  • Information regarding Joann Rose Leonard:

Wisconsin born JOANN ROSE LEONARD was Texas-raised and has chigger bite scars to prove it, theatre-trained and frostbitten at Northwestern University, and worked as an actress in New York.   She studied mime in Paris with Marcel Marceau while dubbing films into English to earn her daily baguette; raised 9 kids (2 human, 7 goats) in State College PA, where she was founder and director of MetaStages, the youth theatre program at Penn State University, and, with her husband, Bob, a retired professor and theatre director, has relocated to CA to be nearer their sons, Jonathan (DJ Child, an award-winning music producer and founder of the multi-media company, Project Groundation) and Joshua (actor/filmmaker including The Lie, Higher Ground and The Blair Witch Project.) Joann is author of The Soup Has ManyEyes: From Shtetl to Chicago; One Family’s Journey Through History, “From Page to Stage,” a chapter in Holt Rinehart Winston’s Elements of Literature and two collections of multicultural plays, “All the World’s a Stage Volumes I & II” (Baker’s Plays).   In her research for The Healer of Fox Hollow, Joann discovered that the truth the novel is based upon is infinitely stranger than the fiction she wrote.

 

For more reviews on The Healer of Fox Hollow by Joann Rose Leonard, please follow the book tour.

Lydia
20 August, 2012
Coming of Age, Favorites, reviews, Southern
4 comments
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The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield

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Reason for Reading:
  • I saw this in B&N back when it was first released and put it on my TBR list.

I also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

Every first Sunday in June, members of the Moses clan gather for an annual reunion at a sprawling hundred-acre farm in Arkansas. And every year, Samuel Lake, a vibrant and committed young preacher, brings his beloved wife, Willadee Moses, and their three children back for the festivities. In the midst of it all, Samuel and Willadee’s outspoken eleven-year-old daughter, Swan, is a bright light. Her high spirits and fearlessness have alternately seduced and bedeviled three generations of the family. But just as the reunion is getting under way, tragedy strikes, jolting the family to their core and setting the stage for a summer of crisis and profound change.

With the clear-eyed wisdom that illuminates the most tragic—and triumphant—aspects of human nature, Jenny Wingfield has created an enduring work of fiction.

My Review:

The Homecoming of Samuel Lake is a story not just about a homecoming for a man named Samuel Lake – it’s about what exactly that homecoming means. Confused? Let me explain.

When I opened Jenny Wingfield’s story I expected it to be about a man. I knew to expect secondary characters – but what I was given was a plate filled with people that each had their own personality, wit, and charm. I grew to love them, to hurt when their flaws were exposed, to cheer when they overcame hurdles placed before them, to weep when those hurdles beat them down. I laughed, cried, sighed, and prayed – and I did it so often you’d think I was watching a movie and not reading text on a page.

In this book, Samuel Lake is a pastor, and his type of pastor-ing reminded me very much of my own dad back in the day. He opened his arms to those people who weren’t dressed fancy, who didn’t come to church clean and shiny because he knew God loved them too. And it didn’t go well in the church – the ones that paid his salary. So of course, in this book – Samuel Lake has to find a way to take care of that.

Then there’s his wife, Winnifree – a strong, independent, fantastic woman. His daughter, Swan (lake) – yes.. that’s her name. She’s a firecracker and the blurb on the book is right – she reminded me a lot of Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird. This story is not all about Samuel Lake – it’s about his wife, his daughter, his sons, his brother-in-law, his mother-in-law, his sister-in-law, the neighbors, the police, the abused, the hungry, and the sick.

I figured this was a story I would enjoy from reading the summary, but what I wasn’t expecting was to be completely blown away. I was engrossed from beginning to end and upset when I had to say goodbye – but I feel as if the book has taught me enough to accept that goodbye with grace and I cannot wait to give the gift of this story to those around me.


About the Author

For more reviews on The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield, please follow the book tour.

