A Good Hard Look
Ann Napolitano
book reviews:
· general fiction
· chick lit/romance
· sci-fi/fantasy
· graphic novels
· nonfiction
· audio books

Click here for the curledup.com RSS Feed

· author interviews
· children's books @
   curledupkids.com
· DVD reviews @
   curledupdvd.com

newsletter
win books
buy online
links

home

for authors
& publishers


for reviewers

click here to learn more




Buy *A Good Hard Look: A Novel of Flannery O'Connor* by Ann Napolitano online

A Good Hard Look: A Novel of Flannery O'Connor
Ann Napolitano
Penguin Books
Paperback
352 pages
June 2012
rated 5 of 5 possible stars

buy this book now or browse millions of other great products at amazon.com
previous reviewnext review

The local celebrity in Milledgeville, Georgia, is Flannery O’Connor. Raised in the town, Flannery moved to New York to pursue a writing career. She is making headway when she receives the diagnosis of lupus, which killed her father. Flannery’s disease moves quickly; at the age of twenty-five, she is back home in Milledgeville at the family farm, Andalusia. She spends her time writing and raising peacocks, the fierce, proud birds touching a chord in her. She is the local star yet feared by many of the town for her ability to see through the artifice with which most of us surround our lives. As O’Connor was known to say, “The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.”

While Flannery is the most famous inhabitant, she is not necessarily the most influential. That would be the power couple of Cookie and Melvin Whiteson. Cookie grew up the ‘it’ girl in town--the most popular girl in high school who won all the trophies and prizes. She went North after school and returned with Melvin, an extremely wealthy man who wants to marry her. Their wedding is the year’s most talked-about event, and also the place where Melvin and Flannery meet. They strike up a friendship of which Cookie is unaware and would certainly never approve of. Cookie spends her time organizing everything worth organizing in town, recognized as the woman who makes things happen.

Lona Waters is as far in character from Cookie as it is possible to be. Lona has drifted through life married to Bill Waters, an ambitious policeman. With her drapery business she spends her time making window treatments for the wealthy of the town. Cookie, Flannery and Lona all are brought together in an afternoon of tragedy. Afterward, none of the women or the men in their lives are the same.

Ann Napolitano creates a masterful portrayal of Southern life and more: how most of us move through life, living it but never really experiencing it to the fullest. The characters are compellingly drawn, while the tragedy that defines the book is foreshadowed in such a way that when it occurs, it seems inevitable. Yet the characters and their lives also contain hope, leaving the reader shaken and better for having read it. A Good Hard Look is highly recommended for all readers, a powerful novel that redefines how individuals can face life and its hardships.



Originally published on Curled Up With A Good Book at www.curledup.com. © Sandie Kirkland, 2012

buy *A Good Hard Look: A Novel of Flannery O'Connor* online
click here for more info
Click here to learn more about this month's sponsor!


fiction · sf/f · comic books · nonfiction · audio
newsletter · free book contest · buy books online
review index · links · · authors & publishers
reviewers

site by ELBO Computing Resources, Inc.