Mudbound by Hillary Jordan (and completed challenge)

After her 30th birthday, Laura thinks she is destined to be an old maid. However, when she meets Henry McAllan, who is several years her senior, she finds a man who is strong, knows what he wants, and will make a good husband. Two daughters and several years later, Henry makes the decision to buy a farm in the middle of Mississippi and move his family (including his crotchety father), whether they want to go or not. His original house plans fall through, and the McAllan family is forced to live in the old farmhouse with no plumming, electricity, and when it rains (as it often does in the Mississippi Delta), they are completely cut off from town. Racism is prevalent in this time, and old Pappy McAllan always has something nasty to say about the Jacksons (the black share tennants).

Life on the farm is hard, and Laura has a difficult time trying to adjust. When Henry's younger brother Jamie returns from the war (WWII), she feels a lift in her spirits, as he is handsome, charming, and easy to love, even though he has a drinking problem. When Ronsel, the son of the Florence and Hap Jackson also arrives home from the war, trouble starts brewing. Though he is a war hero, and has been treated as one for the past few years, back home, he is seen as just another black sharecropper. He is reminded that he is not allowed to use the front door of the store, and cannot ride in the front seat of a white man's car. He and Jamie strike up a friendship, as they feel a camaradarie from being soldiers in the war. However, in this town, it is not ok for a white and black man to be friends, no matter the circumstances, and this causes serious problems not only for Jamie and Ronsel, but also for their families.

Mudbound is written through alternating perspectives--Laura, Henry, Jamie, Ronsel, Florence and Hap. Hillary Jordan does an excellent job with this, and the reader is able to feel and understand the different characters' throughts and actions much better than if the story was told in third person. The tone of the novel is often bleak, but true to the situation that each particular character is experiencing. Mudbound has a true southern ring, with the descriptions of the landscape, the day to day lives of the people, and the dialect.

I would describe Mudbound as a poignant story, full of despair and hate, but also of love and hope. Hillary Jordan wrote a memorable first novel, which won the Bellwether Prize for fiction. I would definitely recommend Mudbound, and I am hoping Jordan is working on a second book!

Date Completed: August 3, 2008

Number of pages: 324

Read these other reviews of Mudbound: Thoughts of Joy, An Adventure in Reading, Maggie Reads. If you've read and reviewed it, please let me know and I'll add your link!

This is the third and final book for Maggie's Southern Reading Challenge. The three books I read were:

Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes

Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan.

While I enjoyed all three, Mudbound was definitely my favorite. I think I read more Southern fiction that I originally thought, which makes sense since I am a southerner! Maggie is such a great host and held several fun contests along the way! Thanks for a fun challenge, and I look forward to participating next year!

One more thing...Maggie is holding a unique contest called State of the Mule. Sadly, one mule in Mudbound met his death by gunshot wounds--page 109. "Then I'm gone send hail big as walnuts down on that mule, making that mule crazy, making it break its leg trying to bust out of there...the next morning after you put that mule down and buried it..." (this passage sounds a bit odd, as Hap is speaking as God after he experiences a series of bad luck). Poor little mule :(

Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg

(This format is from Dewey at The Hidden Side of a Leaf)

Note: I feel that I need to be a bit vague in my review, as it would be extremely easy to give away some of the plot twists.

Fiction or non-fiction? southern fiction

What led you to pick up this book? I was looking for a book for the Southern Reading Challenge, and I enjoyed the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" so I thought I would try out Flagg's newest book.

Plot summary: Elner Shimfissle is a woman of undetermined age (her niece Norma guesses mid-to-late 80s), yet one morning she decides to climb a ladder to pick some figs out of her tree to make fig preserves. What Elner doesn't know is that she is about to disturb a wasps' nest, and this will set into effect a chain of events that will change not only her own life, but the lives of many people around her.