 

 

Lydia
19 July, 2012
Coming of Age, Favorites, reviews, Social Issues, Southern
6 comments
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Secret Graces by Kathryn Magendie

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Reason for Reading:
  • Kathryn Magendie’s writing is so soft, homey, and perfect and I wanted to finish this beautiful trilogy. 

I also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

In this second book of Kathryn Magendie’s much-praised series about the journey of a woman dealing with the ghosts of a dysfunctional family, Virginia Kate Carey seeks the loving commitment that eluded her in Tender Graces.

“Vee” is idealistic and naive despite the witness she has served to the fractured heritage of her parents’ and grandmother’s dreams. Vee continues her journey toward wisdom, building small bridges over the chasms of hurt and longing. The inspiration of hope lingers in her. Tender Graces, and now, Secret Graces, explores three women’s lives: Daughter, Mother, Grandmother, and passes through the fulcrum of Virginia Kate’s emerging life as a lover and mother and storyteller, chronicling the heart ache and hope of her family and herself.

My Review:

Kathryn Magendie has a way of taking the most quiet, unassuming story, and driving it home, bit by bit, until I feel like sobbing and hugging Virginia Kate to pieces. One of my favorite things about “southern” writing is how down-to-earth it is, and nothing is more down-to-earth than Virginia Kate and her brothers.

Then there’s Rebekha – a woman who embodies everything that is a mother. She’s warm, welcoming, thoughtful, insightful, supportive, loving, and selfless. With this character, Kathryn Magendie has created something that reminds me so very much of my own grandmother who passed away so many years ago now. I connected with Virginia Kate as she washed and dried dishes with Rebekha, as she woke quietly to make breakfast, to make things easier, and as she sought for the wisdom of her stepmother, a woman I wanted her to so very much dislike in the first book of this trilogy.

It’s funny how characters win you over like that – in spite of everything against them they just creep inside, somewhat like this quiet story, and dig deep, finding all those old emotions and rekindling them and reminding their readers of memories long forgotten.

So when I think about southern books, I feel a warm glow and I open them with anticipation and hope and nostalgia, and I know when I open a book by Kathryn Magendie I won’t be reading something that will preach at me or talk over me in an attempt to tell a story that I may or may not get. Instead, I’ll be introduced to characters that I feel like I’ve known my whole life, and instead of losing myself in a strange world, I’ll feel like I just came home.

 

Don’t just take my word for it! Check out what these bloggers say!

Booklove | Story Circle Book Reviews


Lydia
9 June, 2012
Coming of Age, reviews, Southern
0 comments
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The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

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Reason for Reading:
  • This book has been on my TBR since 2009.  I watched the movie, so I had to read the book!

I also  recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

Sue Monk Kidd’s ravishing debut novel has stolen the hearts of reviewers and readers alike with its strong, assured voice. Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily’s fierce-hearted “stand-in mother,” Rosaleen, insults three of the town’s fiercest racists, Lily decides they should both escape to Tiburon, South Carolina–a town that holds the secret to her mother’s past. There they are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters who introduce Lily to a mesmerizing world of bees, honey, and the Black Madonna who presides over their household. This is a remarkable story about divine female power and the transforming power of love–a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.

My Review:

I get so conflicted with books like this.  Part of me feels like if I gush over it, I’ll be one of those white women who thinks that she can fully understand the issues African-American women faced back in the 60′s.. and part of me feels like if I criticize it (and thereby criticize myself for actually reading, and enjoying the story), that I’ll be fake and hypocritical.

So what do you do in that situation?

Lily’s story was, to me, like a really bad car accident in that it was hard to look away.  It wasn’t uplifting to me, or enlightening.  I thought it dealt well with the issues of guilt a girl could feel by being the cause of her mother’s death, I enjoyed reading about the sisters, the wailing wall, and the beekeeping.

However, the little quotes at the beginning of the chapter, and the feeling of self-centered-ness I got from Lily (and yes, I know she’s a child, but the book really seemed like it was unfairly tilted in her direction and the other women present were cast in the role of glorified support characters) kind of gave me a bad taste.  It felt as if the book was intended to be a sentimental story, targeting white women, in an effort to make us feel better about ourselves and how far we’ve come.

