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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent
Minor: Murder
Thank you to BookishFirst and Gallery Books for the chance to read this book.
I loved Whistling Past the Graveyard and hoped for the same connection with this latest Susan Crandall book, but it was a bit of a miss for me.
I love the time period, 1950's through the early 1970's, in the southern states of America. Tallulah's home life isn't great. As her parents spiral she does what she can to hold her and her siblings together. A few family secrets are dug up along the way but nothing was really too shocking.
This book wound up being just okay for me. I think I expected too much. Several parts seemed to be rushed through. Other parts drug along. I love Crandall's story telling ability but I just didn't care too much about this particular story.
I loved Whistling Past the Graveyard and hoped for the same connection with this latest Susan Crandall book, but it was a bit of a miss for me.
I love the time period, 1950's through the early 1970's, in the southern states of America. Tallulah's home life isn't great. As her parents spiral she does what she can to hold her and her siblings together. A few family secrets are dug up along the way but nothing was really too shocking.
This book wound up being just okay for me. I think I expected too much. Several parts seemed to be rushed through. Other parts drug along. I love Crandall's story telling ability but I just didn't care too much about this particular story.
*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
The Myth of Perpetual Summer is a coming of age story rife with trauma and tragedy while focusing on the bonds of family and how much it means to have a core group supporting you no matter what.
The novel has dual-narration, with one part focusing on Tallulah growing up, and then the other part focusing on present-day, when she’s returning home. While I liked this style overall, I wish some of the characters that were introduced present-day could have waited to show up until they were introduced in the past, since Tallulah’s history with them gave them so much more importance, which is completely missed when you don’t really know who they are.
Tallulah is a compelling character and I enjoyed this story on the whole. While the plot itself seemed to meander at times, I found enough to keep me interested. Crandall kept a nice balance between showing traumatic moments and regular growing-up moments that everyone is sure to relate to. The moments that shone the most for me was when Tallulah had to stop relying on her brother and decided to take her life into her own hands; this meant that she had to learn what it was to have a job and pay her own way, and I liked those moments where she realized she had a lot of freedom, but also, a lot of responsibility for herself.
What was most interesting about Tallulah’s return to her hometown is her having to deal with the guilt of her past mistakes, and wondering how life could have been different/better for her siblings if she had made different choices. I think any adult can relate to that sort of feeling of “what if,” and wishing mistakes hadn’t been made. Throughout the revelations of Tallulah’s family secrets, this theme of guilt for past mistakes comes up a lot and brings the characters together in mutually understanding that feeling. I could have done without a couple of the resolutions, since some of those felt forced and too “tie-this-up-with-a-pretty-bow,” but that’s just a personal preference.
Overall, I thought this was an enjoyable read. Lots of intrigue and drama mixed with sweet moments that shows how we learn from our mistakes and become the people we are.
Also posted on Purple People Readers.
The Myth of Perpetual Summer is a coming of age story rife with trauma and tragedy while focusing on the bonds of family and how much it means to have a core group supporting you no matter what.
The novel has dual-narration, with one part focusing on Tallulah growing up, and then the other part focusing on present-day, when she’s returning home. While I liked this style overall, I wish some of the characters that were introduced present-day could have waited to show up until they were introduced in the past, since Tallulah’s history with them gave them so much more importance, which is completely missed when you don’t really know who they are.
Tallulah is a compelling character and I enjoyed this story on the whole. While the plot itself seemed to meander at times, I found enough to keep me interested. Crandall kept a nice balance between showing traumatic moments and regular growing-up moments that everyone is sure to relate to. The moments that shone the most for me was when Tallulah had to stop relying on her brother and decided to take her life into her own hands; this meant that she had to learn what it was to have a job and pay her own way, and I liked those moments where she realized she had a lot of freedom, but also, a lot of responsibility for herself.
What was most interesting about Tallulah’s return to her hometown is her having to deal with the guilt of her past mistakes, and wondering how life could have been different/better for her siblings if she had made different choices. I think any adult can relate to that sort of feeling of “what if,” and wishing mistakes hadn’t been made. Throughout the revelations of Tallulah’s family secrets, this theme of guilt for past mistakes comes up a lot and brings the characters together in mutually understanding that feeling. I could have done without a couple of the resolutions, since some of those felt forced and too “tie-this-up-with-a-pretty-bow,” but that’s just a personal preference.
