Backseat Saints by Joshilyn Jackson

BACKSEAT SAINTS, Joshilyn Jackson's latest novel is the story of Rose Mae Lolley. But it's also Ro Grandee's story. The interesting twist is that they are the same person. Ro Grandee is the wife of Thom, son of the successful Grandee family of Amarillo, Texas. His family owns three large gun stores throughout the state and though Thom works side by side with his father, running the family businesses, Thom can't make a move without his father's approval or interference, in most cases. While Ro tries to keep her husband on an even keel so he doesn't take his frustrations out on her, sometimes Rose Mae Lolley has to take over. She's always been stronger than Ro and she knows how to handle Thom Grandee.

Here's a bit about the book straight from the author's website:

Ro Grandee is the perfect Texas housewife. She's determined to be nothing like her long-missing mother, the one who left her with only a heap of old novels and her father's fists for company, so Ro keeps quiet and takes her husband's punches like a lady. But Ro wasn't always this way. Underneath her pastel skirts and hidden bruises lies Rose Mae Lolley, teenaged spitfire, Alabama heartbreaker, and a crack shot with a pistol. Rose Mae is resurrected when a gypsy's tarot cards foretell doom for dutiful Ro: her handsome husband is going to kill her. Unless she kills him first.

Armed with only her wit, her pawpy's ancient .45, and her dog Fat Gretel, Rose Mae hightails it out of Texas. In a journey that is by turns harrowing and exhilarating, she uncovers long buried truths about her family and herself, running from the man who will never let her go, on a mission to find the mother who did.

My thoughts on the book:

The first thing that I was curious about was the braid on the front cover of the book. In the last week or so, while I've been blogging about this book, other people have questioned the braid as well. Last week, I featured this book in Teaser Tuesdays. Let me share with you the teaser I chose from this book:

I picked up the braid and walked back to the bathroom. I think I meant to put it in the trash, but I caught sight of myself in the mirror and stopped. I was ten pounds too thin and two shades paler than paper. My shorn hair hung around my face in a ragged tangle, longer on the right side than the left. I had kaleidoscope eyes, spinning with a hundred different colors of pure, naked crazy. For the first time in years, I was face-to-face with Rose Mae Lolley.

The symbolism of that braid speaks volumes. Domestic violence is at the center of this story. But even with such a serious subject, Jackson uses wit and smartly placed humor to talk about this disturbing issue that happens every day in our society. In the beginning, we learn a little about Ro Grandee and where she came from and how she met her handsome husband. Then there's the tarot-reading gypsy Ro meets in the airport at a seemingly chance meeting. Aside from the domestic violence in her life, Ro also had been living with the fact that her mother left her when she was a child. She always wondered why her mother didn't love her enough to take her with her. As you can imagine, Rose Mae never got over her mother leaving and it was interesting following her on her quest to find answers about this painful part of her life.

The characters in the book were very believably written. Some were a little scary while others were a little quirky. As the story continues, things turn more serious and the humor lessens as Rose Mae makes a plan and starts to take control of her life.

When I first received this book I didn't realize that Ro/Rose Mae had been a supporting character in Jackson't previous novel, GODS IN ALABAMA, which I hadn't yet read. That said, BACKSEAT SAINTS is a stand alone novel. I do plan to read GODS IN ALABAMA to learn about Rose Mae in her high school days and about her first love, Jim Beverly, who does play a part in this book.

I truly enjoyed Joshilyn Jackson's writing and I plan to read more of her books. I am a huge fan of Southern Fiction and this ranks right up at the top for me. While telling Rose Mae's story, she took me on an emotional journey from laughter, to heartbreak to joy to fear and I enjoyed it every step of the way. I can't encourage you enough to make the time to read this book. I'd like to thank Library Thing and Hachette Books for providing my review copy.

BACKSEAT SAINTS

Author: Joshilyn Jackson

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Published: June 8, 2010

Pages: 352

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars (Highly Recommend)

Teaser Tuesday: Backseat Saints

Today is Tuesday and that means another teaser from the book I'm currently reading. That book is BACKSEAT SAINTS, the newest release from Joshilyn Jackson, the author of GODS IN ALABAMA and THE GIRL WHO STOPPED SWIMMING, to name a few. I know we're only supposed to share two sentences as our teaser, but I've chosen a passage that I thought says a lot about Ro Grandee, the protagonist of the story.

From page 118 of BACKSEAT SAINTS . . .

