Cold Sassy Tree

I have a distinct memory of one of the English classes at my high school being required to read this, though not mine. I remember one of my best friends complaining about how boring it was.

It was NOT boring, though I can see why a high schooler wouldn't “get” this book. It's not fast-paced, but rather it's LANGUID. It's small-town gossip, back when there were barely even telephones and indoor plumbing was still a novelty.

The slower pace made it perfect reading for when we went camping, where we literally had nothing we had to do except eat, sleep and hop in the lake when it got too hot to live.

I enjoyed it a lot, and also there are some quite dark things here, so as such: CW for racism, classism, suicide; rape, incest and pregnancy loss all occur off-page.

Family dramedy told from the perspective of the 14-year-old grandson. Story takes place in a small town in Georgia in the early 1900s. I listened to the audiobook - which was well done. The story gets better as you go along - it does take a bit to get all the characters established. The story is humorous, but it is interwoven around the themes of death, mourning, and social taboos. With those topics and the memorable characters, there's enough depth to this one that I suspect I'll be chewing on some aspects for awhile.

I initially thought that this was an enjoyable, light read. As the book progressed, it continued to be enjoyable but it got decidedly heavier. It is a wonderful portrayal of small-town Southern life, with memorable characters (although I continually wished that Will Tweedy had some freedom to express the things he was thinking and feeling).

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