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Summary: Southern Life Under the Sassafras Tree
Review: Cold Sassy Tree is a classic portrait of small-town life set in a small, southern area in Georgia. This book about life, love, and death is so exhilarating, hilarious, and touching that the reader experiences each and every moment in the lives of the people of Cold Sassy, Georgia. The author vividly brings to life a time in which family comes first. Olive Ann Burns charmingly reveals the colorful story of a family handling the loss of a loved one. She uses the dialect and customs of the Southern people in 1906. The author has created a book so passionate and compelling that all can easily enjoy.
Olive Ann Burns' characters are original and believable. Grandpa Blakeslee, the head of the Blakeslee family, shocks the town by marrying a lady half his age and just three weeks after his wife's death! To make matters worse, his new wife, Miss Love Simpson, is a Yankee. The thoughts, feelings, and actions of each character are so true to nature making each one credible. Grandpa Blakeslee's daughters react to the marriage announcement as most would; Mary Willis cries and Loma furiously pounds her fists. Upset and shocked, the two women are more concerned about what the community of Cold Sassy will say about the elopement than how lonely Grandpa feels. The townspeople behave in a manner befitting most nosy neighbors; they spy on the newlyweds and then spread the gossip. As in most small towns, news travels fast!
The well-developed plot, focusing on the changes that take place in the lives of the Blakeslee family and the small town of Cold Sassy, is inviting and leaves the reader wanting more. The author has the reader believing that he is experiencing each happy, funny, and sad moment in the lives of the inhabitants of Cold Sassy, Georgia. Even the romantic kiss in the cemetery between Will Tweedy and the mill girl, Lightfoot McClendon, is spied by Alice Ann, the town busy body, and heard by the entire town before Will can even make it home! The one flaw in the plot line is that the ending could easily be the beginning of another story. It leaves the reader wondering about the fate of the Blakeslee family. Therefore, Olive Ann Burns has opened the door for a sequel to Cold Sassy Tree.
The story unfolds revealing the feelings of each character as told by the fourteen year old Will Tweedy, Grandpa Blakeslee's grandson. The point of view is honest, emotional, and heartfelt. Being told by the grandson, the reader is introduced to his feelings and perceptions of the characters in the novel. The reader is getting the inside scoop from the watchful eyes and listening ears of a young boy. The story is so persuasive, the reader never wants to put the book down.
Although the story is told in a dialect familiar to the region and some of the words used are not common, the story is convincing and easy to follow. The story, told in the past tense, is a recollection of Will Tweedy's memories. The style is unique and imaginative, picking the reader's interest with each page.
The novel is entertaining causing the reader to experience a realm of emotions. It makes one visualize a time in our country in which the pace was slow and family was important. The charming novel is a masterpiece to be enjoyed by all.
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Summary: Comments from a teenage writer, sort of
Review: ... I was required to read this book in school. Being biased against the tedious, coming-of-age novels that always seem to find themselves on my reading list for English class, I immediately labeled Cold Sassy Tree under the "dragging, bland, slow-moving" category. My viewpoints have changed since then. Cold Sassy Tree is a fast-paced, interesting novel about the coming-of-age of a fourteen-year-old boy named Will, who grows up in Cold Sassy, Georgia. A major family conflict sets off the cruel, small-town gossipers of Cold Sassy in the beginning of the book. As the books progresses, several smaller plots take place, which support the theme and thus complicate the story. There are some points in the novel where it seems that Will's family's reputation has gone to the dogs. In the end, however, everything works out and Will learns lessons about life, love, and dignity. For the romantic, Cold Sassy Tree covers the acceptnace of so-called "odd couples." For the religious, Cold Sassy Tree questions theological issues. And for teenage boys also coming of age, Cold Sassy Tree views life from the eyes of a fourteen-year-old (as well as comments on the opposite sex).
Rating: 
Summary: Unimaginative
Review: As a lover of books, I began reading this book with great expectations. However, I found the story noncompelling, the writing unimaginative, and the characters uninteresting. I must confess I do not understand the nationwide obsession. I have read far better glimpses into small-town Southern life.
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Summary: Boy howdy, I loved it
Review: Who can fail to love this wonderful novel, full of warmth, humor, and honesty, of life in a small, turn-of-the-century Georgia town. Told by Will Tweedy, a 14yo child whose Grandpa Rucker forms the spine of the novel. The story begins with the death of Grandpa Rucker's wife, a saintly woman beloved by all, and there's a lovely scene of Grandpa asking his grandson to cut all the roses from the garden and help him stick them into burlap sacking to make a blanket of roses under which to bury his wife.
After that touching scene, readers - not to mention family members and townsfolk and church people - are shocked to find Grandpa marrying Miss Love, the town's young and beautiful milliner less than a month later. And it's suspected that Miss Love has A Past.
A beautiful coming-of-age story unfolds as Will becomes the confidante of Miss Love and his grandfather, and he learns life-changing lessons about love, life, death, and the meaning of true reverence, and the smallness of some minds.
