Set in a rural part of Tennessee that has endured unseasonal rain, the plot explores the effects of a bizarre biological event on a Bible Belt community. Dellarobia Turnbow comes upon millions of monarch butterflies glowing like a "lake of fire" in a sheep pasture owned by her in-laws. The event is immediately branded a miracle and could provide a lucrative tourist season for the financially beleaguered Turnbows. The arrival of a research team led by sexy scientist Ovid Byron reveals the troubling truth behind the butterflies' presence, that they've been driven by pollution from their usual Mexican winter grounds and now face extinction due to northern hemisphere temperatures. Equally threatening is the fact that her father-in-law, Bear, has sold the land to loggers. Already restless in her marriage to the passive Cub, for whom she gave up college when she became pregnant at 17, unsophisticated, cigarette-addicted Dellarobia takes a mammoth leap when she starts working with the research team. As her horizons expand, she faces a choice between the status quo and the possibility of personal fulfillment.
Showing posts with label Tennessee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tennessee. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Tennessee
Bonnie recommends Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver, published in 2012, for the state of Tennessee. "Kingsolver is a very good writer, and I rate this novel 9 of 10."
Set in a rural part of Tennessee that has endured unseasonal rain, the plot explores the effects of a bizarre biological event on a Bible Belt community. Dellarobia Turnbow comes upon millions of monarch butterflies glowing like a "lake of fire" in a sheep pasture owned by her in-laws. The event is immediately branded a miracle and could provide a lucrative tourist season for the financially beleaguered Turnbows. The arrival of a research team led by sexy scientist Ovid Byron reveals the troubling truth behind the butterflies' presence, that they've been driven by pollution from their usual Mexican winter grounds and now face extinction due to northern hemisphere temperatures. Equally threatening is the fact that her father-in-law, Bear, has sold the land to loggers. Already restless in her marriage to the passive Cub, for whom she gave up college when she became pregnant at 17, unsophisticated, cigarette-addicted Dellarobia takes a mammoth leap when she starts working with the research team. As her horizons expand, she faces a choice between the status quo and the possibility of personal fulfillment.
Set in a rural part of Tennessee that has endured unseasonal rain, the plot explores the effects of a bizarre biological event on a Bible Belt community. Dellarobia Turnbow comes upon millions of monarch butterflies glowing like a "lake of fire" in a sheep pasture owned by her in-laws. The event is immediately branded a miracle and could provide a lucrative tourist season for the financially beleaguered Turnbows. The arrival of a research team led by sexy scientist Ovid Byron reveals the troubling truth behind the butterflies' presence, that they've been driven by pollution from their usual Mexican winter grounds and now face extinction due to northern hemisphere temperatures. Equally threatening is the fact that her father-in-law, Bear, has sold the land to loggers. Already restless in her marriage to the passive Cub, for whom she gave up college when she became pregnant at 17, unsophisticated, cigarette-addicted Dellarobia takes a mammoth leap when she starts working with the research team. As her horizons expand, she faces a choice between the status quo and the possibility of personal fulfillment.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Tennessee
Jill has another suggestion for Tennessee: "My favorite story about Tennessee is Widow of the South by Robert Hicks - a fictional account of the Battle of Franklin and the McGavock Plantation."
Five of the bloddiest hours of the Civil War occurred in 1864 during the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee. Carrie McGavock's farmhouse was commandeered as a Confederate field hospital, four generals lay dead on her back porch, and the pile of amputated limbs rose as tall as the smoke house. There were 9,200 casualties that fateful day. Because McGavock spent the rest of her life mourning those lost, eventually reburying nearly 1,500 of them on her property, she became known as "the widow of the South." Robert Hicks's first historical novel captures the life-altering force that war exerts even on noncombatants.
Jill, this book is certainly more readable that the one I suggested, Summons to Memphis. Good call.
Five of the bloddiest hours of the Civil War occurred in 1864 during the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee. Carrie McGavock's farmhouse was commandeered as a Confederate field hospital, four generals lay dead on her back porch, and the pile of amputated limbs rose as tall as the smoke house. There were 9,200 casualties that fateful day. Because McGavock spent the rest of her life mourning those lost, eventually reburying nearly 1,500 of them on her property, she became known as "the widow of the South." Robert Hicks's first historical novel captures the life-altering force that war exerts even on noncombatants.Jill, this book is certainly more readable that the one I suggested, Summons to Memphis. Good call.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Tennessee
Bonnie says, "I've thought of one book (so far) for my state of Tennessee: Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor. George Carver, now in his 80s, is a very controlling father who moved his family from Nashville to Memphis after a business scandal. The novel is about how that move affected his three children, now middle-aged and all unmarried: Phillip, the narrator, and his two sisters, Josephine and Betsy. The sisters summon Phillip from Manhattan to help them prevent their father from re-marrying. I kept wanting these grown children to act like adults."
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