Bonnie Duke Cullman is cast out of her comfortable life in Atlanta when her husband files for bankruptcy. Newly divorced, she relocates to Florabama, Alabama, to take a job as coordinator of a program for displaced homemakers at a community college. It's Bonnie's first job in 25 years, but she quickly overcomes her jitters and starts to enjoy working with her hard-luck clients. Bonnie encourages the women to turn their fine sewing skills to making party garments for little girls to sell in an upscale Atlanta boutique. Meanwhile, a romance begins with Riz, an old friend with whom she spends several exciting weekends. Just when it seems we're headed for some pat, predictable resolutions, the story takes a few detours. Thanks to Bonnie's friend's irresponsible daughter, the party-dress scheme fizzles; Riz is not after all the man of Bonnie's dreams; and the displaced homemakers program ends after a year for lack of funding, leaving Bonnie to start over yet again. Battle's mature characters and Deep-South setting should appeal to lovers of Anne Rivers Siddons.
Booklist Review; February 2001.
Booklist Review; February 2001.
Open HouseElizabeth Berg
Samantha (Sam) Morrow doesn't understand why her husband, David, wants a divorce. Suddenly, she finds herself with a mortgage to pay, job skills that extend only to lead singer in a rock band, a preteen son, and overwhelming grief. So she maxes out David's credit cards and calls Martha Stewart for help. Sam listens to advice from her mother and her best friend but doesn't necessarily take it; for the first time in her life, she is thinking for herself. The boarders she decides to take in give her a new viewpoint; she gets a job as a temp and sees the world differently after each assignment. Finally, she meets a man named King, who is completely different from her ex-husband, and she slowly realizes how different men can be. By the time Sam has regained her equilibrium, she is a new person. When David decides he wants to 'come home,' she does not hesitate to tell him that it is too late. Berg writes with clarity, accurately capturing the aftermath of an adjustment of the heart. Her characters are true to life, with diverse and complex emotional reactions to real-life situations.
Library Journal Review; June 2000.
Circle of QuiltersJennifer Chiaverini
Elm Creek Quilt Camp is firmly at the center of her latest novel in the series, though Chiaverini broadens the geography and characters. An ad for an instructor at the camp attracts candidates from near and far, all offering a look at different perspectives on what quilting means in their lives. Maggie, who works at a convalescent home, stumbled into quilting when she found one at a garage sale and traced its history; Russell, who completed the cancer quilt begun by his wife before she succumbed to that disease, brings an abstract aesthetic--and a male perspective--to the craft; Anna, who is as creative a chef as a quilter, lacks the confidence to stand up for herself in a failing relationship; and Gretchen is a veteran quilter who has struggled with humble beginnings, but her abiding love for the craft has inspired her to make of it a life and a business. All pass through Elm Creek Quilt Camp as the women who run and love the camp deliberate the meaning of the art form.
Booklist Review; April 2006.
This entertaining second novel from the author of the well-received Buster Midnight's Cafe could be a sleeper. Set in Depression-era Kansas and made vivid with the narrator's humorous down-home voice, it's a story of loyalty and friendship in a women's quilting circle. Young farm wife Queenie Bean tells about the brief membership of a city girl named Rita, whose boredom with country living and aspirations to be an investigative reporter lead her to unearth secrets in the close-knit group, called the Persian Pickle Club after a coveted paisley print. Queenie's desire to win Rita's friendship ('We were chickens... and Rita was a hummingbird') clashes with her loyalty to the Pickles when Rita tries to solve the murder of a member's husband, in the process unearthing complicated relationships among the women who meet each week to quilt and read aloud to each other. The result is a simple but endearing story that depicts small-town eccentricities with affection and adds dazzle with some late-breaking surprises. Dallas hits all the right notes, combining an authentic look at the social fabric of Depression-era life with a homespun suspense story.
Publishers Weekly Review; July 1995.
When Charlie Kate Birch revives a North Carolina man after an unsuccessful lynching in about 1900, he gives her a watch, a box of snuff, and a rabbit's foot charm for the easy life. Charlie Kate, a self-educated doctor, is a woman ahead of her time talented, headstrong, popular, successful. Her marriage to an illiterate ferry operator on the Pasquatank River deteriorates to the point that he abandons her and their daughter, Sophia. Charlie Kate perseveres, teaching Sophia from her wide store of knowledge, but her daughter, at 18, marries a 'cad' whose philandering makes her life miserable. They do manage to produce Margaret, though, yet another in the line of intelligent and beautiful Birch women. When Sophia's husband dies, the three women live together harmoniously. One Christmas a young man gives Margaret all the icons and charms from his childhood, but she cannot think of a gift of equal value, so she turns to her grandmother for advice. The charm for the easy life is immediately passed on to Margaret for her use with the warning that the word 'easy' can be defined in many ways. Gibbons's writing resonates with Southern charm, depicting the lives of her strong characters with depth and clarity.
Library Journal Review; August 2000.
Returning home to Harmony, IN, after college, Sam Gardner becomes the pastor of Harmony Friends Meeting by default. He's the only unattached pastor around, and as Mrs. Fern Hampton declares, 'You can do it, Sam.E Besides, we're desperate.' As Sam reconciles the perfect teachings of seminary with his imperfect congregation, the hilarity grows. The cast includes cantankerous church elder Dale Hinshaw, suspected mob member Vince Toricelli, traveling evangelist/former wrestler Billy 'The Mississippi Midget' Bundle, the Friendly Women's Circle, and a host of other characters who have to be read to be believed. Filled with grace, forgiveness, and the necessity never to tell his mother that he left the freezer unplugged, Sam's journey in faith teaches through the shared medium of laughter.
Library Journal Review; September 2000.
The Last Odd DayLynne Hinton
In this hushed tale of love and duty, Hinton (Friendship Cake, etc.) tells the story of Jean Witherspoon--half Cherokee, half white--who learns that her husband of 57 years has kept a secret from her for decades. Growing up in an isolated North Carolina mountain home, Jean is awed by her parents' deep love for each another. She herself meets O.T., a 'handsome, attentive' soldier, who marries her just before he leaves for World War II. When he returns, he is a changed man, and Jean, lonely, grows desperate for a child. She finally conceives, but the tragic birth of a stillborn baby changes their relationship. Decades later, O.T. is in a nursing home after a stroke. When a nurse asks an innocent question about the visits of a woman the nurse thinks is Jean's daughter, Jean begins to guess at the truth. Her feelings of betrayal and anguish at her husband's infidelity are made worse when he dies, leaving her to face his daughter alone, but in the end she finds an unexpected peace, convinced that O.T. loved her as best he could. Hinton convincingly evokes a love that is based more on shared experiences and obligation than passion. Publishers Weekly Review; May 2004.
HandymanLinda Nichols
When Maggie Ivey unloads her problems on the wonderful, understanding man in the office of eminent psychologist Jason Golding, she doesn't realize that the listener isn't the doctor but a contractor hired to install a 'rebirthing' hot tub. Jake Cooper is basically a good man, but he can't bring himself to embarrass Maggie or himself by revealing the truth. Instead, he tries to help Maggie the way he knows best, by fixing the things that are wrong in her life. There are only two problems with this plan: Maggie thinks the 'doctor' is operating on the three-week schedule outlined in his book The 21 Day Life Overhaul, but the real doctor is due back any day from heart surgery in New York. On this skeleton is hung the funniest, most poignant love story to come off the presses in years. Nichols manages to get in some sly digs at psychobabble and self-help fads, but her humor tends to be warm and forgiving rather than malicious. Recommended for anyone who wants a novel that touches both the heart and the funny bone.
Booklist Review; December 1999.
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