I can't swear to it, but I'm pretty sure Joshilyn Jackson must have come from the same crazy family tree that gave birth to me. Her characters' photos are surely a part of my Mamaw's favorite scrapbook, and they must attend every family gathering we have. I mean, that must be the reason she knows my whole extended family like the back of her hand, right?
I guess you can tell I'm a big fan of Jackson's kind of fun. Her books are very entertaining and tend to showcase the beauty one can find in the flaws of family. It isn't that she explains why our relatives are the way they are, no one can do that, it's that she holds them up for us to look at from a safe distance - with a cocked eyebrow, a kind heart, and good dose of humor.
I finished gods in Alabama some time ago, and I was quick to pass it on to friends I knew would enjoy it. I recently finished Between, Georgia, and it lightened my heart, as all of Jackson's novels do. I read a review where someone said that Jackson's characters and stories seem the same. I completely disagree. While her characters are all Southern (and who doesn't love that?), they all have a different story to tell. Every one of their circumstances, and the conflicts that drive the stories, are all different.
In Between, Georgia, we meet Nonny, a grown woman, in the middle of a family feud that's been going on for years, and she is the primary reason for the feud. Nonny was adopted and raised by a deaf and mute woman because a local 15-year-old girl dropped in one night, went into labor, and didn't want the baby. Later, when the teenage girl's mother finds out the baby is her grandchild, she wants her back. This starts a feud between the two families, who both love and want Nonny. Now, after all these years, the feud is about to become an all-out war. (And, boy, is it a doozy!)
So, if you like your books with more than a little Southern sass, or...if you're not Southern and you'd like to know what you're missing, you should read one of Joshilyn Jackson's novels. If it doesn't do anything else, I promise it will shock you, and it will definitely make you laugh!
Happy reading! :)
I guess you can tell I'm a big fan of Jackson's kind of fun. Her books are very entertaining and tend to showcase the beauty one can find in the flaws of family. It isn't that she explains why our relatives are the way they are, no one can do that, it's that she holds them up for us to look at from a safe distance - with a cocked eyebrow, a kind heart, and good dose of humor.
I finished gods in Alabama some time ago, and I was quick to pass it on to friends I knew would enjoy it. I recently finished Between, Georgia, and it lightened my heart, as all of Jackson's novels do. I read a review where someone said that Jackson's characters and stories seem the same. I completely disagree. While her characters are all Southern (and who doesn't love that?), they all have a different story to tell. Every one of their circumstances, and the conflicts that drive the stories, are all different.
In Between, Georgia, we meet Nonny, a grown woman, in the middle of a family feud that's been going on for years, and she is the primary reason for the feud. Nonny was adopted and raised by a deaf and mute woman because a local 15-year-old girl dropped in one night, went into labor, and didn't want the baby. Later, when the teenage girl's mother finds out the baby is her grandchild, she wants her back. This starts a feud between the two families, who both love and want Nonny. Now, after all these years, the feud is about to become an all-out war. (And, boy, is it a doozy!)So, if you like your books with more than a little Southern sass, or...if you're not Southern and you'd like to know what you're missing, you should read one of Joshilyn Jackson's novels. If it doesn't do anything else, I promise it will shock you, and it will definitely make you laugh!
Happy reading! :)