Again – that could have been me just being overly sensitive.

Anyways – I think I enjoyed reading the book about as much as I enjoyed watching the movie.  Once was enough – I think I’ll stick with a little more substance though for the next read.

Check out these reviews!

A Novel Menagerie

Books Without Any Pictures

Lydia
30 December, 2011
Coming of Age, reviews, Social Issues, Southern
2 comments
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Folly Beach by Dorothea Benton Frank

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Reason(s) for Reading:
  • I was looking for some summer beachy-type reads and this looked the part.

Summary from Goodreads:

With its sandy beaches and bohemian charms, surfers and suits alike consider Folly Beach to be one of South Carolina’s most historic and romantic spots. It is also the land of Cate Cooper’s childhood, the place where all the ghosts of her past roam freely. Cate never thought she’d wind up in this tiny cottage named the Porgy House on this breathtakingly lovely strip of coast. But circumstances have changed, thanks to her newly dead husband whose financial—and emotional—bull and mendacity have left Cate homeless, broke, and unmoored.

(Read more summary from Goodreads here.)

 

My Review:

One of the things I enjoy most about being on book tours is discovering authors I might not have been exposed to otherwise.  I’ve seen Dorothea Benton Frank’s name before, but never considered that these books might be something I’m interested in.  A series of steps led up to me asking to be on this tour – most of those steps involving an introduction of some sort to southern literature, and the final culmination being that I am, hands down, a fan of it.  Beth Hoffman, Rebecca Rasmussen, Sarah Addison Allen, Kathryn Magendie – all names of authors who have thrilled me, taught me to love this easy-going, sweet, magical style and now I’ll be adding Dorothea Benton Frank to the list.

Folly Beach is book number #8 in the Lowcountry Tales series.  I haven’t read books 1-7 (and have already started to request them from Paperback Swap) but it didn’t make a lick of difference, because this book had me hook, line and sinker with the opening act of the play involving the Heywards, Gershwin, and The Porgy House.     Frank did a beautiful job of weaving the story around each act of the play, and kept me completely mesmerized and in love with both sets of characters – that of Dorothy Heyward and Cate Cooper.

Now, in the interest of full honesty, there were a few parts that were so obvious, and worked out so conveniently well that I did roll my eyes a little bit – but just a little bit, because I was too happy at the progression of the story and loved the characters so much that I wanted the best for them, even if it was predictable.

This is the perfect beach-time, summer read.  The only thing that was missing while I read Folly Beach was the sound of the ocean, the warmth of the sun on my legs and a drink at my side, complete with little umbrella.

About the Author

 

For more reviews on Folly Beach by Dorothea Benton Frank, please follow the book tour.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from TLC Book Tours. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Lydia
6 July, 2011
Chick-Lit, reviews, Southern
2 comments
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Tender Graces by Kathryn Magendie

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Reason for Reading:
  • I loved Magendie’s Sweetie and wanted to read her other books

I also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

A gentle yet unflinching look at how we find our way home. A woman returns to her West Virginia roots to resolve the ghosts of her childhood. In the tradition of Rebecca Wells, Sue Monk Kidd, Olive Ann Burns, and Dorothy Allison. TENDER GRACES by Kathryn Magendie is strong literary women’s fiction written with exquisite style.

The death of her troubled mother and memories of her abused grandmother lure a young woman back to the Appalachian hollow where she was born. Virginia Kate, the daughter of a beautiful mountain wild-child and a slick, Shakespeare-quoting salesman, relives her turbulent childhood and the pain of her mother’s betrayals. Haunted by ghosts and buried family secrets, Virginia Kate struggles to reconcile three generations of her family’s lost innocence.


My Review:

West Virginia has never been a place on my “to-visit” list. I’m sure everyone can say they’ve heard some joke or another regarding the state, and while I can appreciate that it has its beauty (according to pictures I’ve seen), it’s just always seemed to me a place where sadness and depression would be.

