Cold Sassy Tree

Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns

On the library shelves: Adult fiction
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

14-year old Will Tweedy is the narrator of this Southern novel set in Georgia in the early 1900s. After the passing of Will's grandmother, his grandfather, Rucker Blakeslee, shocks their small town of Cold Sassy by running off and marrying the milliner in his store. Ms. Love Simpson (a Yankee!) is liked well enough, but she is young enough to be Mr. Blakeslee's daughter.

Added into that familial stress, Will is nearly run over by a train, is caught kissing a girl from the mill in the cemetery, and goes on a camping trip with the boys where he tells a few tall tales. And the whole town is abuzz when Will's father drives into town with a brand new automobile.

This is a lovely book and I enjoyed my time in Cold Sassy. It wasn't a quick read for me, but Will is a very likeable character and I was rooting for him the whole way. Even though there are some periods of silliness in this book, there are also some hard-hitting issues to think about including suicide, racism and religion. It's a well thought out novel that I found rewarding to read. Definitely recommended for fans of Southern literature.

Also reviewed by: Book Nut ~ Your link here?
Source: Purchased