I picked up the braid and walked back to the bathroom. I think I meant to put it in the trash, but I caught sight of myself in the mirror and stopped. I was ten pounds too thin and two shades paler than paper. My shorn hair hung around my face in a ragged tangle, longer on the right side than the left. I had kaleidoscope eyes, spinning with a hundred different colors of pure, naked crazy. For the first time in years, I was face-to-face with Rose Mae Lolley.

I am really enjoying this book of southern fiction. Although it is filled with sharp wit and ironic humor, it centers around a serious topic. That being domestic violence. This book is courtesy of Library Thing Early Reviewers and I feel lucky to have received it.

For more teasers, please visit MizB at Should Be Reading.

The Murderer's Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers

I love reading debut novels. They have an edge to them that is fresh and in this particular case, even gritty. Randy Susan Meyers has taken readers to a place that most people don't experience and the ones that do, probably spend most of their time wishing they didn't.

The title THE MURDERER'S DAUGHTERS is pretty bold and self explanatory, however, I discovered while reading this moving story about two sisters who lost their mother at a young age at the hands of their drunken and abusive father, that there are a lot of gray areas.

Here's a synopsis from Goodreads:

Lulu and Merry's childhood was never ideal, but on the day before Lulu's tenth birthday their father drives them into a nightmare. He's always hungered for the love of the girl's self-obsessed mother; after she throws him out, their troubles turn deadly.

Lulu's mother warned her to never let him in, but when he shows up, he's impossible to ignore. He bullies his way past ten-year-old Lulu, who obeys her father's instructions to open the door, then listens in horror as her parents struggle. She runs for help and discovers upon her return that he's murdered her mother, stabbed her sister and tried to kill himself.

For thirty years, the sisters try to make sense of what happened. Their imprisoned father is a specter in both their lives, shadowing every choice they make. Though one spneds her life pretending he's dead, while the other feels compelled to help him, both fear that someday their imprisoned father's attempts to win parole may meet success.

• Please note that in my review I work very hard to NOT include any details that may spoil or give away any aspect of the plot. Please read on knowing that I have taken great care in writing my thoughts on the book.

My review:

The reason I was initially drawn to this book was that it is one family's story told by the children. The innocence of a child's perspective is an honest and sometimes gut-wrenching reality that can often be overlooked, whether purposely or not, by adults. Although when the story begins, Lulu and Merry are children, we follow them into adulthood and watch how their tragedy affects them as they mature and, for one sister, has children of her own.

Randy Susan Meyers writes a complex family drama in a simple, straightforward manner. I use the term 'simple' not as a negative, but as a positive, as in stripped-down and authentic. Her writing is precise and deliberate with the story itself as it's main character. Speaking of characters, there are not a lot of them, but each one, no matter how large or small, has their purpose. Each sister takes turns telling the story through their own eyes. Lulu and Merry are portrayed in a very realistic way that lends to the undeniable believability of this story. Unfortunately, domestic violence happen every day in all cultures but the way in which we deal with it has a huge impact on all of the parties involved, whether we choose to see it or not. That is a big part of this book. It is 1971 when their father kills their mother and life was much different back then. It was before the days of therapy and self-help books. Family troubles were kept hushed and not talked about. I felt an instant connection with both of the girls and that feeling stayed with me throughout the entire book. The book is divided into parts; their childhood, their young adult years and as grown women.

This was a quick read for me, not only because I was into it, but also because there is a lot of dialogue between the characters and not a lot of descriptive detail. The girls each deal with their father's actions in very different ways and it was easy to understand each one's reasoning. There is no right or wrong here. One thing I wasn't expecting was the inclusion of the murderous father's point of view. It was also explored and revealed in a realistic way and begs the questions Has he paid for his crimes? Does he deserve a second chance? and Does he truly have remorse?

If you are in a book club, this would be a fantastic pick because there is so much to discuss, even though some of the subject matter is a bit dark and daunting. The actual physical abuse happens very early in the book and afterwards comes the emotional ramifications. Even if you aren't in a book club, this is a very good debut novel by an author who has her own experiences with domestic violence through her social work with batterers and victims alike. She has also had her short stories published in several publications. I will absolutely be on the lookout for future works from this up and coming author. If you're interested and would like to know more about Randy Susan Meyers, I encourage you to visit her website. Among other things, there's a section for book clubs and you have access to her blog, Word Love, as well.

THE MURDERER'S DAUGHTERS

Author: Randy Susan Meyers

Publisher: St. Martins Press

Published: January 2010

Pages: 320

Rating:4.5/5