This was one of my very favorite reads of last year and it was totally unexpected. I love, Love, LOVE the cover art, but I'm not one to be suckered by a pretty picture (yeah right!) and so I was actually consciously avoiding it. Then I received it as a gift and I read the jacket flap - a coming of age novel set in central Texas at the turn of the century....hmmm, okay you've got my attention. Then I read the first few lines: By 1899, we had learned to tame the darkness but not the Texas heat. And it was all over for me - I was hooked.
It's hard for me to describe what this one sentence means to me. I think only Texans can truly relate. We have a completely dysfunctional relationship with the heat here. We bitch about it endlessly, but we also not-so-secretly love it. We are inordinately proud of how we cope and then we miss it like crazy when it's gone. It's really sick! I imagine northerners must have something similar with the cold and snow.
Moving on....bottom line is that this is a book which references the Texas heat, Mark Twain, natural selection AND features a lively and intelligent young female protagonist. Be still my beating heart!
The story follows eleven year old Calpurnia Virginia Tate through half a year as she navigates life with six rowdy brothers in Fentress, Texas. The heart of the story is Calpurnia’s burgeoning friendship with her grandfather and her subsequent intellectual awakening. Mostly, it’s a lighthearted, funny and engaging tale of growing up, but a sense of melancholy grows as Calpurnia becomes aware of how her ambitions run counter to society’s expectations for a young lady. And the ending was, for me, unexpected and extremely poignant. In a lot of ways this is a very typical coming of age/historical novel, but there is something almost intangible that makes this debut novel sparkle.
I was particularly impressed with the characterization – it was complex and subtle. Calpurnia felt like a unique individual to me rather than just another ‘spunky girl fighting social norms’. Furthermore, it would have been easy to have Calpurnia’s beleaguered mother play the villain, but life is never that simple. And it would have been easy to relegate the six brothers to shadowy composites, but remarkably they almost all emerge as distinct individuals. If this book has any weaknesses I’d say the narrative was fairly episodic and lacked some cohesion. It also felt vaguely anachronistic at times. But overall, it's a striking debut novel and I would recommend without hesitation to young girls and adults alike.
It's hard for me to describe what this one sentence means to me. I think only Texans can truly relate. We have a completely dysfunctional relationship with the heat here. We bitch about it endlessly, but we also not-so-secretly love it. We are inordinately proud of how we cope and then we miss it like crazy when it's gone. It's really sick! I imagine northerners must have something similar with the cold and snow.
Moving on....bottom line is that this is a book which references the Texas heat, Mark Twain, natural selection AND features a lively and intelligent young female protagonist. Be still my beating heart!
The story follows eleven year old Calpurnia Virginia Tate through half a year as she navigates life with six rowdy brothers in Fentress, Texas. The heart of the story is Calpurnia’s burgeoning friendship with her grandfather and her subsequent intellectual awakening. Mostly, it’s a lighthearted, funny and engaging tale of growing up, but a sense of melancholy grows as Calpurnia becomes aware of how her ambitions run counter to society’s expectations for a young lady. And the ending was, for me, unexpected and extremely poignant. In a lot of ways this is a very typical coming of age/historical novel, but there is something almost intangible that makes this debut novel sparkle.
I was particularly impressed with the characterization – it was complex and subtle. Calpurnia felt like a unique individual to me rather than just another ‘spunky girl fighting social norms’. Furthermore, it would have been easy to have Calpurnia’s beleaguered mother play the villain, but life is never that simple. And it would have been easy to relegate the six brothers to shadowy composites, but remarkably they almost all emerge as distinct individuals. If this book has any weaknesses I’d say the narrative was fairly episodic and lacked some cohesion. It also felt vaguely anachronistic at times. But overall, it's a striking debut novel and I would recommend without hesitation to young girls and adults alike.
2 comments:
I've been wanting to read this one
LOVE your review! (Love Calpurnia, too!) If I hadn't just talked my mom into reading it I would send her over to your blog for further convincing :)
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