Overall, I thought this was an enjoyable read. Lots of intrigue and drama mixed with sweet moments that shows how we learn from our mistakes and become the people we are.
Also posted on Purple People Readers.
Great Book for Time and Place
I received an ARC of The Myth of Perpetual Summer from Bookishfirst in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Bookishfirst.
The themes of this book touch on the 1960s and 1970s, and Susan Crandall writes so that the reader is drawn into the social unrest of the Vietnam War, the fight for justice to achieve racial equality, and the first wave of feminism. Tying all of these various threads is the fragility of mental health and the dysfunction of families. Add into this mixture the sense of hot temperatures and the oppression of dripping humidity.
Susan Crandall completely drew me into the fascinating drama that she has written.
I received an ARC of The Myth of Perpetual Summer from Bookishfirst in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Bookishfirst.
The themes of this book touch on the 1960s and 1970s, and Susan Crandall writes so that the reader is drawn into the social unrest of the Vietnam War, the fight for justice to achieve racial equality, and the first wave of feminism. Tying all of these various threads is the fragility of mental health and the dysfunction of families. Add into this mixture the sense of hot temperatures and the oppression of dripping humidity.
Susan Crandall completely drew me into the fascinating drama that she has written.
I listened to this on audiobook, which is a good choice if you want the accents. What I liked best was seeing the forlorn adaptability of children as they try to cope with bad parenting, and the lasting effect that bad parenting has on the rest of their lives.
Also, the joys of having a bi-polar parent.
Three and a half stars. Maybe four.
Also, the joys of having a bi-polar parent.
Three and a half stars. Maybe four.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
The first half was slow, and the second half makes up for it. This novel is a slow burn with alternating time lines, making the reader wait and wait for the details she's dying to know!
Crandall's writing is vivid and almost magical. She captures the feelings of southern summers perfectly, along with the rigid constraints of southern culture. Tallulah tries to escape her life as a teen, hitchhiking to California in the 1960's for a new life. And while she manages to stay away for 9 years, she realizes she can't ever truly escape, and perhaps she didn't want to.
This is an compelling, emotional story about one woman's coming of age within a dysfunctional family. At the core is an old question about fate versus personal choice, and how our genetics pre-determine our paths at times. It's also an interesting look at how mental health was viewed in the 1960's and '70's, and how little was understood. It's also a novel about recognizing how important we are to the people who love us, even when we view ourselves as a screwup.
Many thanks to NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
You can find my reviews and other bookish musings at RamonaMead.com!
Crandall's writing is vivid and almost magical. She captures the feelings of southern summers perfectly, along with the rigid constraints of southern culture. Tallulah tries to escape her life as a teen, hitchhiking to California in the 1960's for a new life. And while she manages to stay away for 9 years, she realizes she can't ever truly escape, and perhaps she didn't want to.
This is an compelling, emotional story about one woman's coming of age within a dysfunctional family. At the core is an old question about fate versus personal choice, and how our genetics pre-determine our paths at times. It's also an interesting look at how mental health was viewed in the 1960's and '70's, and how little was understood. It's also a novel about recognizing how important we are to the people who love us, even when we view ourselves as a screwup.
Many thanks to NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
You can find my reviews and other bookish musings at RamonaMead.com!
Called back to a past she hoped she erased, Tallulah Mae James sets her steering to the swelter of southernmost mud when news hits her of her brother’s charge of murder.
Coming from a family tightly knit, due to its loose ends, begins on a pecan plantation. The father is an undiagnosed manic-depressant professor, the mother a flighty, free-spirited activist, and their combination tends to erupt more than teenage acne. Griffin, the eldest, tries to shield Tallulah “Lulie” from the ugliness around them as she then does the twins after her. One being Walden, who after her own flight, needs that protection again.
Shades of “The Glass Castle” dance around the tumultuous childhood where little nurturing and plenty neglect fill their lives more than their bellies.
A grandmother as steeped in southern propriety as she is in mayhaw jam is the stalwart of sanity, albeit stoic in keeping indiscretions in the closet.
Descriptively set in New Orleans, where “In defiance of appearing weak and ordinary, even the wisteria refuses to wilt” and Mississippi. Tallulah faces ghosts of love and resentment with the unending need to grovel for expertise and compassion in forging her own way through the sweltering angst of her family.
Her return, after nine years, brings this danse macabre to its crescendo, reuniting animosity with misguided reason and more of the same where tongues never stop wagging.