Wonderful, memorable characters, wonderful life lessons, wonderful set pieces. And absolutely top-notch dialogue.
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Summary: Cold Sassy Tree Review
Review: Cold Sassy Tree Review Cold Sassy Tree is a well written piece of literature that Olive Ann Burns wrote. Her characters all well described by the main character, Will Tweedy. Will was a fourteen year old boy who was not mature at all. At the end of every chapter, Burns leaves you hanging and you want to keep reading. Will Tweedy was an excellent choice for the point of view. You see the small town, Cold Sassy, Georgia, in a teenage boy's eye who craves for adventure. However, the story and descriptions of people would be told differently if someone else told the story. For example, in Will's eye, Rucker Blakeslee, Will's grandfather, was a very kind, generous man but in the eyes of another he would be a horrible old man that married a young girl that was young enough to be his daughter. Will tells the story in a way his grandfather does not look bad, but if you read the book, Rucker is not as great as Will sees him as. Burns wrote the book in the "Southern language." It is hard at times to figure out what the character is trying to say, but, the book would not be the same is Burns did not use the type of language that she used. Cold Sassy Tree really makes you think about the time period then, 1900s, and the time period now. I recommend this book to anyone above thirteen and anyone who has lost somebody close to them.
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Summary: A very enjoyable read
Review: I had a hard time getting into this book the first time I picked it up but when I picked it up (quite a while) later I couldn't put it down. I found myself hungry for more when I was done. I liked Cold Sassy Tree so much I'm avoiding "Leaving Cold Sassy" (the author's last book before she died). I don't want to leave Cold Sassy! This is a warm, humorous, southern-charm story about growing up and sticking to your guns despite what the people of a small southern town might think, with interesting, unexpected twists among characters you become very fond of. An older man wanting to marry a young, beautiful woman three weeks after his wife dies is pretty scandalous for a small "proper" southern town. I entered the story with certain preconcieved notions about the characters and motives and was pleasantly entertained while the characters and plot developed into unexpected places. A good, quick, warm read.
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Summary: Warm sassy surprise....
Review: I had been on a terrible dry spell for about a year in my book choices. Everything I opened was crap. This book was recommended to me by a family memeber. Considering the luck I was having, I didn't have any real high expectations. So, what a pleasant surprise when it turned out I LOVED this story! This is a story about a 14 year-old boy living in small-town south at the turn of the century. Though I know she wasn't old enough, I'd swear Burns lived this story; she was that descriptive. I really got the feel of the small town southern town and living. The boy had very strict, deeply religious, well-intentioned parents. The boy got plenty of comic relief from other family members, friends,busy-body neighbors, and most of all, a goofy Grandfather. Grandpa gets married three weeks after Grandma dies to a young "northerner," and becomes the scandle of the town. You think the motives for this whirlwind marriage are clear until the very end, and it's a fun journey getting there. I even had a tough time trying to decide if I liked this couple all of the way through this story, which made it a page turner for me. The family interactions are a little over the top. I wondered more than once who really talked this way? And there were a couple of narratives by the boy done while he was spying on Grandpa and his wife that I thought were down-right creepy. But all-and-all, it was an enjoyable, fun read. And possibly the best part of all of this is, my dry spell is over. Along with this one, I've been reading some darn good books lately!
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Summary: Unforgettable
Review: My mother had been after me for 10 years to read this book and I kept putting it off because from the cover it looked 'boring' and the title 'strange'. I recently relented and was so richly rewarded (and felt rather silly for my literally judging this book by its cover). This is one story that will always stick with me. Burns' characters (except for Will's parents, his mother in particular) were so gorgeously brought to life, her landscape of Cold Sassy so vivid, that I never wanted it to end. I so wish that Ms. Burns had been able to publish more. A true literary gem.
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Summary: A Cold Sassy Read
Review: borrowed Cold Sassy Tree from my mother-in-law. The title just caught my attention, and has been doing so every time I see or hear it for a couple of years now. So, when I realized she owned it, I decided to break down and read it. I am very glad I did. It was wonderful. Superb. Brilliant. Cold Sassy Tree took me back in time to a place oddly familiar. Cold Sassy could really have been my own back yard in my hometown (Eastern KY). The people all brought real people to mind, and the atmosphere of the novel kept me flipping pages, praying for more. They even tempted me to try apple pie with cheese (though I haven't given into that temptation yet). Mostly, the book made me think of my grandparents. I wish they had kept journals how the narrator in this book did. It was a fabulous read, and I have no complaints whatsoever.
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Summary: As southern as fried chicken...
Review: Cold Sassy Tree is centered around a boy named Will and his family. It begins with Will's grandpa (Enoch Rucker Blakeslee)saying to his family that he proposed to the milliner of his store, Miss Love Simpson. Even though the family thinks that it will be a long engagement since Rucker's wife died three weeks ago, he elopes and the entire town is scandalized. This is a wonderful book- something happens on every single page. All of the characters seem real, and they're guaranteed to make you laugh. Read this- trust me- you'll love it!
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