Charms for the Easy Life

Rating:
Summary: Brighten a wintry afternoon!
Review: I have wearied, in recent years, of reading novels by authors whose characters are interesting only by virtue of their being from the South, and whose plots depend on rural Southern details and the characters' Southern eccentricities. I feel this is a cheap ploy, so I wasn't particularly interested in picking up Gibbons' book, Charms for the Easy Life. But I'm glad I did! OK, the novel benefits from its "Southerness", but I got the sense that such a skilled writer as Gibbons could make proper Bostonians glow in realism. This book is not only a delightful read, but it also touches on the not-so-easy relationships between mothers and daughters, and the equally difficult relationships between women and men. Gibbons also exhibits a detailed (but not obvious) research of the Depression Era, and, on top of it, she makes a sturdy comment about the value of non-traditional medicine. My only complaint is about the book's resolution, which came too quickly and tidily for me. Although I read it in one afternoon, the characters have stuck to my ribs and, the more I think about the book, the more its layers are revealed to me.

Rating:
Summary: A Charming Read
Review: This book is a wonderful view of truly strong women. In a time when it was nearly improper to go walking unescorted by a man, three women live virationsly, no one can hold them down.
Written from the view point of the young daughter,a witnessthe strong and willful moves of her grandmother. She has nothing but pride for the bold field doctor insticts and motives that she seeks. Each character is rich in complexity and truly a story of their own.
Together their lives grow and evolve. The town and lives grow around them and they manage to keep up. Saw mill accidents, the sick and abandoned, and those paying for others mistakes all strengthen each one of these strong women.

Rating:
Summary: A delightful, easy read
Review: Three generations of women are the focal point of this novel, and though their familial bonds are tight, there are unique characteristics of each that make the reader care for each. Charlie Kate, a headstrong "medicine woman", says it like it is and won't take no for an answer. But she is not just forthright with her opinions, but also with her feelings for her family. Her daughter Sophia tends to "need" to be someone's companion, whether it be a man, her mother, or her own daughter. Margaret, my favorite character, was raised by the women and gets to experience things in her life that truly define her. I loved how close the three were, and that their traits complemented one another.

A book that you hope goes on and on. I read it in two evenings.