While Tender Graces doesn’t debunk that thought of mine, necessarily, it also provides perspective and sheds light on it.  In spite of the sadness and depression (which is present everywhere), there’s beauty and hope and magic in that place – and that’s what the main character, Virginia Kate, finds through this story.

Virginia Kate’s mother is beautiful – too beautiful for her own good.  And as the years pass, Virginia Kate and her brothers watch their parents marriage crumble and new people are introduced to their lives, including a step-mama.  And folks, let me just say I was prepared to hate this woman right along with Virginia Kate – but Rebeckah became, by far, the most dynamic, amazing character in the book for me.

Kathryn Magendie provides beautiful, heart-wrenching emotions through the characters in this book that had me weeping along with them and hoping against hope that everything would turn out okay for them.  Set this against a backdrop of beauty, described by some beautiful writing, and it’s a southern story that embodies the very essence of a state that is poorly represented by most print that I’ve read.

Check out these review(s)!

Leeswammes Blog

Lydia
1 July, 2011
Coming of Age, reviews, Southern
2 comments
, , ,

The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy

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Reason for Reading:
  • I’ve never read Pat Conroy but this has been on my radar for years – finally got around to it!

I  also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

In his most brilliant and powerful novel, Pat Conroy tells the story of Tom Wingo, his twin sister, Savannah, and the dark and violent past of the family into which they were born. Set in New York City and the lowcountry of South Carolina, the novel opens when Tom, a high school football coach whose marriage and career are crumbling, flies from South Carolina to New York after learning of his twin sister’s suicide attempt. Savannah is one of the most gifted poets of her generation, and both the cadenced beauty of her art and the jumbled cries of her illness are clues to the too-long-hidden story of her wounded family. In the paneled offices and luxurious restaurants of New York City, Tom and Susan Lowenstein, Savannah’s psychiatrist, unravel a history of violence, abandonment, commitment, and love. And Tom realizes that trying to save his sister is perhaps his last chance to save himself. With passion and a rare gift of language, the author moves from present to past, tracing the amazing history of the Wingos from World War II through the final days of the war in Vietnam and into the 1980s, drawing a rich range of characters: the lovable, crazy Mr. Fruit, who for decades has wordlessly directed traffic at the same intersection in the southern town of Colleton; Reese Newbury, the ruthless, patrician land speculator who threatens the Wingos’ only secure worldly possession, Melrose Island; Herbert Woodruff, Susan Lowenstein’s husband, a world-famous violinist; Tolitha Wingo, Savannah’s mentor and eccentric grandmother, the first real feminist in the Wingo family. Pat Conroy reveals the lives of his characters with surpassing depth and power, capturing the vanishing beauty of the South Carolina lowcountry and a lost way of life. His lyric gifts, abundant good humor, and compelling storytelling are well known to readers of The Great Santini and The Lords of Discipline. The Prince of Tides continues that tradition yet displays a new, mature voice of Pat Conroy, signaling this work as his greatest accomplishment.

My Review:

There are some books that claim to be big family saga-type stories but just.. aren’t.  Then there are books like East of Eden by Steinbeck and The Colour by Rose Tremain that blow the socks off the reader and remind us what sagas really are.

The Prince of Tides is yet another to add to the list of mind-blowing, toe-curling sagas.

From the very start of this book, where smart-mouthed Tom begins to tease his children, put down himself and attempt to flee from his own mother’s phone call, this book had me hooked.  The smart, wise-cracking mouth of Tom, his self-loathing, his pain was made evident in just a few short pages.  And then, with the introduction of Lowenstein, the psychiatrist treating Tom’s suicidal sister, Savannah, a story begins to emerge that’s filled with so much heart-twisting drama, I couldn’t tear myself away from the book because I had to know what happened, I had to know why a boy who adored his mother couldn’t stand her any longer and why a twin sister wanted nothing to do with her twin brother.

