If I ever wrote a book, this would be it. I've asked myself before, "In creating a story, what is your thing?" What is that 'thing' about my life that is unique and worth telling? Well, I don't have much. The only thing I've ever been able to think of is that I'm a Southerner living in the North, but I lack the creativity to make that a story. And then I found this book.Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'easter is author Lisa Patton's debut novel. A Tennessee native accustomed to long summers and brief winters, she spent three long, brutally cold winters running an inn in Vermont. And thus, a story was born.
Leelee Satterfield is happy with her life in Memphis. She's got her family, her four best friends, her husband she's loved since the tenth grade, and their two beautiful daughters. When her husband Baker gets a little antsy, he is inspired to buy a Vermont inn and haul the family North to run the bed-and-breakfast. And Leelee agrees...only because she has been love with him forever. But things don't go as smoothly as Leelee hopes and not only is her relationship on the rocks, Vermont is COLD. When Baker picks up and leaves Leelee with the inn, she must try to make the best of her misery and prove she's not just a helpless Southern belle.
I swear Lisa Patton was reading my mind as she wrote this. Either that or we think eerily alike. Our shared bitter hatred of the cold is one thing, but she goes into such detail on the tiny nuances that are so defining of me and my life up here. Like:
- "Memphis is my home. It always will be no matter where I live."
- "I know people say the summer is sweltering, but it never bothers me."
- Vermont = "a foreign corner of American" that is "sooo Yankeeish"
- "When I took my first sip, I could tell right away that it was Pepsi. I hate Pepsi."
- "...Northerners believe that anywhere with less than one million people is only a town." [We don't do 'towns' in the South.]
- "Barbecue to Northerners meant 'grilling out' so if I wanted a barbecue sandwich I might as well set my tastebuds on a hamburger." [The word 'barbecue': North = verb, South = food.]
Needless to say, I loved this book. A well-developed main character that grew as the plot progressed, an entertaining ensemble of supporting characters, and a pleasing but not lame ending. I may be a little biased for this book for all the reasons mentioned above, but I still think it'd be an enjoyable (and hilarious) read for people anywhere in the country (or outside of it!).
AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 29, 2009
Thomas Dunne Books
320 Pages, Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-312-55660-0
Review copy provided by publisher (Thomas Dunne).
This is the first stop for me on the Literary Road Trip, hosted @ Galleysmith. I claimed my great home state of Tennessee. You may be saying, "But don't all of you live in New York?" and the answer is yes. But New York was already claimed by about four other people, and Tennessee was not. And as mentioned earlier, Tennessee will always be my home, no matter where else I live.Tune in tomorrow for an interview with Lisa Patton, author of Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'easter!
