R E K. (bigstone) - , reviewed on 5/21/2013 + 1452 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

I remember my mother wondering why the teachers in our small town stayed only a year or two. My response was that they didn't feel part of the community. How often, I asked, have you invited them to your home. She never had.

This story is about a small town so immersed in its own history and folklore that people do not seem important. The festival revolves around the area's greatest crop - watermelon. One man, who has never had a woman, is selected as the watermelon king and rides in the parade with a watermelon vine scepter and a watermelon rind crown. He dispenses watermelon seeds to the women of the community. At the height of the festival one woman, who received the golden seed, comes to him.

A beautiful red-haired young woman comes to the town. Her beauty is admired by all the males who weave tales about their encounters with her. Soon it becomes obvious that she is with child. When a simple man she is teaching to read is selected as the watermelon king she implores the city fathers to dispense with the practice. They refuse her request until she states that the man is the father of her child. Since it is too late to select another king and none seems available the festival is cancelled. The woman is ostracized and isolated in her house. The tale spirals to an unexpected climax when the woman's son visits the town to find whatever he can about his mother. A most interesting read that focuses on what can happen when the people in a small town become small-minded.

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