This story tore my heart out.  I sat on my sofa and wept as key elements of the story were finally revealed, but it never got to be too much, because of Conroy’s masterful storytelling.  Just when the tension and the drama would reach that uppermost limit, just when I felt I needed to step back and compose myself, he would switch from the past, from Tom’s story, to the present-day and remind me of just who Tom was again.  Each time I would see a little more of the character who developed due to his past.

The characters in The Prince of Tides are so incredibly dynamic and real, I hated to leave them behind.  It was like leaving behind a friend, someone I’d journeyed with through amazing tension and drama and then had to say goodbye just when things were starting to look good again.  I was so impressed with this novel and laugh when I think about how naive I was when I began it – thinking that it was just another hyped up book and hoping it would move quickly so I could put it down and say that I’d read it.

I’ll be revisiting this story again though, and I’m sure again and again.  It’s too powerful not to read through it more slowly the next time and savor the beauty of the writing and the exquisiteness of the story development.

Check out these review(s)!

That’s What She Read

Lydia
23 June, 2011
reviews, Southern
0 comments
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Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman (Re-Read)

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
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Reason(s) for Reading:
  • This is a re-read for book club this month.
I  also  recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

For years, twelve-year-old CeeCee Honeycutt has been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille. The tiara-toting, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town, Camille was a woman trapped in her long-ago moment of glory as the 1951 Vidalia Onion Queen. But when she is hit by a truck and killed, CeeCee is left to fend for herself. To the rescue comes her previously unknown great-aunt Tootie in her vintage Packard convertible.

My Review:

This is the second time in less than a year I’ve experienced the joy that is CeeCee Honeycutt and the crew of beautiful women surrounding her.  I talked about how much I loved this book in an earlier review, so this time I want to just talk about a little of what we discussed in our book club.

Many women, after reading this story, felt as if they’d heard it somewhere else.  There were shades of To Kill a Mockingbird, Steel Magnolias and other very famous southern stories wrapped up inside CeeCee’s little story – but don’t think that this is a heavy book, because it’s not. It’s predicable in a very loveable way, it will touch your heart, it’s sweet with just the right touch of bittersweet to keep it from being too sappy.

What I loved most about this story is how Beth Hoffman manages to inject a little 60′s flavor into the book by noting various historical things (MLK speech), by touching on the barrier between races – but also keeps a very modern feel in the book.  Aunt Tootie was a very modern woman, especially for the time and her deceased husband, from all accounts, encouraged her.

I was a bit concerned going to the book club as to what we’d talk about, since the questions given for the reading guide were more personal in nature then I felt like asking – but we did manage to have quite the lively, and meaningful discussion that lasted over an hour.  So if that is worrying you, don’t let it.  I think you’ll find that if you suggest this to your own book club, it will be one of those books that everyone takes some enjoyment from.

Check out these review(s):

Books and Movies

Beth Fish Reads

Lydia
23 January, 2011
reviews, Southern, Uncategorized
0 comments
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The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove by Susan Gregg Gilmore

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Reason(s) for Reading:
  • I couldn’t resist the title.  The “Improper” Life?  Yeah – that’s a book for me to read!
  • Another case of the cover striking again, I just had to know what the story was about.
I  also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

A young woman searches for love in the most unlikely of places while fighting against the injustice of her time in this lyrical novel that is part Jeanne Ray and part Fannie Flagg.

My Review:

This is the year for me to read books revolving around the South in the 60′s – and each book is good in it’s own way, and has its own faults.

The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove was an interesting enough book – the  main character, Bezellia, was likeable enough, her mom was horrible enough, her dad was neglectful enough and her sister crazy enough.. but still I was left with an unfulfilled sense when I finished the book.  Only after thinking about it for a while did I finally pin-point the source.  There was really no triumph, no resolution, no closure.  And when you have a story that, at its roots, is tragic (dealing with class and race issues, alcoholism, neglect) there needs to be some kind of hope or closure for the story to feel complete.

