But you know what is right and what is wrong, and we all do when it comes down to the basics, so the book’s message is rather simple. I also know that it drove me crazy that everyone was most concerned with what other folks would say. Is Will the main character? Or is it his grandfather?Are the grandfather’s actions and the way he chose to live his life and his behavior towards all those around him that is the central focus of this book? I know what I think. Yup, he got married again, three weeks after her death! Now this is darn-right scandalous! What will people think?! But the question is why, and you learn the real answer to that throughout the rest of the book. He tells the story about is grandfather and what he did when his grandmother died. How do you deal with that? Will is the central character.

This is not only a coming-of-age story, but also a story of how it is to grow old. White Trash on the other hand are looked down upon, and many of the new inventions of that era are interwoven into the plot – cars, telephones, house plumbing and electricity. The whites certainly don’t see their black servants as their equals but they are not cruel. Although it gives a pretty good depiction of small town life in Georgia, it says nothing about racial inequities which of course still remained after the Civil War. My own response to the two first questions is not affirmative, and that is why I cannot give it more than two stars.

Do you enjoy a sweet story? Are you a religious person with deep faith? Do you enjoy books set in the South at the turn of the century? Then this book is probably a good choice for you.

The sassy tree