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Summary: Political
Review: This book was nothing but a political zing at the Establishment. The old, very old, Flower Child syndrom. Waste of time and boring too.
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Summary: a different kind of family story
Review: Dorothy and Clancy Jane are sisters in the old South whose mother, Gussie, has a preference for Clancy Jane that Dorothy can't help but notice. When she comes of age, Clancy Jane is wild and gets pregnant out of wedlock, and runs away with the father (Hart) to get married and live in squalor down in New Orleans. Dorothy meantime has married Albert and lives right next door to Gussie with her 2 kids. The story shifts perspectives between the 3 women and trails from 1934 to 1972. Although Dorothy can behave hatefully at times, you feel sorry for her as she realizes there is no real way for her mother to love her, no matter what she does, while Clancy Jane can do whatever and always be the princes. No one is really evil, just human, and at times very sad. There are some horrifying moments -- the first chapter starts off with a character getting buried alive! There is death, rape, heartache .... but you will be glad you read someting that made you feel in the end.
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Summary: Dynamite Read!!!
Review: Just finished this book after reading the two YaYa books back to back. It was a page turner & always kept my interest. It's a book that is difficult to put down. Plot line was simple & direct without all the frou-frou of Ya-Ya books. Author did a great job with historical chronology. As a 50-something--I kept thinking, I've been there, I've done that!
I agree that the title should be changed as well as the book jacket cover. Jacket cover photo has nothing to do with the story.
Rating: 
Summary: Appropriate subtitle would be "Skeletons in the Closet"
Review: I couldn't help but relate Clancy Jane to the female love of "Forest Gump", Jenny....as she runs in search of life beyond her birthplace, beyond her destiny. Each mother and daughter in this story has her own skeletons to hide, or reveal when the time comes.
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Summary: Fun ,but should have another title.
Review: The title led me to believe there would be more antics and female bonding a la "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood". The ladies in this book are all related and much revolves around the changes in their relationships. Different chapters from different character viewpoints are appealing, but be prepared for a lot of pain and bad choices made by otherwise smart women.
Rating:
Summary: enjoyable read
Review: I really liked this book. Although I wouldn't go so far as to compare this book to the Ya-Ya's, it was a fabulous tale. The main setting was a small town in TN. The main characters were three generations of women from one family. The matriarch, Gussie and her daughters, Dorothy and Clancy Jane, and their daughters, Bitsy and Violet. In addition, we are treated to viewpoints from Gussie's maid Queenie, who has been with her since Dorothy was a small child. I won't go as far as some reviewers have and spoil the plot for you, but I will encourage anyone who likes Southern fiction to read this book. Ms. West shows the trials of this family, how secrets and miscommunication can affect our lives, and how our choices change our lives. This book spans the time period from 1932 until the early 1970's. You will be touched by these women and the problems they create for themselves and how they solve them.
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Summary: Crazy Ladies by Michael Lee West
Review: Crazy Ladies by Michael Lee West CRAZY LADIES is a novel that spans several generations of women and how they deal with various crises throughout several decades, paralleling American history starting from the 1930's through the 70's and 80's. The book opens up with Miss Gussie encountering an intruder that breaks into their home while her husband Charlie is upstairs getting ready to take a bath. She struggles with this crazed young man, and she later finds out that this intruder, who tries to rape her, is the son of Charlie's boss, Claude Wentworth, who happens to own half the town. Miss Gussie and Charlie are able to overtake the young man, and while he is still alive, they bury him outside in their garden. They tell no one, fearing that Charlie would lose his job. This son of Mr. Wentworth was a good-for-nothing boy, and if they kept their mouths shut, no one would be the wiser. And so begins a novel that is full of surprises and some interesting characters. Miss Gussie is the matriarch of the family. She has two daughters, Dorothy and Clancy Jane, who are as different as night and day. Dorothy is a very difficult girl, while Clancy Jane is the good daughter, and can never do no wrong, or so everyone thought. While Dorothy ends up being the good daughter, in terms of staying on the straight and narrow, it's Clancy Jane that ends up leaving home, getting into trouble, and living a life totally different from the life she left back in Tennessee. Clancy Jane's life takes her to the west coast, where she encounters a very bohemian lifestyle that changes her forever. I found CRAZY LADIES a very fun book to read. Although there were various serious issues that were covered in the book, I didn't find this to be a serious book at all. CRAZY LADIES would be a great summer read, fast paced and easy. I am looking forward to reading other novels by Michael Lee West.
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Summary: Wonderful, intelligent, I couldn't put it down.
Review: I finished this book in two days. The first chapters grabs you and doesn't let you stop reading. The characters are very well developed and enjoyable. I highly reccomend this book.
Rating:
Summary: It's not what I expected
Review: I guess I expected thigh-slapping, hard laughs ... but that didn't happen with this book. However, I really enjoyed reading it. Even told my husband to hush so I could finish reading it at the doctor's office today. =) It's very well-written and West takes right into the characters' minds so well, it's almost eerie. The book is about Gussie, the mother and grandmother of the clan, Clancy Jane, Dorothy and Violet and Bitsy. Clancy Jane and Dorothy are sisters and Violet and Bitsy are their daughters. I have to be very truthful here ... I do not care for Dorothy at all. What a wretched woman ~~ beset by mental illness and jealousy. It's a shame that she was even in the book, but I guess every family has a skeleton in its closet. And this family literally has a skeleton in its closet ... only it was buried out in the back yard. Gussie defended herself from rape and possible murder from one of the prominent family's sons ~~ who is also suspected of killing four other woman in Crystal Falls. And Gussie buried him half-alive. And is haunted by the rest of her life by the major secret that never fully came out. It only made me admire Gussie ... she shouldered on the burdens of raising a family and taking care of her husband after he returned from World War 11. This is a fast read and one that I would recommend anyone to read. Just don't expect it to be a barrel of laughs as it wasn't that funny. I am a Yankee, so maybe the humor bypassed me completely! Oh well!! 2-11-02
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Summary: Insanity at it's best.....
Review: Remember the old adage about how two people from the same family can be so different? Well how about five people? Miss Gussie, the matriarch, has two daughters -- Dorothy and Clancy Jane. Dorothy is convinced that Clancy Jane is the apple of her mother's eye and nothing she does can or will be good enough to win her mother's approval. So what does she do? She sets out and makes everyone's life miserable and wonders why no one likes her or gives her the time of day. Her husband leaves her, her kids desert her, and it drives her to the brink of insanity. Just listening to her rant over the smallest of details is both sad and amusing. Clancy Jane, on the other hand, is smart as a whip but winds up getting pregnant and having to marry young. Her journey takes you from Tennessee to Louisiana back to Tennessee to California to Arizona and back to Tennessee all the while searching for herself while love is searching for her. Enter Bitsy and Violet, the daughters of Dorothy and Clancy Jane. As with their mothers they are different as well. Bitsy was supposed to be the popular girl in school, however, Violet entered and usurped her position much to the dismay of her mother Dorothy. However, like Clancy Jane, she gets pregnant young as well and has to marry the baby's father while battling the raised noses of her new in-laws. Violet, like her mother, is smart as a whip. She advances a level in school to be in the same year as her cousin. Perhaps the strongest (and albeit the youngest) of the six women, Violet must come to terms with her bizarre family history while finding her own place in the world. Queenie, the family retainer, is always there to bring the story back into focus. As a non-member of the family, her third party perspective puts the missing ties in their place and completes the story. Crazy Ladies is another gem from Michael Lee West.
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