It’s when Tallulah heeds her grandmother’s old family friend’s advice of “You just ask her why she keeps paintin’ a storefront that got no goods to sell. No need anymore. The shelves been stripped bare.” that festering wounds get the airing needed to heal. To basically abate appearances and pride and release. The la douleur exquise for them is eased in a Dorothy Gale vein. There really is no place like home.
Coming from a family tightly knit, due to its loose ends, begins on a pecan plantation. The father is an undiagnosed manic-depressant professor, the mother a flighty, free-spirited activist, and their combination tends to erupt more than teenage acne. Griffin, the eldest, tries to shield Tallulah “Lulie” from the ugliness around them as she then does the twins after her. One being Walden, who after her own flight, needs that protection again.
Shades of “The Glass Castle” dance around the tumultuous childhood where little nurturing and plenty neglect fill their lives more than their bellies.
A grandmother as steeped in southern propriety as she is in mayhaw jam is the stalwart of sanity, albeit stoic in keeping indiscretions in the closet.
Descriptively set in New Orleans, where “In defiance of appearing weak and ordinary, even the wisteria refuses to wilt” and Mississippi. Tallulah faces ghosts of love and resentment with the unending need to grovel for expertise and compassion in forging her own way through the sweltering angst of her family.
Her return, after nine years, brings this danse macabre to its crescendo, reuniting animosity with misguided reason and more of the same where tongues never stop wagging.
It’s when Tallulah heeds her grandmother’s old family friend’s advice of “You just ask her why she keeps paintin’ a storefront that got no goods to sell. No need anymore. The shelves been stripped bare.” that festering wounds get the airing needed to heal. To basically abate appearances and pride and release. The la douleur exquise for them is eased in a Dorothy Gale vein. There really is no place like home.
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**Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I received no additional compensation**
I had my doubts about 20% in on this one and almost quit. The writing is thick with Southern expressions and they almost got to be too much. I also couldn't figure out where THE storyline was in the jumble of storylines. But, in the end, I'm glad I stuck with it! This family's dysfunction is not easy to figure out at first. As a reader I was trying to find "the problem" but there are several. Dad Drayton is a college professor with undiagnosed bipolar disorder and Mom Margo is consumed with the social upheavals of the time. She is constantly attending meetings and protests while being generally absent from parenting--leaving her four children in the care of her mother-in-law. Daughter Tallulah resents having to care for her younger twin siblings, Dharma and Walden, while her older brother Griff has more freedoms. The story opens with adult Tallulah learning that Walden has been arrested and her emotional return to Mississippi after years away. As she confronts her grandmother and demands answers for long buried secrets and decisions, the family's story is teased out. There is not a single incident that led to the scattering of this family, but a compilation of serious problems that sent everyone spinning into their own orbits. I would recommend this to anyone who liked The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood and Fried Green Tomatoes, just as both of those are thought of as "Southern chick lit", anyone who has read them (or seen the movies) knows they deal with large and heavy issues in both terrible and touching ways.
**Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I received no additional compensation**
I had my doubts about 20% in on this one and almost quit. The writing is thick with Southern expressions and they almost got to be too much. I also couldn't figure out where THE storyline was in the jumble of storylines. But, in the end, I'm glad I stuck with it! This family's dysfunction is not easy to figure out at first. As a reader I was trying to find "the problem" but there are several. Dad Drayton is a college professor with undiagnosed bipolar disorder and Mom Margo is consumed with the social upheavals of the time. She is constantly attending meetings and protests while being generally absent from parenting--leaving her four children in the care of her mother-in-law. Daughter Tallulah resents having to care for her younger twin siblings, Dharma and Walden, while her older brother Griff has more freedoms. The story opens with adult Tallulah learning that Walden has been arrested and her emotional return to Mississippi after years away. As she confronts her grandmother and demands answers for long buried secrets and decisions, the family's story is teased out. There is not a single incident that led to the scattering of this family, but a compilation of serious problems that sent everyone spinning into their own orbits. I would recommend this to anyone who liked The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood and Fried Green Tomatoes, just as both of those are thought of as "Southern chick lit", anyone who has read them (or seen the movies) knows they deal with large and heavy issues in both terrible and touching ways.
This book was much better than I was expecting! I don’t think the cover does justice to the story. The prologue sets up a sense of wonder about the past of the main character and her family. The chapters alternate between her past and present, delving to her family and their secrets. You don’t get the answers you’re looking for until the end. Very well written. I would have liked a bit more on her siblings though.