Farewell, I'm Bound to Leave You

Rating:
Summary: Southern Comfort
Review: Fred Chappell is as Southern as Moon Pies and Dr. Pepper on a thick, August afternoon. In this, his seventh novel, Chappell revisits the Kirkman family, which appeared previously in his critically acclaimed I Am One of You Forever and Brighten the Corner Where You are.

A cataclysmic event approaches. Jess' grandmother, Annie Barbara Sorrells, is near death, and life as the Kirkman family knows it will never be the same. What better time to honor her through remembrances of the people and events that have docorated her years?

The stories parade across the pages in the best Southern tradition weaving a luminous tapestry of the mysteries of life and human nature. Annie Barbara has been the sun around which their lives have revolved, and the prospect of going on without her is haunting. Knowing they can't change the inevitable, they cope with their despair by remembering her life with joy and laughter. Their shared histories give them the strength to try to take up the torch being passed to them.

Chappell intimately knows the rhythm of his characters' thoughts, actions and speech. He celebrates their eccentricities and vulnerabilities with humor and deeply felt emotion. We clearly hear our ancestors and recognize our roots in his writing. Fred Chappell speaks for and to the Southern heart. This book is an experience that should not be missed.

Rating:
Summary: Nice and Easy Read
Review: Lovely characters with a great sense of place. Not at all anti-male as some folks have suggested. Rather, it is a celebration of unique and colorful women who use their wits and sense of humour. It is also a celebration of family. Remembering details as time passes is difficult. The important folklore of your roots will lose clarity if you don't tell stories or archive the specifics. Family heritage is live and well in this book.

Rating:
Summary: "OH Shenandoah" will bring to mind this book.
Review: This ten year transplant to Charlotte continues to be amazed at the acceptance of poverty and the hopelessness attitude of many. This regional portrayal of NC mountain women must be based on some fact since the author is from the rural area of the NC mountains. There must be some thread of truth in this fiction. The women characters in this book are as devious as the figuring woman and as self confidant as the feistiest woman. What is so tragic is the acceptance of the "wearing out" existence of Little Mary in the "Shining Woman". But the easy planned seduction of Joe Roberts in the "Shooting Woman" is not reasonable since both were school teachers.--Ele Mae