Warning this contains a spoiler
This is a warm, wonderful read. The characters are so well written that I felt that all of them were people that I knew all of my life. Georgia, her mother and brother made me laugh out loud. Brother is a piece of work and we all have someone, or know of one like him in our lives. Childress makes him likeable when in real life he may nothing more than a problem to deal with. All of the characters in the book are developed beautifully, even the one that you may not like is well written.
Georgia’s mom, Little Mama, is a woman who I fell in love with. She reminded me of my own mother especially as she was getting older, more forgetful and at time downright hilarious.
The story is set in Six Points Alabama, or it could be any small town where people stay and make a life. There are many secrets in this book and Childress lets us discover them all. The town’s secrets and Georgia’s secretes. Of course secrets never stay hidden. They always come out in the end and give the story spice. The best secrete in the book are of course Georgia’s. She keeps her own and half the town’s secrets, and does so in a way makes for a good read. Her main source of income is “entertaining” gentlemen in the back part of her house. For the life of me, I don’t know how she hid it for so long from her mother and brother and all of her friends, but she does. She claims to be sewing quilts, but no-one can do that much sewing! As in real life one half truths, or one outright lie, always begat’s another and that is true here also. Childress handles these beautifully. I got caught up with them as well as Georgia did ! I loved it all !
Georgia makes choices in the book, some good and some bad, as we all do. Childress ties her llife and choices in with 9/11 and with Katrina. This works because it is so true in real life. 9/11 changed many lives in small and big ways. People re-assessed their priorities and made changes accordingly. The changes that Georgia makes are no different. The one that involved her biggest secret is the most positive part of the story.
When Georgia was in high school, she dated and became pregnant by her black boyfriend. This was a definite no-no for that period of time especially in the South. For me the incredible part was that in the story time line, this would have been the 1980’s not the 1i940’s or 50’s. I would have thought that 20 some odd years past the civil right bill of 1964 that attitude toward inter-racial dating would have changed and boy would I have been so wrong! In the story she goes away, has the baby and gives to her boyfriend’s family to raise. She does send money toward his care every month, whatever she can after paying for everything else in her life. This is all from her “entertaining” and he other side line of selling hand mage quilts that she never made. Well life changed and her son comes into her life. Some of the books funniest scenes are between her son and her demented mother. I guarantee you will never forget them. The choice that she makes regarding her son and her life are the best in the book. This is where Katrina comes into play and you just know that things are not going to go as planned.
Georgia is a woman, like many of us, who may sometimes make wrong choices. In the end she finds away to make them right, We can all relate to that.
This is really good book and I know that I will re-read it, both for its humor and it’s insight. I hope thagt Childree does a follow up to her life, I sure would love to read more about her.
No comments:
Post a Comment