A review by leahb88
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

emotional funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I have always loved the movie and was excited to read its inspiration. I would say I continue to love them both, but in different ways. The movie jumps between past and present (80s), yes, but in the book the past timeline that takes place in Whistle Stop is not chronological and jumps around a lot. I liked this because the focus was less on the murder mystery aspect (in fact it really wasn’t an incredibly relevant plot) and instead we were mostly just experiencing life in Whistle Stop. Enough comparisons and a review of the text itself… I enjoyed being in Evelyn’s head and going through her feminist transformation with her. The feminist ideas in this were a bit outdated (it was written in the 80s after all, only a few years after it became a crime for a husband to abuse his wife), but this is definitely a queer feminist text nonetheless. Again, the way race was talked about at times didn’t really jive with me, but it still challenged systemic racial injustices. Overall, this book just gives me a warm, fuzzy nostalgia. 
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