After Ibby's father
dies, her mother drops her off at her grandmother Fannie Bell's
house. Clutching her father's urn, Ibby is afraid to go inside sure
that her grandmother will be a monster. The truth turns out to be
very different. Fannie is warmhearted and eccentric, but she provides
a good home for Ibby helped by the Trout family.
Queenie Trout and
her daughter Dollbaby have worked for Frannie for many years. They
take it upon themselves to teach Ibby about the South, sometimes with
amusing results.
An air of mystery
hovers over Fannie's house. Almost all the doors on the second floor
are locked. Fannie has episodes when she has to be hospitalized. One
of Queenie's rules is that Ibby mustn't ask about the family. In the
end, the secrets are revealed. It's a satisfying ending.
I loved the
characters in this book. Queenie and Fannie are exceptional. Although
mistress and servant, they have a symbiotic relationship. Dollbaby,
Crow, and the other members of the Trout family are well drawn.
However, I was a little disappointed in Ibby. She's the central
character in the story, but she seems very remote and hard to know.
Perhaps this is intentional. Teenagers are often this way.
New Orleans is the
setting. While we don't see much of the city, the neighborhoods where
the Trouts and the Bells live are accurate for the time and give a
good picture of the South during the civil rights era.
I highly recommend
this book. The characters are people you'd love to know,
and there is
enough mystery to keep the story moving.
I reviewed this book
for Net Galley.
No comments:
Post a Comment