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A review by stacyroth
The Whole Town's Talking by Fannie Flagg
3.0
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.
This books follows the community of Elmwood Springs, Missouri from its formation in the late 1800s until the near future. It follows many of the town’s residents throughout their lives and even their afterlives.
Based on the book’s description, specifically “something strange is happening out at the cemetery”, I expected the living townspeople to know something was happening, but the living people were oblivious to the fact. Only the reader knows, switching back and forth between the people living their lives and the dead people talking at the cemetery. I did not realize there was already a trilogy about this town until after I finished this book. Reading the trilogy first might have made this book better; as a standalone, there were so many characters that it was hard to keep them all straight. There were also short asides in this book that had nothing to do with the storyline, and the characters never show up again – I wonder if those characters might have been in the first 3 books about Elmwood Springs. I would definitely recommend checking out the other books in the Elmwood Springs series before reading this book.
This books follows the community of Elmwood Springs, Missouri from its formation in the late 1800s until the near future. It follows many of the town’s residents throughout their lives and even their afterlives.
Based on the book’s description, specifically “something strange is happening out at the cemetery”, I expected the living townspeople to know something was happening, but the living people were oblivious to the fact. Only the reader knows, switching back and forth between the people living their lives and the dead people talking at the cemetery. I did not realize there was already a trilogy about this town until after I finished this book. Reading the trilogy first might have made this book better; as a standalone, there were so many characters that it was hard to keep them all straight. There were also short asides in this book that had nothing to do with the storyline, and the characters never show up again – I wonder if those characters might have been in the first 3 books about Elmwood Springs. I would definitely recommend checking out the other books in the Elmwood Springs series before reading this book.