The Whole Town's Talking by Fannie Flagg

"Oh my, thank you, Lordor, but I'm afraid this is just one of those times when mere words are just not adequate. It's certainly beyond beautiful or euphoric. I would say 'sublime' is the only word that comes close, and even that doesn't capture it. All I can say is it's a feeling you never dream existed, and it just keeps going."
             -Katrina Nordstrom, from the novel

What do you think heaven will be like? The folks at Still Meadows cemetery in Elmwood Springs Missouri try to let us in on it in this novel. In fact, the quote above is from one of the "heavenly" residents who is describing it for a new arrival. It may seem a bit far-fetched but the images are pleasant enough.

The Whole Town's Talking begins in 1889 with the arrival in America of young Swede, Lordor Nordstrom. He makes a home and begins building a dairy farm in Missouri. He finds a mail-order wife, starts a family, becomes successful and is beloved by the town he has founded, Elmwood Springs. His legacy is carried on throughout the story. The novel is laid out in decades all the way up to 2016, and beyond. Interestingly a lot of American history and culture come into play for example women's suffrage, Lindbergh's flight, Bonnie and Clyde, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, etc. In the WWII era, it was interesting that Ms. Flagg tied in the WASPs that she had written about in detail in a previous novel The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion. (An excellent one, I must say!)

There were an awful lot of characters to keep up with here---family and townsfolk over many years. When they died you still had to keep track of them because they were still around "in spirit." And then there's the mystery of why some of the deceased in Still Meadows disappeared. You must keep reading to learn! I am rating this one a 4. I really liked it but not as much as most of Flagg's other work. I'd be interested to know what YOU think of the ending!

Let the Circle Be Unbroken by Mildred D. Taylor

"Will the circle be unbroken
By and by, Lord, by and by?
There's a better home a-waiting
In the sky, Lord, in the sky."
        from "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" by Ada R. Habershon

Since my discovery of a series of books by Mildred Taylor while teaching fifth grade, she has become one of my favorite authors! By far the best, and even a Newbery Medal winner (1977) was Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, an historical novel about a black family in rural Mississippi during the depression. It is a powerfully moving story that will make you laugh and cry and give you goosebumps. I read it aloud so many times to my students, I knew what was coming and my stomach would start churning or I would get a little choked up. The racism is pretty intense, but realistic, I think, and the upside is how the Logan family survives it all. The Horn Book says this: "The fear, cruelty, and the bewildering injustice of a hopelessly racist society are transcended by a family's strength, self-respect and determination."

Let the Circle Be Unbroken is the first sequel, a continuation of the Logan family saga, with similar themes and a few added characters and situations. For example, friend T. J. goes to trial for a crime that occurred in Roll of Thunder...., cousin Suzella passes for white and beloved neighbor Mrs. Lee Annie is determined to register to vote. The last two characters were introduced in this sequel along with some union men trying to enlist farmers, white and black, to fight back against the unjust system of government controls.

I was rereading this novel for the first time in quite a while and found it a page-turner since I had forgotten some of the details. It gets a 5 rating from me, along with anything else written by Mildred D. Taylor!

The Death of Santini by Pat Conroy

"Though I had written my novel as a way of trying to save myself, the screams of the hurt boy I had been still echoed in the deep well he fell in when I became a man. The stories I hadn't told or was afraid to tell were the ones that were killing me. My course and my history as a writer were now set in granite---my work would be father-haunted and emotional enough to ward off these exhausting bouts of madness."
                                   -Pat Conroy in The Death of Santini

I may be repeating myself but Pat Conroy has recently become one of my favorite authors. I read The Great Santini several months ago and was intrigued by the story and captured by the beauty of the writing. Most of Conroy's writing involves his dysfunctional family, in fact he is quoted by John Berendt in Vanity Fair: “One of the greatest gifts you can get as a writer is to be born into an unhappy family. I could not have been born into a better one....I don’t have to look very far for melodrama. It’s all right there.” This is probably why his work seems so realistic and compelling---he has experienced most of the characters, settings and events.

The Great Santini is thinly disguised fiction, with the main characters being Conroy's family with changed names, e.g. Marine fighter pilot Colonel Don Conroy is the abusive father Bull Meecham. On the other hand, The Death of Santini is noted as fiction on the copyright page but seems very autobiographical to me. In the latter, the author tells about the aftermath of the first Santini novel as well as relating background and inspiration for his other books. He tells of his teaching experience on Daufuskie Island about which he wrote The Water Is Wide. (As a former teacher, I found it extremely touching and inspirational.) Conroy describes his time at the Citadel, happenings in the lives of his siblings, his own depression and breakdowns (see beginning quote) and the deaths of his parents with vivid emotion. The story of his grandmother, Stanny, and friend Bernie visiting the graveyard is a humorous interlude.

While it is unpleasant to read of children growing up in an abusive home, Conroy's authentic voice and stellar crafting of language make the story irresistible. His lush prose is lyrical in parts, particularly when describing his coastal South Carolina home. I will rate this book a 5. It has made me wish to see "The Great Santini" and other movies based on Conroy's work and I have decided I will read every book in his repertoire. I have a few to go!