One thing you could depend on in Cold Sassy, Georgia, was that word got around—fast. If the preacher's wife's petticoat showed, the ladies would make the talk last a week. But on July 5, 1906, things took a scandalous turn. That was the day E. Rucker Blakeslee, proprietor of the general store and barely three weeks a widower, eloped with Miss Love Simpson—a woman half his age and, worse yet, a Yankee! On that day, fourteen-year-old Will Tweedy's adventures began, and an unimpeachably pious town came to life.
As the newlyweds' chaperone, conspirator, and confidant, Will is privy to his renegade grandfather's second adolescence. Meanwhile, Will does some growing up of his own. He gets run over by a train and lives to tell about it, and he kisses his first girl and survives that too. Olive Ann Burns has given us a timeless, funny, Southern romance.
Here is an effervescent novel which captures intrigue and passion as they erupt in a parochial Georgia town whose sense of propriety is severely challenged. Tom Parker's enlightened reading greatly enhances the emotive effect of the novel. With an impressive array of consistently natural voices he involves the listener directly in the drama of the characters' lives. He captures the spirit of the complex cast and is as comfortable in the role of the picaresque Will Tweedy as he is in the roles of the gritty grandfather or the sanctimonious Effie Belle. Rich in characterization and dialogue, this novel is well-suited to the audio format; Tom Parker superbly conveys this great wealth. B.M.W. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
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