So while Bezellia carried much potential, I felt she was cheated in the end.  I never felt that resolution happen.  Now, that could be a symptom of “happily-ever-after-itis”, but I don’t think it is, to be honest.  I’ve read tragic books that end without hope, but those I like always give me some sort of closing moment, a moment when I put the book down, wipe my tears and grieve for the characters or with the characters.

I don’t want to discourage anyone from reading about Bezellia Grove, and I think there is plenty in the book to satisfy anyone who picks it up … just enough.  I put it down though still feeling hungry for the story and wanting to have something more.  I do think this would make a fantastic book club pick – for the very reasons I’ve expressed in this review.  There is quite a bit left undone, so discussion would be very lively, I would imagine.

Check out these review(s):

Booking Mama

Jenn’s Bookshelves

Lydia
19 December, 2010
Coming of Age, reviews, Southern
0 comments
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Salting Roses by Lorelle Marinello

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Reason(s) for Reading:
  • After several really good Southern fiction books, I jumped at the chance to read this one when I saw it listed on TLC Tours!
I  also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

A young woman abandoned as an infant on an Alabama porch is horrified to discover that she is the missing heiress to a vast Connecticut fortune—a birthright she is desperate to reject in favor of her Peachtree Lane roots.

Gracie Lynne Calloway—once left in a coal bucket on a front porch in a small Alabama town—discovers on her twenty-fifth birthday that she is the kidnapped daughter of a late New England financier and heiress to a fortune. When the tabloid press and her unwanted greedy relatives descend on her, she has to admit the quiet secure life she’s known and loved is gone for good. As Gracie struggles to stabilize her world and come to terms with her new identity, she learns that belonging is not about where you came from but who you are.

My Review:

I’ve only recently (as in this year) become a fan of “Southern” fiction, books set in the south and ranging from Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind to Kathryn Stockett’s The Help to more modern stories such as Beth Hoffman’s Saving CeeCee Honeycutt.  I’ve been incredibly lucky to have read some fantastic titles, but also have read some.. not so fantastic ones.

So when I saw the description for Salting Roses I jumped at the opportunity to read it.  A sort of “Cinderella/Coming-of-Age” story? Yes please! I was so excited and dove right in.. and I was hooked, until things went even a little too overboard for me.

There is a lot of potential story in this book, and perhaps others will not have as much difficulty as I had, but there are so many “secondary” characters that I felt the story sort of.. got lost.  And then Gracie Lynn kind of got lost in it, and then I was confused as to what exactly the story was supposed to be.

I loved the start of the book, loved it.  I was a little perturbed by how outlandish the sum of money was that Gracie inherited, but I accepted that that’s a pet peeve of mine and got over it quickly.  I loved Ben and Artie and Alice, I loved the foundation being set for who Gracie Lynn was.  But then.. things drifted.

I think the problem with this book is that Ms. Marinello tried to get too much put into the story in too little pages.  I don’t think the book should have been longer though, just.. less conflict, less romance, less.. .something. Just one of those ingredients left out and I think it would have been better.  But instead, she seemed to go to extremes, starting with that pet peeve of mine – the huge amount of money.  Then instead of one mean person, there’s two.  Instead of one uncle, there’s an uncle and aunt… I could go on with a few more, but I think you understand what I’m talking about here.

The lesson in all of this is moderation.  With just a little bit less of everything, I think the story would have fit together more easily and been less confusing and more enjoyable. I don’t think the book was bad, I was just disappointed at how quickly everything had to move and everyone had to change to get to the ending.

About the Author

Lorelle Marinello has won numerous awards for her writing, including the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart for Best Single Title Romance in 2005.

Lorelle received her BA in Fine Arts from San Diego State University. She lives in Southern California with her huband and three children. In her free time she enjoys landscape gardening and researching her family’s Southern genealogy. Her first novel,Waltzing with Alligators, inspired by her Southern roots, will debut in 2008.

Visit Lorelle Marinello at her website here.

For more reviews on Salting Roses by Lorelle Marinello, please follow the book tour.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from TLC Book Tours. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Lydia
9 December, 2010
reviews, Romance, Southern
1 comment
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