Too gloomy for me

Susan Gregg Gilmore's THE FUNERAL DRESS caught my attention as I walked by a poster at the Lenoir Public Library, Lenoir, NC. Caldwell Community College is reading it on their campus this year and the author will be on their campus soon. Of course, since Caldwell isn't too far away and I am always excited about meeting new authors, so I ordered the book and sat down prepared for an amazing read.

I'm sorry to say that I am disappointed. The book isn't terrible, but I had a very difficult time with it. It took me much longer to read a book like this; I plodded slowly through it. The tone of the overall story is too morbid. Granted, it is obviously about death (just look at the title), but even the birth of a baby can't dispel the gloom. If you like that kind of story, you might enjoy THE FUNERAL DRESS. I was just hoping for a little joy in the story--especially when it came to the baby, Kally Faye.

My most favorite book--ever

I LOVE Olive Ann Burns' COLD SASSY TREE.  I read it for the first time back in the late eighties/early nineties and loved it even then.  My first reading was because my brother brought the book home during a weekend home from his first semester at college so I could read it for him for his freshman composition class.  I was happy to do it.  This is THE best book!!!

How does anyone not love this book?  It has someone being run over by a train--and living.  Romance.  An older man getting married to a much younger woman just 3 weeks after the death of his first wife.  Suicide.  (Not that suicide makes a story great.  It's just the way it's dealt with.)  A "funeral party."  Dyin' stories, because Grandma was the best in the county at telling 'em.  It's set in the south with southern slang.  It's set in 1906--when cars were first being introduced to the mass public.  It's told from the perspective of a 15-year old boy.

And it was written by an amazing woman who should have lived long enough to write more!  She started a sequel to COLD SASSY, but she died before she finished it.  Ovarian cancer, I think it was.  I find Burns' writing process to be just as fascinating as the book itself--she would get an idea and write it on whatever piece of paper she could get her hands on--napkins, receipts, corners of notes, etc.--then she would sit on her bed with all of her scraps of paper around her and work on putting them together to create a cohesive whole.

I, for one, believe that she was quite successful in her attempt.  I LOVE COLD SASSY TREE......Everyone should read it, truly.