by Fannie Flagg
Published by Random House in 2004
Summary and Review: I have mentioned on this blog at various times in the past my dislike of most female authors as I think they tend to get way too bogged down in describing all of the details of a scene rather than giving us the important pieces and getting quickly to the point. Now I find myself needing to confess. I was in the Half Price Books clearance section the other day looking for my favorite authors for a buck when I cam across this book by Fannie Flagg. Now I grew up watching Match Game and loved Fannie on that show. I knew she was an author that wrote about her southern heritage and really captured the culture, pace and attitude of the south, but I had never read her. In a moment of weak nostalgia I purchased the book and began to read it over lunch. Two days later I was done. I really enjoyed the book and am ready to read others by Ms. Flagg.
This is the story of Oswald Campbell, a man who has been given a life prognosis by his doctor in Chicago of just a few months if he doesn't get to a warmer climate. At his doctors recommendation he finds himself in the tiny, Alabama town of Lost River. As he boards with Betty Kitchen and her somewhat senile old mother he begins to become endeared with the various characters that inhabit the small town, including a little orphan girl named Patsy and a redbird named Jack that lives in the local grocery store. It is a story of transformed lives, small town camaraderie and the hope that can only come from selfless love.
The book presents an attracting group of characters that you, as the reader, find yourself wanting to be gathered around a potluck table with locked in conversation. More than the characters the book really captures the culture of a small southern town. Their love for one another, their sense of hospitality towards everyone including strangers from the north, and their love of life in all of its simplicity. The details presented are more than I am used too, but just enough to really capture the scene in a way that you can truly imagine it. You will laugh, you will cry, but in the end your heart will feel lighter and you will have a little hope restored.
Reading Recommendation: I can't believe that I am about to recommend reading a female author, but it is a great read and worth the small amount of time to read it.
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