Leia Birch Briggs is a self-professed nerd: a graphic novelist with a penchant for comic books, Wonder Woman, and online gaming. So it's not exactly surprising that, with the help of tequila, she'd fall for a handsome man in a Batman costume at a comics convention in Atlanta. What comes next is a bit more of a surprise: Leia is pregnant from that one-night stand, and it's up to her to tell her over-protective family and very Southern grandmother. To top it off, said Batman was African American: not exactly the easiest thing to tell your Baptist family with Southern roots. But before Leia can even tell her family, she gets some disturbing news from Alabama about her paternal grandmother, Birchie. As Leia rushes to Alabama to help Birchie, she also learns that her stepsister, Rachel, is struggling. So Leia and her teenage niece, Lavender, head to Alabama to assist Birchie and break Leia's big news. But it turns out Birchie has some pretty big news of her own. News that will change everything Leia has ever known about her family.
This is one of those ARCs that I don't remember requesting, but I'm really glad I did. It was a pleasant surprise - just a fun, warm novel, even with its serious (and extremely timely) subject matter. I warmed to nerdy Leia immediately (and not just because I have a cat named after said Princess): she's real and flawed and quite relatable. All of the women in Leia's life are well-written and their own people: sweet Lavender, trying to figure out her way in the world as her parents' marriage implodes; Rachel, Lavender's mom, a perfectionist struggling with a lot of imperfection; Wattie, Birchie's best friend, an African American woman living with her in Alabama; and then the amazing Birchie herself, written so impeccably that I could just see her stubborn, regal face pour vibrantly from every page. I fell hard for each of these women and their struggles became mine.
Sure, a lot of this book is a little predictable, but the racial tensions and struggles that Jackson writes about are not: they are real and true. Jackson captures the racial divisions so well - the sweet, kind sweet tea side of the South versus the dark, racist, segregated aspects. I could just picture Birchville and its townsfolk. The novel is excellent in that so much of the story is humorous, yet the serious side is very well-done, too.
Leia is a graphic novelist and portions of the book describe a graphic novel she'd written -- I'm not a huge graphic novel fan, so I wasn't completely into those pieces, but I was able to slide past them. The parallels in Leia's novel to the South didn't elude me, so I appreciated why that was included, even if I didn't always want to read a summary of a supposedly graphic novel. Some of the symbolism and metaphors may be a little too forced/spelled out for us at times, but I still enjoyed the novel very much. Pieces of it made me laugh out loud - Leia's sense of humor and her predicaments, Birchie's tough sensibility. Birchie and Wattie's dynamic was wonderful, and I really cared for those two.
In the end, I really enjoyed this one. There's a great story here as well a plot that doesn't gloss over racial discord. I appreciated both. The cast of characters is great -- real, funny, humorous, and heartbreaking. Certainly recommend. More at https://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/
This is one of those ARCs that I don't remember requesting, but I'm really glad I did. It was a pleasant surprise - just a fun, warm novel, even with its serious (and extremely timely) subject matter. I warmed to nerdy Leia immediately (and not just because I have a cat named after said Princess): she's real and flawed and quite relatable. All of the women in Leia's life are well-written and their own people: sweet Lavender, trying to figure out her way in the world as her parents' marriage implodes; Rachel, Lavender's mom, a perfectionist struggling with a lot of imperfection; Wattie, Birchie's best friend, an African American woman living with her in Alabama; and then the amazing Birchie herself, written so impeccably that I could just see her stubborn, regal face pour vibrantly from every page. I fell hard for each of these women and their struggles became mine.
Sure, a lot of this book is a little predictable, but the racial tensions and struggles that Jackson writes about are not: they are real and true. Jackson captures the racial divisions so well - the sweet, kind sweet tea side of the South versus the dark, racist, segregated aspects. I could just picture Birchville and its townsfolk. The novel is excellent in that so much of the story is humorous, yet the serious side is very well-done, too.
Leia is a graphic novelist and portions of the book describe a graphic novel she'd written -- I'm not a huge graphic novel fan, so I wasn't completely into those pieces, but I was able to slide past them. The parallels in Leia's novel to the South didn't elude me, so I appreciated why that was included, even if I didn't always want to read a summary of a supposedly graphic novel. Some of the symbolism and metaphors may be a little too forced/spelled out for us at times, but I still enjoyed the novel very much. Pieces of it made me laugh out loud - Leia's sense of humor and her predicaments, Birchie's tough sensibility. Birchie and Wattie's dynamic was wonderful, and I really cared for those two.
In the end, I really enjoyed this one. There's a great story here as well a plot that doesn't gloss over racial discord. I appreciated both. The cast of characters is great -- real, funny, humorous, and heartbreaking. Certainly recommend. More at https://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/
I read a lot of great books each year and twice that many good books. This book was just so much more than great. It made me laugh out loud, cry a few tears and nod my head with understanding when reading about this small southern Baptist town. This author so knew what she was talking about when she expounded on this small town. Been there, grew up there and it ain't changed a damn bit!
This book has so many layers- family loyalty, a budding romance, unplanned pregnancy, second chance romance, family secrets, racial tension, and a fabulous mystery in a trunk. If this is not optioned for a movie, I'll be so surprised. There is little I can say that has not already been said about this book but it has definitely risen to the top of the list of books that I will try to push on every reader in my orbit so anyone that knows me just give up now and read this fabulous book. Just know that once you start it everything else will go to the wayside till you finish that last page.
This book has so many layers- family loyalty, a budding romance, unplanned pregnancy, second chance romance, family secrets, racial tension, and a fabulous mystery in a trunk. If this is not optioned for a movie, I'll be so surprised. There is little I can say that has not already been said about this book but it has definitely risen to the top of the list of books that I will try to push on every reader in my orbit so anyone that knows me just give up now and read this fabulous book. Just know that once you start it everything else will go to the wayside till you finish that last page.
Multiple story lines in this book of a family and their relationships to each other and their community. Told with humor and grace. I could just picture Birchie and Wattie as these two sweet little old southern ladies but with grit and steel. All the characters were well written and well developed.
Leia is a graphic book illustrator of some fame and ultimate nerdiness. She meets "batman" at a fan convention and has a one night stand. Add that he is African American. A few months later she realizes she is pregnant. Then there is her step-sister Rachel who is married to Leia's high school best friend but their marriage is in trouble. They are Barbie and Ken. But Birchie is ill and Leia, newly pregnant, goes home to AL to help. And discovers a trunk filled with old bones. Whose bones? And how did they get there? And what is the story?
Mystery and romance (b/c of course Batman comes to AL too) and the relationship between the sisters as well as Leia and her grandmother, and her grandmother Birchie with her long time friend Wattie all set in a small town in AL with the Baptist church and race relations and sweet tea and the town square. A good read.
Leia is a graphic book illustrator of some fame and ultimate nerdiness. She meets "batman" at a fan convention and has a one night stand. Add that he is African American. A few months later she realizes she is pregnant. Then there is her step-sister Rachel who is married to Leia's high school best friend but their marriage is in trouble. They are Barbie and Ken. But Birchie is ill and Leia, newly pregnant, goes home to AL to help. And discovers a trunk filled with old bones. Whose bones? And how did they get there? And what is the story?
Mystery and romance (b/c of course Batman comes to AL too) and the relationship between the sisters as well as Leia and her grandmother, and her grandmother Birchie with her long time friend Wattie all set in a small town in AL with the Baptist church and race relations and sweet tea and the town square. A good read.