What did you like most about the book? I loved Elner! She is such a likeable character--not only is she kind and thoughtful, but she is funny, curious, and generous. I can definitely stand to learn a few things from her about being content and enjoying the simple things in life. That may sound cliche, but it is easy to get caught up in the general busyness of the day to day and forget to enjoy nature or the company of friends and family.

What did you like least? For some reason, I had a difficult time keeping track of several of the other characters. Besides Elner and her niece, there were several other women-Ruby, Tot, Irene, Verbena--and I couldn't keep them straight.

Have you read any other books by this author? Besides the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes," I haven't been exposed to any of Flagg's other books. I have heard good things about Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man though. I think I enjoyed the story of Fried Green Tomatoes more, because I was more involved in the lives of the characters. The perspective of this novel was from an omniscient narrator simply telling what was happening. While there are benefits to this perspective (the reader can see the reactions of many people all over the place at the same time), unfortunately I never felt close or connected to any one character.

Any other particularly interesting characters? This book was full of interesting people--it is set in a small town in Missouri, and many of the townspeople have been living there for many years and have known each other for a very long time. Besides Elner, my favorite character was Macky-Norma's husband. He is such a genuinely nice guy--hard-working, patient, and dependable. I would describe him as a "good ole' boy." I think they are hard to find these days, but I married one! :)

Share a favorite scene from the book: This is a conversation between Macky and Norma, and it made me smile!
(Macky) "Have I told you lately that I adore you?"
She put her purse down. "What?"
"Did you know that you are more beautiful than you ever were?"
"Me?"
"Yes, you."
Norma looked at herself in the mirror. "Me? How could you think that, with my gray roots and wrinkles and old tired saggy body...I've just fallen into a heap."
"Maybe so, but you're my heap, and you don't look old to me" (298).

What did you think of the ending? The ending wasn't a surprise to me, but it was a nice finish to the story.

Do you recommend this book? If you are looking for a pleasant summer read, this would be a good choice. Flagg's story will take you through many different emotions, and it also contains a mystery and several plot twists. All in all, it was quite an enjoyable story!

Date completed: June 26, 2008
# of pages: 359
Rating 3.5/5

Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes

Set in the small town of Petal, Mississippi, in the late 1950s, Mother of Pearl is the story of 6 people trying to figure who they are and where they belong. Valuable, age 15, has an unknown father, and her mother is promiscuous and selfish. Even, age 28, is a hardworking black man who grew up as an orphan. Canaan, age 61, is the black neighbor of Evan who enjoys reading, writing, and speaking his mind. Grace, age unknown (I'm guessing somewhere between 30 and 40), is a black woman who works for a white family, caring for the invalid mother, and basically raising 2 boys--Joleb and Burris. Judy (or Joody) is thought of by many townspeople as crazy or a witch because of her dark skin, her strange hair with sticks in it, and the fact she can hear people's thoughts and can sometimes see the future. She lives alone in the woods by the creek. Joleb, a young white teenage boy (raised by Grace), blurts out whatever is on his mind and has no close friends.

This group of people--different backgrounds, age, gender, and race--begin to form friendships, learn to love others as well as themselves, learn to see past skin color, and understand that "family" does not have to be related by blood.

Haynes is a master of characterization. Each character in her novel, whether major or minor, has a unique voice and memorable personality. Throughout the course of the story, it is easy to see the development and the changes the main characters go through because of several tragic events that take place.

When asked the question, "What message do you most hope your novel will communicate to readers?" Haynes responded with, "That mankind will prevail. That the element of human kindness is somewhere inside of us all. That we can celebrate our differences, as well as our commonalities." Mother of Pearl certainly conveys the message Haynes wanted. It is a beautiful story, sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic, but ultimately a story of acceptance and love.

Date completed: June 2, 2008
# of Pages: 464
Rating: 3.75/5 stars

I had a difficult time understanding some of the symbolism in the novel--such as the reocurring image of the pig, and the relevance of Antigone. If anyone can shed some light on this, I would greatly appreciate your insight! Trish wrote a great review of this book. If you also have read and reviewed this book, please let me know, and I will add your link.